Budget Car Service -- Absolutely Unacceptable I have never experienced service this poor. I arranged Budget in advance, paid top dollar for a one-day rental, and even scheduled my pickup an hour earlier than necessary to make sure I had plenty of time. I returned the car the same day at 5 PM. Instead, I waited over an hour, along with roughly 50 other customers. Every other car agency at the location was getting customers their vehicles on time--Budget was the only one with a massive line and customers sitting there for over an hour. The employees at the counter showed absolutely no urgency or concern. I flew to New Orleans for a business meeting, only to arrive after the meeting had ended. The clients had already left, and I lost the account. This is exactly why we have Uber. I could have simply called an Uber, but I specifically arranged a rental in advance and paid a premium expecting basic professionalism and reliability. Budget completely failed. I will never use them again, and I strongly recommend taking your business elsewhere. I'm a single mom I had to pay for this trip myself. This was the worst experience of my life, and it cost me a lot. read more

Location: Hilton New Orleans Riverside I prepaid for a one-way rental car with Budget TWO MONTHS in advance, expecting that reserving and paying early would guarantee a vehicle and make my trip stress-free. Instead, when I arrived at the location, I was told they did not have any cars available and that I would have to be placed on a waiting list. That is completely unacceptable considering I had already prepaid in full. If you take someone's money months ahead of time, there should absolutely be a car reserved for them. What makes this even worse is that I was never contacted beforehand to let me know there was an issue with my reservation. I only found out after arriving at the location, wasting my time and completely disrupting my travel plans. The staff offered no real solution, and when I called Budget customer service, I was told there were no one-way rentals available anywhere else either. Because of Budget's lack of professionalism and poor planning, I will never use Budget again after this experience. read more

A strange experience, to a certain degree, but for me it worked out fine. I did have to wait about 15 minutes before they knew what car I was renting. I also had to wait about 15 minutes before I could drop off my car. Just seemed to me like they were under-staffed. But the staff that was there was very polite and efficient. My car was very clean. And ran well. The strange part is that you have to walk through the hotel, then out double doors then around a corner. Some people will find this very vexing. I personally gameify stuff like this in my head and thought it was eccentric, much like the city I was visiting, so no harm no foul for me. read more

Budget - Car Rental Near Me - New Orleans, Louisiana

See all

Unfortunately, I can relate to the other negative reviews. I made my car rental reservation about a week in advance. I only needed a compact car for the day to go sightseeing. This location was only a few blocks from several major hotels, so I assumed they would be more professional. When I arrived, there was one long line. Other rental companies I've used offer expedited pick-up or prioritize pre-paid reservations. Unfortunately, the staff seemed disorganized and apathetic to any customer issues. I patiently waited my turn for about 20-25 minutes. Once I finally got up to the counter, there were no niceties--just a frustrated employee. Mind you, the office was open for less than an hour at this point. I handed off all my paperwork, and it only took a couple of minutes to sign and process everything since my reservation was very simple. While I'm waiting for everything to go through, a city official enters the office. The staff member I'm working with immediately perks up and starts multitasking with their paperwork. WTF? I'm clearly upset, but I don't say anything because I just want to go on with my day. When I get my car rental, the staff person hands me the keys and skims through the initial inspection to prioritize the city official. Ugh. Luckily, the guy who cleaned the car was really nice and offered to help me if I had any questions. I returned the vehicle with a full tank of gas on time and in pristine condition. When I arrive at the return area, there is no one to greet me. Usually, staff is supposed to do a final inspection of the car to look for dents and check the gas. When someone finally came, they said just to drop off the keys at the office. When I dropped off the keys, I made sure to tell the staff that there was a full tank of gas. Later that evening, I get the emailed receipt, and there is an extra charge for fuel service even though the report clearly says that it was returned with a full tank of gas. I had to return to the office the next day and get it refunded! What a pain! read more

Horrible service from start to finish every single time. It's not worth any money they will charge you. It's barely worth free because you still have to deal with the laziness and piss poor attitudes of everyone you encounter with the company. Never again. ZERO STAR RATING is all they deserve. This website makes you leave a star so that's not accurate. read more

Terrible. Hade booking for 10am and have appt at 11:45. Car approx 2 hours late and they don't know exactly when it will be available. A room full of people waiting - why have such a big overbooking! read more

The worst car renting experience I've ever had. I booked a rental car through Costco but listed my boyfriend as the driver. In the email I received, it literally says "name under: Ashley" so I thought this meant the booking was under my name. So when I arrived, the two girls working the counter were certainly busy but appeared grouchy. When I got called to the counter, the lady had an incredibly rude tone and answered short, one-worded answers. I gave her my name, license, and credit card. There seemed to be some issue with the booking cuz she was muttering to herself and talking to the girl next to her. I asked if there was an issue to which she responded, "Just wait a minute." Okay. She continued to have some kind of issue and started filling out paperwork. At one point I heard her mutter my boyfriend's name so I spoke up that that's my boyfriend's name. He then identified himself. She proceeded to literally THROW my license and credit card at me, and my credit card flew behind her computer somewhere. She then threw the paperwork she filled out at her coworker who said, "Why are you throwing your paper at me?" My lady then yelled that she is "so irritated". Turns out the reservation was indeed under my boyfriend's name despite what the email said. If she would have asked or mentioned something to me, it probably would have saved her any extra work she was doing. But she preferred not to communicate directly with the customer. She was horribly rude the rest of the time. She gave us a pamphlet and pointed outside and simply said, "silver Toyota." No keys. No explanation. I then said to her, "You threw my credit card behind your computer." She moved her computer and fished it out and slapped in the counter. Didn't say a word. We wandered outside the parking lot and the only car we found was blocked in by other vehicles. We asked some maintenance men outside and they said the car is not ready and to wait. We stood there in the parking lot and watched other people come and go in rental cars. The guys pulled the car up and did not say anything to us. My boyfriend went back inside and the lady was announcing that she had keys ready for someone. My boyfriend said it was probably him cuz no keys outside in the car. She rolled her eyes at him and proceeded to continue what she was doing with another customer. That customer then told her she can give the keys to us. She rolled her eyes again and handed the keys to that customer to hand over to us. Like, what?! This lady must be absolutely miserable in her life and she certainly needs a new job, probably one that does not require her to work with people. She has zero people skills and is incredibly unprofessional. I will not rent from Budget again because of this experience. I posted a review on google and Budget requested I send them an email with all the details. I took the time to write out a very detailed description of our experience just for them to respond that they can't talk to me because the reservation is under my boyfriend's name so he needs to contact them. What a waste of my time. Budget sucks. If I could give zero stars, I would. read more

I read the reviews and got here an HOUR early so I can possibly get my car in time to go do what I wanted to do. To put it simply - there are not enough people working here, and the ones that are working move slower than molasses. The desk agents are also going outside constantly to check on cars. Seriously? Budget can't afford to have people dedicated to certain areas? I waited and hour and half to get my car. I will NEVER come here again. read more

if I can give no star, I would. The New Orleans airport budget is horrible. we reserved two vans in November to travel to Texas for a family trip. the manager (Sheena) was rude and did not rent us the vans because we didn't use a credit card. we had a debit card which we used the year prior to rent vans. I was going to use my credit card but the manager (Sheena) was so rude and cold that I decided not to rent from budget. I will never rent from budget again. read more

They can't honor a reservation. Made plans two weeks in advance. This slip ended up costing me over $1500 in airline fees and travel expenses. I was told by customer service that the reservation only guarantees the price and not the truck!?!? How do I utilize the price if there's no truck available. Not the first time I've had this issue at this location, but it'll be the last time. I'll never return. read more

The absolute worst service and experience I've ever had renting a car in 35 years. I reserved a convertible 4 months ago when I knew I was coming to Jazzfest. To be picked up AFTER Jazzfest was over. I had a 10 am appt which the App kept reminding me to get there on time. I get there and they say it's a 45 min wait which is ridiculous in itself. An hour and half later they tell me I have a cheap midsize , not my Mustang convertible that I prepaid for. Not even sorry , horrible attitude " take it or leave it". I complain and they said I now have to call an 800 # to try and get a discount since I paid a lot for the Mustang. Everything about this experience was unnecessary, unacceptable and wrong. I will never use Budget/Avis again read more

This is my favorite Budget location. I am constantly traveling and use the mini leases. I've had a few rentals here and always had a great experience. When another location makes a billing mistake or anything else, I have even called here to get the answers I need. read more

Horrible experience with this place's car rental. We were on vacation and rented this car for a day. We paid for a regular car but they gave us an electric car. They gave us the car with an extremely low battery. We had to literally struggle to find a charging station all day!! Worst experience! Words of advice: pay a little extra for a better experience, especially if you are on vacation. read more

Budget - Rented car - Car Rental Near Me - New Orleans, Louisiana

My Budget Rental service was at Louis Armstrong Intl Airport and immediately after paying for a vehicle it did a bait and switch from a Genesis to a Chrysler 300 (wording change on confirmation). After successfully disputing this is utilized the vehicle, filled it up outside the airport on my return. No problem until I received my credit card statement with an additional $ 100+ in charges. ALSO, immediately after I get off my flight I realized my Mother's handicap placard was left behind. When trying to contact the customer service desk at the airport noone answered the numerous calls for the retrieval. So I phoned the 1-800 customer service who stated all is could do was fill out a "lost & found" form which i received notification the form was submitted and they'd get back to me which it's been 3 months and I haven't heard ANYTHING! A simple action as answering the airport customer service line could have gotten the handicap at least headed back to my 90 yr old Mother. Shame on you Budget and other corporations that you can no longer communicate with them after they get your hard earned money! read more

Reserved a car weeks in advance. Walked there the day I was scheduled to pick up. I was told there were no cars so they transferred my reservation to the airport. I asked if they had a shuttle to the airport. They told me to take an Uber or Lyft...a $70 Lyft. If they ran out of cars, why couldn't they have emailed before at least? We did Uber to the other location, where they informed us our reservation had not been transferred and that they could not transfer it because we paid in advance. So because we paid ahead, we were told we couldn't get a car. I spent 35 minutes on hold with customer service before going to Enterprise. Thank you, Enterprise, for helping us when Budget screwed us over. Than read more

This place is the worst place to ever rent from. They do not answer there phone. I had called over 15 times before someone asnwer. I had reserved a full size pickup truck but when I got there. There was not a full size but a small one. The worker told me there will be a full size return in the afternoon and told me to get the small one now and exchange when full size come in. Been on the phone all day calling them for them to tell me there is still no full size truck. I would never have rent the small one knowing there won't be a full size. Worst customers serve every read more

This is the 2nd time we've rented from budget within 6 months and we'll never use them again. They're service is slow and the vehicle is never available when we arrive. After waiting at least an hour in line for help, we have had to wait an additional hour for a car! read more

SCAMM,,,Avoid this place.. April 2025 Me and my partner were visiting New Orleans to celebrate his birthday. On April 1st we decided to drive around and rented a car on Budget. We reserved a pickup truck online and when we got to the rental place, they never had the car, instead they gave us a small size hybrid car. which is a lot cheaper online but still they charged us the pickup truck price. The guy there didn't even explain anything. We just let it go because we don't want to ruin our day. When we got the car, it was smell like cigarettes. We literally used the car for 5 hours because we couldn't take the smell of the car. When we were returning it, we couldn't refill the gas because the gas chamber was broken and not opening. We had no choice just to drop the car back. They were closed when we returned it. We paid the car for 24 hours, but we returned it after 5 hours. I called the customer service for the poor experience, and they would not bother to help, and they were so rude. They ended up charging my card triple. And literally the worse part of our trip. This place is a SCAM. Read less read more

I reserved a vehicle weeks ago because I had events that required a truck. When I arrived 15 minutes early to get the process rolling because I know this location struggles to function in a timely manner, I wasn't shocked to learn that my truck wasn't ready. What I was not expecting was to still be sitting in here over an hour later waiting for them to deliver a car from the airport. The ladies in here don't seem to want to be bothered with my sense of urgency, as they are laughing and 3 of 4 of them just cut for lunch. Sorry, ladies, don't mind me... I just have somewhere to be and all. On a side note, why does this whole office smell like a pound of weed?! Is this a dispensary or a car rental office? Anyway, with any luck, I'll be out of here before dark. So far, my "guaranteed reservation" is over an hour late. Now I see why they are called Budget. Update: 1:52 PM and my truck still isn't here. Had to settle for a a smaller SUV because I cannot afford to wait any longer. read more

Budget - Not a soul un sight. Where the hell is my guaranteed rental that's over an hour late? - Car Rental Near Me - New Orleans, Louisiana

Agent Tara informed me that the car to be rented had damage and asked if I'd rent the car. She would note the damages in the contract. I accepted. She did not make a note in the contract and now, 3-4 weeks later she knows nothing about this. Budget's claim agency is charging me for those prior damages, $1800. I am at fault for trusting the agent, not checking the contract, and not taking photos of the car at rental time. I will not be renting from Budget again and I am warning all potential customers. read more

Two star average review? Four star John LH review? What up with that? Before I decided to grow up and get a real car, I rented cars whenever I took a trip out of town. Sure everyone could technically fit in my fun car, but when you have a kid who is tall AF, and complains constantly, you rent a giant SUV. For those of you that have rented giant SUVs in the past you know they are usually exorbitantly expensive to rent. Listen up, I am about to give you a tip. Make an account with Budget and search for giant SUVs well in advance of your trip and search every location within 30 miles. I don't live anywhere close to this location. But booking way in advance and paying for my rental (five months in advance) saved me a ton of money. I rented a giant ass suburban for $600-650 for ten days when other locations wanted $1500-1900. Shop around and be willing to drive to a different location. So now that I gave you the inside scoop to save money I will fill you in about this location.It is in the area of Canal Street that pretty much sucks. Pretty much all of Canal Street sucks though so take that for what it's worth. It is much easier to get to if you come from Claiborne so take that into account. The staff here were all very friendly and helpful. There was a longer wait than I am accustomed to because this location is busier than most. Saving that much money made me happy to wait. The suburban was fairly new, had under 10,000 miles, and was clean. The return process was even easier than pickup. I really couldn't of asked for more. read more

I'm writing this as a warning to potential renters. Budget/Avis has recently changed their policies. You are now required to show some kind of "proof" of insurance at the desk. You cannot just use a credit card, even one that has an insurance policy. I was told to call my credit card company on the spot and have them send over a copy of where it says the insurance is included. Did the reservation say this? No. Did the agent tell me when I checked in and gave all my info? No. They told me after I sat there for an hour waiting for a car to be ready. According to the agent the website says you need to "quality at the rental desk". No place states what qualify means. This is clearly a scam to force people to pay them for the optional insurance. They deliberately don't tell people what they need in a timely manner, hoping people will be so fed up with waiting , or running late for whatever, that they're forced to just pay up. It's extortion. read more

I reserved a cargo van online to move a few large items. I entered my credit card and received a confirmation. I arrived at the location and was told they don't have any vans and there are none around the city. Why would you take a reservation you can't honor?? Thanks for wasting my time! read more

This is our first time here Have been here waiting for an hour outside in the cold Ridiculous.

Tyra is awesome!!! This was our first trip away since Covid and I was a bit nervous. I reserved the truck online a day ahead. When we walked in Tyra greeted my husband and I with a smile. She asked why I looked so nervous and I told her that I did not realize I reserved from the one downtown on Canal. She told me that I was at the right place at the right time. This made me smile. My husband gave her our reservation number and then bip, bam, boom..... we were out the door. The drop off was even easier than picking up. I will definitely be back again. read more

I feel like I can speak for myself and the other 15+ people screwed over tonight, to NOT trust their reservation system. We reserved a car three months in advanced and when we got to the counter tonight (after waiting 30 min in line), we all were told they don't have any cars ready and it will be an hour wait. I don't know how they expected at 8pm enough cars would be filtering in for ALL of us within the hour. The worst part is the poor girls at the front counter have to deal with everyone's anger and frustration all while the people who f'ed up the reservation system and overbooked cars is probably sleeping stress free. We were also told this has been going on a week. Someone mentioned it's because Taylor Swift is in town for a concert but that doesn't excuse giving away already reserved cars. Do better Budget. read more

If I could give this place zero stars I would. Every person in line in front of me had issues with their rentals. My pre-paid pick up was for 10. At 11:00, I finally got a rental car. This disorganization and lack of clear timelines will ruin your day. I wish I had rented from the airport instead of here. read more

I've never had a horrible experience like this and the agent thought they did everything correct, spend the extra money and do not use Avis/Budget/Payless, long wait, issue with every customer and the staff is slow and unprofessional. Definitely needs additional training, I emailed customer service and the response I got back was insane. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere. Also a $200 deposit for over 25 years old with a major credit card. First time me hearing this. read more

Considering this place is in the heart of the city, I expected more. More along the lines of better hours, they open at 8a & close at 5p; better customer service, how can I be the only person in line & still have wait, hello the entire rental process took an hour, because in addition to my wait at the counter, there weren't any clean vehicles; better selection of vehicles, after renting biweekly in ABQ, the choices I had were truly lackluster. Maybe I thought it out too much; but I remember Pre-Katrina, this location was always popping with renters - returning & renting... Ughhhh. And even when Avis was further down Canal St, there was more activity. Ha!!! And I dare not even comment on what debit card renters have to go through to rent; sheesh #anactofcongress Anywho... I only came to this location because of the proximity to my house; but next time maybe I'll just go to the airport, despite the 29% interest they charge... or just another rental facility altogether. read more

Budget - Car Rental Near Me - New Orleans, Louisiana

i hate to leave a bad review because much of the staff here is very helpful and understanding considering how stretched they are. this location is also often cheaper than the airport. i dropped off my car and did not realize that my debit card had fell between the seat. i was in an uber home from their location and got a fraud alert from my bank regarding multiple charges at footlocker. someone had found my card and in the 10 minutes that it took me to get to st. charles they were already charging it. outside of that experience, you'll get standard cars, clean. wait is usually pretty long but the team behind the counter has always been pleasant. this is a good location to pick up from if you are already in the city and just need something for a couple of days. always double check against airport prices. read more

If I could leave 0 stars I would. Made a reservation over a month ago. Even called ahead 30 minutes before I arrived to confirm everything was settled and they said it was all set. I arrive and they told me they don't have any cars even though the parking lot is full. Seinfeld got it right in that they clearly don't understand what a reservation is. What's the point in making a reservation if they don't hold the car?? It wasn't even not having a car that did it, it was the lack of sympathy or helpfulness from the employee. Didn't offer a different type of vehicle, didn't offer to check other locations. She just told us to wait or cancel but we had to call a special number to cancel in order to not get a cancellation fee read more

This place is a mess. Gave me a car that broke down four days later. Charged my card for 5 days and I had to wait with the broken vehicle for four hours for tow truck. Zero help from the office. Never called back and instead just ran my card multiple times. Go somewhere else! read more

Prepaid with a debit card in advance after checking their debit card policy, show up to pick the car up and they won't let me rent with my debit card. Policies listed online are not accurate. I would say call in advance but they wouldn't even answer the phone for me. Really nice surprise to have to shell out for another rental the day I'm leaving, won't get the money back for 5 business days either. Spend the extra money and go with enterprise or anything else! read more

Rented a Budget car from te airport and dropped it here. The location is walking distance to all the major hotels in the tourist area that makes it easy to rent a car. When I got there the people washing the cars told me where to park, walked inside and was helped in about 5 minutes, Lady walked out to inspect the car, did the paper work and I was out. Service experience here was good and would recommend renting here. read more

Budget - My rental - Car Rental Near Me - New Orleans, Louisiana

So, I make a reservation online I pre-pay the entire rental fees online. Fly to NOLA from D.C. Only to find out that there will be a 1-2 HOUR wait because they sold out. Was told that they have no cars available . So what was the point of making a reservation AND prepayment??? . Oh, the staff was pleasant tho! read more

Budget - Car Rental Near Me - New Orleans, Louisiana

I use Budget because of FastBreak. The service here was neither unfriendly nor friendly. The only thing going for them is location with respect to the French Quarter, then again they share the small building - practically the same counter space with Avis. There are also other car rental places nearby. I can't believe several things: 1. They have such narrow business hours in such a location 2. There is no super early or very late so off option since the lot is locked and they is no way to access it and 3. They would charge almost $10 per gallon to has the car, especially when there is a 24 hour gas station nearby. I think that this is very non customer friendly. I don't plan to use them again. read more

Desperately wish we'd read reviews before booking. Same thing happened to us as apparently always happens. We'd pre-booked a car the previous day, but when we arrived there was none available. We asked to add a driver and found out there was a $15 fee for that. Which they were unable to waive despite the fact that, again, THERE WAS NO CAR AVAILABLE. It's almost 1 pm now. Our reservation was for 12. The store is full of other people in the same position. Ridiculous. read more

It would appear that I am the only one who finds this location okay. Granted, I rent from this location 5-6 times a year. Granted, I'm a FastBreak member. Granted, I always pick my car up early in the morning (when cars are available) and return it on-time (so someone else can start their day right). Granted, I always pay with a major credit card. Granted, I am polite and always have a book in my purse. Granted, I smile a lot. Granted, I have built a rapport with the ladies who work here. Granted, I think they're actually good at their job. All of those things aside, this is a franchised location that does what it says on the tin: they do the best they can. When they have cars, they rent them. When they don't, they make a lot of folks angry. My pro-tip for success with this location is to pick up your car early in the day, be patient, and sign up for FastBreak. For some reason, being a FastBreak member helps your case. The actual building is nothing special. The facilities are a little worn down. But it's located close to multiple streetcar and bus lines for easy transit home, plus it's close to a lot of hotels and the general ambience of the French Quarter. Easy in, easy out on foot at least. Accessibility notes: door opens out. High counter. No Braille signage or flyers. Ramp along side of building. Several chairs in the corner. Restroom for guests upon request. read more

My husband reserved a car over a month ago and went to pick it up. They didn't have a single car available and told my husband to wait until they got a delivery. He asked when they might be and they said they didn't know maybe in an hour and they would call and let him know. We already pushed our departure time and this put us out. He cancelled the reservation and walked to Enterprise who were courteous and had plenty in stock. Heed the rating on yelp and do not use Budget. Ever. He will be calling corporate. They didn't care and they couldn't provide the car as contracted. read more

I was hesitant at using this Budget office due to previous reviews but our experience was delightful. Friendly staff, clean facility, a number of cars available (we had prepaid), and appropriate communication (text and email) via the Internet. Would definitely use again! read more