Super positive and memorable experience with Budget, thanks to La-Rae! She was the kindest soul, who welcomed and guided me when I returned the rental vehicle (which was so fun to drive. Might buy the same vehicle soon...Toyota Sienna). La-Rae had a contagious ear-to-ear smile that I couldn't help but return. She was so helpful in taking in the vehicle and then providing instructions on how to get back to my destination safely. La-Rae must absolutely be commended. Best car rental experience ever, thanks to her. read more

Budget Rent A Car - La-Rae! Amazing human being - Car Rental Near Me - San Jose, California

I reserved a mid sized SUV at this airport location through Priceline and everything went smoothly. The rental counter was easy to find and there was only a small line when I arrived. I waited about ten minutes before being called to the counter. The process was easy and straightforward. There was a $200 hold and a major credit card was required. Afterwards I headed to the pickup area where my vehicle would be dropped off to me. I was given a Jeep which ended up being perfect for my drive along the California coast. The vehicle was clean and drove as expected. Drop-off was simple and fast as well. I would definitely rent from Budget again. read more

See all

THIS PLACE IS GREAT! If by GREAT you mean waiting for one guy who somehow takes 20min checking in every group even though he's probly worked here for 20 years. To be fair, they should have more than ONE person working the counter. It's 9:30pm and the wait is over an hour. BUDGET ahh service and cars...this has been GREAT! read more

Do not use budget rent a car unless you go in person to rent your car. Totally scammed by their phone agent. I cancelled 3 days in advance but was Charged for holding a car! Shady customer service. They will do anything to make a sale. Went to the local office and the guy was upfront with policy. But there were more fees they did not tell you over the phone that you will be charged. Avoid- use Costco! read more

AWFUL, Did not honor request for compact; car smelled like weed. Cell port for cell phone defunct, did not work; battery in fob low so locking and locking the car was iffy. The time spent on this transaction in total was two hours, if including having to stop and find a place to recharge my phone so that I could navigate to my destination. More details: Bad counter check in person; she was indifferent and bothered by questions. Terrible service at kiosk on Floor 4 where you were to wait for your car "to be delivered", both men working in the kiosk were reluctant to engage constructively. It was odd and seemed that they did want to be bothered by customers. Long wait for a car that did not show up--said it was "being washed" Finally the older gentleman in kiosk took 20 minutes to give me a new receipt, with a car that was already in garage. Not the car I wanted nor ordered. Did not honor request for compact; car smelled like marijuana. Cell port for cell phone my own cell phone cord defunct, did not work; battery in fob low so locking and locking the car was iffy. The time spent on this transaction in total was two and a half hours, if including having to stop and find a place to recharge my phone so that I could navigate to my destination. Disappointing to have to write such a negative review. I would like to save others from this unnecessary stress and difficulty. read more

So we made a reservation even prepaid There's a little bit of a line but not unreasonable wait although I think there should be a express line for those prepaid. We exit to pick up our car. It wasn't very organized. The car reserved was not available so we were told either take an electric vehicle or some other car that was pointed to. To be fair, there only appeared one guy working in the garage area. it was just weird that we were told that what we reserved wasn't available and no other cars with these two more people are coming. This was about noontime and only one person to assist renters! Anyway, we decided to try the electric car mostly because it was by Subaru and I like Subarus. we get into the car and notice it's not fully charged and we tell the guy. Now remember, we're supposed to return it fully charged or pay fee. He says oh they must not have gotten it. Just take a picture and tell him when you return it. I also noticed there is a hole like a cigarette burn on the consul in the middle. I point that out and basically the same thing. None of this is noted when we pick up the car. Upside the car worked fine for us. I have no idea if the pricing is same. Somehow the $25 a day insurance and ended up being $83 I do want to stress I don't think the person in the garage was being rude. I think he was probably just swamped. He was the only person I saw trying to get people into cars. Next trip I think I'll try a different agency though. I just felt like flying coach was a luxury compared to this experience read more

Budget Rent A Car - Not fully charged. I had to ask this to be noted because we were told we had to return fully charged or pay fee. - Car Rental Near Me - San Jose, California

Really nice car and easy return process. The wait to rent could have been better but overall a very good experience.

I was super nervous after reading all the reviews but I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth everything went. We rented a minivan mid Oct from here since it was not available as a selection at other Budgets. Pickup the day of was super smooth, car was available at the exact quoted price. Car was clean, fully fueled, tire treads also good, maintenance was just done with 80% remaining with total of 16k miles. The return was equally smooth, just hopped out, mileage and gas noted and was sent the receipt. One thing to note about the rental return entrance at SJC, it will seem like you've missed the rental return entrance because you'll need to circle around the airport one time but you will loop around on the left side to return the car read more

Budget Rent A Car - Car Rental Near Me - San Jose, California

Despite making a reservation for a car weeks in advance, I had to wait over two hours upon arrival. The problem wasn't the line to check-in, as online reviews suggest, but rather that the company had overbooked their fleet. We were forced to wait in the lobby area until a vehicle was cleaned and prepared. Be prepared for a significant wait time after you complete your paperwork. read more

Horrible experience from the start. The front counter lady was rude. She gave me false information. She mentioned the Hyundai Ioniq 5 got around 300 miles per charge. She also mentioned the charge only took 18 minutes. 1. All of my charges took around 30-35 minutes. 2. At any of my charges, did my miles surpass 260 miles. That is a huge discrepancy. From someone who often rents cars, it was a bit confusing how nobody did a walk around the vehicle to talk about the problems and hits the car had beforehand and I wanted to report it but the costumer service line was not accessible. After I got in the car, I took a picture of the charge and miles. It said 80% charge with 206 miles in the charge. I was trying to add my phone for carplay and maps. I couldn't figure it out. I went to ask the clerk who is standing in the office in the level 4 where I got my car and his first comment was that not all cars have the ability to have bluetooth. WHAT?? It's 2025 with a brand new EV. I was able to figure it out on my own after that clerk gave me a hard time about it and almost froze the car system trying to connect it to some kind of server. So now I feel lied to by the front desk lady and the man at the clerk office on the 4th level parking where the car is picked up. I noticed on the return sheet that it said I must return the car in full charge. I got it at 80%, so why do I need to return it on full charge??? Regardless, when I returned the car, I left it at 91%-but for some reason the milage did not match with what it was in the original charge. I picked it up with 80% charge, 206 miles. I returned it at 91% charge, 190 miles. Will never rent from here again-an overall bad experience and will do my best to spread the word of how bad the customer service is and how unreliable and inaccurate these EV are. And of course, I tried to connect with SJ airport customer service and the line always unavailable. 0/10 - never coming back here and you should not do business here. read more

Do not rent from Budget. Took over 3 hours to pickup a car, staff was inattentive, and one left for the day as we were waiting, with no replacement. Searched for a car that can seat 7 people at booking, a 7 passenger suv was booked, saying a big and small bag can be handled. Once all 7 seats were up, you could not put a backpack in the trunk. Was forced to rent a second car to transport 6 adults and 1 child. An extra $1380. read more

One. Representative. Here. On. A. Saturday. Avoid if you have a schedule.... Time is money, and money is time. If you need to save time, then don't try to book here to save money. Not worth it read more

Budget Rent A Car - Car Rental Near Me - San Jose, California

Oh my goodness the lady I encountered today at 6:20pm Thursday oct 17 left me in disbelief. I'm 25 , never rented a car nor had a credit card but I had the rest figured out and my mother in law was willing to do the rental with her credit card and add me as the additional driver. I had an emergency and was leaving to attend a funeral. I was renting a car for 3 hours just to drive to Fresno airport, I also have heard of rentals with just a large deposit upfront which I could have done. She was so rude and responded with short words , no smile no explanation no HELP. Girl u really did not want to do ur job so im at the counter getting ready to complete a reservation online since she wouldn't do it for me and I am looked down at her and realized I did not want to deal with her anymore. Such a nasty lazy lady read more

The manager on duty and the clerk at the desk are horrible people. They do not have a decent bone in their body. My mother is dying in the hospital and they will not add my husband to my reservation. You don't answer your phone at the airport location and the customer service number agents can't help. I would find another rental car company to do business with. This whole experience has made you lose a customer for sure. No customer service at all with these people. read more

They gave us broken Tesla. Everything on the vehicle disabled, (no gps, no radio, no blu tooth, can't charge phones, car unable to go above 70 miles an hour. Battery died every 2 hrs on road trip. Phone number on receipt disconnected. No refunds. No credits... but we got tons of extra fees. We returned the vehicle early and then they claimed we never turned it in and billed us extra. Apparently they lost their own vehicle. Not a single apology we called tons of other stores with zero Help. They themselves couldn't get a hold of our own rental location. read more

I wish I could give negative stars for such a horrible experience, worst rental car company I've ever dealt with. Rented from SJC Airport in June 2025. used for kids birthday party. Just received an invoice for a cleaning fee of 450$ 3 weeks after the rental was returned for sand, yes we went to the beach, there was sand in the vehicle. 3 day rental was 280$ I've rented cars in Hawaii multiple times and never ever received a cleaning fee. I could understand 50-100$ but 450$ is outrageous. Spent the last 3 hours getting transferred and put on hold for 30-40 minutes. Was never able to speak with anyone with common sense. Rented through Priceline, never again. Pay the extra $ with Hertz or Enterprise. Will dispute the charges with my CC company. go somewhere else, horrible customer service, you have been warned read more

Budget @SJC was pretty easy the longest part of the process was the counter. Beyond that the pick up easy the drop off easy and the shuttle to and from was great. You just have to read. :) read more

There is only one person on Budget and one on Avis on a Friday night. And there are long lines of people waiting for services. What a joke!!!! Btw, they provide slow service as well. read more

OMG!! The worst ever experience I rented a mid size SUV and it was for my aunt they took car to LA, and when they get there the check oil is on. I called Budget and they sent to me reservations and said they couldnt do anything and to call SJC budget Aiport which i did but when I call them it says put in the extension or press zero and when i put in zero it says we cant connect and it says invalid and then hangs up!! What kind of customer service is this? 408.2867850 You guys r the worse. i then try to call customer serivce bc now the check engine light is on and they said o go to ur nearest budget car rental to exchange the car. why do we need to waste time picking up another car?!? why were we given a messed up car in the beginning? do you all not check before giving us a car? and its a dangerous vehicle too. And I called the 8002146094. and this is the third time and then she says i cant give u any additional information i was like i just called two times ago and they were able to share with me information and this chick said she cant give me details I am like wth?! im not asking for any information im pissed off u gave my aunt a messed up car and i cant even get ahold of someone from SJC airport budget. You guys r the worse and I will never ever rent from u again!!! read more

Ten min wait for someone to come to the counter, 15 min wait to pick up the car, check engine light, low tire warning, brake warning, exchanged car, 10 more mins, 2nd car, more warning lights, 15 more mins for the 3rd car...$35 dollar a day rental (expected it to be around $75 with all the junk charges, ended up being $170, for 24 hours) the people were all nice (when they showed up) you could tell they felt like victims of a corrupt enterprise. Avoid Budget @ Cost! Enterprise is gen a much better option. read more

I had a tight arrival turnaround, so when I saw the reviews here I was a little concerned. My experience could not have been been different. I landed, already has a text from Budget that my car was ready for me. I walked over to the rental car area, went immediately up to the 4th floor, my contract was on the wall, grabbed it and went to my assigned car, which was clean and ready to go. A+. Never even stopped to smell the roses. Van had less than 4000 miles on it. My recommendation is to actually follow the steps by registering with Fastbreak, filling out all the info and setting it all up in the app. You'll have a great experience. read more

Car rental was smooth. The agent was nice I only wish there was more of them. The line was long and moving slow there were 2 agents checking people in... then 1 left??? I'd give them 5 stars if they had more employees it shouldn't take 20 minutes to rent a car! My car is nice Ford Fusion clean inside outside wash job could use improvement if my car came out of the car wash like this I'd send it through again. Car has USB charging ports! Awesome since I forgot my car charger! read more

Budget Rent A Car - Car Rental Near Me - San Jose, California

I wish I would have read the reviews BEFORE booking on budget.com. This is the worst Budget location ever and needs to be shut down or everyone needs to be fired and bring in a whole new crew. Everyone of the reviews are accurate! ESPECIALLY the ones that tell you this location will charge you hundreds of dollars stating that you kept the car longer than the agreement. They TRIED to charge me $743 extra for 4 additional days! I parked the car at 4:30am then boarded my plane back to Texas and 5 days later a charge of $743 was added to my credit card! They are out of their rabid mind!!! I took pictures of the dashboard, mileage, gas meter, everything for proof! Don't call the actual airport location because they never answer! No manager just teens who don't care run the show! I always book with budget but now I have to go to enterprise read more

BE AWARE!! They are criminals who do not care about customers safety. They rented us a car that had a warn out screw in the tire, a used spare and no lugnut remover in the trunk so that we would have to call roadside assistance. Luckily the the hotel had told to fix tire. When returning vehicle, we Went to talk to a manager who apologized and said we really f*cked up so he took $250 off the bill. Sure enough a week later we receive a bill in the mail for $235 for roadside assistance (which we didn't use) and tire replacement. Avis/Budget San Jose Airport are Crooks!!! read more

See all

Both people I dealt with during pickup/drop-off were extremely rude. Pick-up: When making a reservation online, I had selected some insurance. Apparently, that isnt the same coverage as what I had been asked when I went to pick up the car. The cost kept changing from my original price, and when I asked for clarification, the woman was painfully rude and impatient with me. There was no one in line behind me, but I was being treated as if I was holding up a line. I still somehow ended up with a different coverage as my original reservation. Drop-off: The fourth floor was closed so I drove up to the 5th floor, which was open. However, a car was parked in the middle of the drive up area. Without having an explanation as to why it was parked there, I waited behind it. After about a minute, someone yelled to get my attention and waved me around. A woman came and requested seeing my mileage. I said sure, and asked for a cart because I had my toddler, her carseat, and a bag. This woman said "sorry, they're on the 4th floor" and walked away!! Every employee saw me struggling to carry everything, and not one person offered to help. Again, THEY WERENT BUSY. For context, my toddler is 30 lbs. My carseat is 27 lbs. Luggage was probably about 25 lbs. It wasn't difficult to see how challenging it was getting everything together while also making sure my kid doesn't run off. RUDE. Absolutely rude. I will NEVER use this business again. read more

Terrible company. Closest thing to a scam in the rental car business. Flight got in early, got to the check in 45 prior to my reservation and charged 75 bucks without notice. I literally would have just waited. Go somewhere else. Never again read more

How is it that a line can last for 40+ minutes? 3 agents are apparently not enough to check in the 40+ people in line. I thought they used a reservation system to know who was coming and when. Of all the airports I have rented from, not going to be using budget again here. read more

My husband rented us a vehicle from Budget using Costco travel which we always do when we travel. We arrived at this location at 950am for our 10am reservation. My husband gets to the counter and is advised he cannot use a debit card to rent a vehicle "because of fraud." I had already left the airport and had to return due to me having the only credit card in our family. By this time a long line had formed. They were funneling Budget, Avis and Payless all through the same line with only two employees working the counters. During my 45 minute wait in line, I was able to research Budget's debit card policy and learned that a debit card CAN in fact be used to rent a vehicle from this particular Budget location so long as certain criteria are met (all of which we did). Please see the attached screen shots from their online policy from today's date for reference. When I arrived at the counter and brought this to the employees attention (who was very nice) she told me that she is newer and is herself unsure of the policy because she has been told different things by different coworkers of hers. Not her fault, I'm blaming poor management and training. I was offered the ability to speak with a manager but they were on a different floor. I was told no discount could be applied to our reservation and to contact the 1-800 number. So I did. I explained everything that happened and a discount was applied to our reservation. I am appreciative of Budget's customer service but I do hope they are able to more importantly address lack of knowledge on their employee's behalf likely due to poor training so people can use debit cards to reserve vehicles if they are a no credit card family. We will not be returning to this location, and hope this review helps others make informed decisions as well. read more

Budget Rent A Car - Budget Debit Policy May 28, 2023 - Car Rental Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

Staff at LAX airport are lack of communication skills. They push everything too fast and refuse to explain in details about the total agreement fee. Consequently, they placed an extra charge or hidden fee 3 weeks later which was not explained or described when I rented the car. Terrible car rental company. Never be back. read more

I rate Budget a negative 100... The absolute WORST service I have ever had. We rented a car in Portland and it was late at night as our flight had been delayed. When we got to the parking space with our vehicle, we noticed that it had a lot of damage... the front fender had damage to it and there was a crack across the windshield. We looked around for a customer service person, but could not find anyone to help us. We then took a video of the car showing the damage and went on our way. Thank GOD we took that video because we then had proof as Budget then sent us two letters saying we had to pay for the damage - one for $284 and one for $624. After several hours on hold with customer service I could not get anyone to help me. I was told a manager would call me back 3 times, but no one ever called me back!!!! I also filed two help tickets on their website, but still no help... I am to the point of filing a claim with the Better Business Bureau and a dispute on my credit card... Budget is the WORST company - DO NOT rent from them!!! read more

Budget Rent A Car - Crack in the windshield BEFORE we left the garage!! - Car Rental Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

We only required the car for one day and they gave us a Ford Escape which was perfect for three passengers and luggage. We hardly drove the vehicle and I can't believe we were charged an under 75 mileage driving fee. What does that mean? You have to drive as much as possible not to get penalized - we are fighting this fee with Budget. read more

Budget Rent A Car - Budget at Avis counter - Car Rental Near Me - San Jose, California

Worst customer service experience of my life. I lost an item in one of their cars and spent a collective 4 hours over the last 2 days trying to speak to a manager. Every time I call I am routed back to the call center. None of their phone numbers even work and staff refuses to involve management or provide any assistance. I also booked a reservation for $327 and the gentleman at the counter tried to slickly increase my charge to $1018. I had to speak to another employee to actually get billed the correct price. Customer service reps laughed at my issues and spoke down to me in severely derogatory ways. Will never use them again. If there was a rating of 0 stars this is what they would get. Avoid at all costs. Terrible experience. 0/10. read more

30+ minute wait. Only 2 of 5 terminals are open. The scan at counter QR code doesn't work. And A guy in front of me got a $96 ticket because Avis/Budget didn't bother to put an updated registration stamp on his rental car. Zero sense of urgency. And zero responsiveness to long customer queue. read more

Waited 45 minutes and left and went to Alamo. Budget had a long line and only 1 person at the counter checking in. There was a woman behind the counter but was not checking in. Very frustrating. We saved money at Alamo and was out in 15 minutes read more

I waited in line to only be directed to the fast track budget rental box when I arrived at it there was no rental agreement for me, so I waited in another line to only be told to go back downstairs and the lady that told me that I needed to go to the fast track budget box was incorrect so I waited in a total of three lines all because the first lady gave me incorrect information. Plus lovely, word "dick" was written on the inside window on the last row ... this isn't a car that has been thoroughly cleaned. read more

I've rented with Budget and Avis several times with consistently poor results. If you want to wait 30-60 minutes for a vehicle type that you didn't actually reserve, this is the place for you. I rent weekly from different rental companies at SJC and this operation is simply poorly run and inefficient. Avoid if you can at all help it. read more

Super shady operation. I rented through Priceline and paid for the insurance through there, and declined their daily insurance fee at the counter. Left with my car and my receipt that literally stated I declined the $30.99 loss damage waiver. Dropped the car off and they said they'd email me the receipt. We'll surprise surprise, I got charged the $30.99 for the damage waiver and says I accepted it. Tried calling customer service and they were of course closed. read more

Budget Rent A Car - Receipt when I left - Car Rental Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

Terrible services, only two Budget rental car agents for a line of 30 some people, in San Jose international airport.

I reserved and prepaid for a 12-15 passenger Van a week in advance. On the pick up day, they told me they did not have any vans and the best they could do was a 7 passenger. They could not do anything else to help. Absolutely wasted my time and now the other 10 people I was driving need to find alternative transport. read more

Budget Car rental has HORRIBLE customer service. They rent cars that do not have adequate seat belts of the number of seats advertised! Rented a car as I needed more seats to transport my team to San Francisco from San Jose. Reserved luxury SUV. Was given BMW x3. After picking up the last passenger we realized the middle seat belt in the back seat was missing. No time to go back to the airport to change the car. Ended up parking it in a lot and scrambling for a ride to get to the city. Once back returned the car 9hrs after renting it (it was sitting the parking lot for 7 of those 9hrs) only to find out they will not give a refund. After speaking with a very nasty person in customer service they refunded 50% but still had the car back 2 days early. NEVER RENT FROM BUDGET POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND MISREPRESENTATION OF CAR read more