I'd give a zero star rating (if possible), 1 is pretty generous, but the customer service and rental experience with National was and continues to be absolute garbage. My family and I rented a car from National while taking our young children to visit their grandparents. The age appropriate car seats I reserved beforehand were not available upon arrival and we were forced to leave the airport parking garage with car seats that were entirely unsuitable for age and size. Management reached out to request feedback on our experience, when we shared what occurred, no response or acknowledgement was ever received from National. After we returned home the company then decides to hit us with claims we damaged the vehicle, total garbage and inaccurate claims. The management team to this date (5 months later) have never responded to my 3 emails about these damage claims. This service provided (or lack there of) is an absolute waste. I do not recommend business with this company read more

rented a car from National at the Sanford Intl Airport June 8, 2023. Inspected the car (body) prior to leaving the lot. Key fob didn't work when trying to access the trunk of the car so we released it manually from inside the car. Informed staff. Staff apologized and offered 1/2 of our taxes on the car would be refunded. We took the car any ways and decided we would use the key manually to unlock the car doors. (left airport 6:18p with car) Proceeded to local grocery store to purchase food items for our stay in FL and also bought a battery (4pk) for the key fob. New battery placed and still key fob didn't work. Proceeded to unlock car door and the key would not unlock the car and the cylinder (lock) on the car came out. Called National from grocery store parking lot. Explained our situation. Someone would be out within 60 min to assist us but we would need to bring the car back to the airport to exchange the car and National would be informed we will be returning car for an exchange. After waiting 20min, received a text someone would be out to assist us within 60 min. waiting another 20 min. Received another text someone would be out within 60 min. This happened 3 times. Called National again. Wanted an explanation why the time keeps resetting. After 2hrs waiting for assistants car was unlocked for us and now we have to drive back to airport. Arrived for the exchange and National had no idea we were returning the car. We had to explain everything AGAIN. Staff apologized. I asked if we would be compensated, staff stated they could only refund the other half of the taxes and we would have to speak to someone after returning the car. From the time we left the airport originally at 6:18p we finally made it to our destination at 11 pm. The night was extremely frustrating, the entire night was a complete loss. Returned car June 15, asked to speak with someone regarding our situation and we were told we would have to call. We called after flying home gave our situation AGAIN. Received call back same day. I believe his name was (Chris). we came to an agreement from Chris I would receive a check in the mail for 175.00 refund. Check arrived within the 7-10 days but ONLY for $100. I have been calling MULTIPLE times. Customer service tells me they will put in an escalation each time and someone should be calling me back. Called again yesterday 7/20 twice. Still NO CALL!! NATIONAL. word of advise. Make sure you are actually checking your cars over before renting them out and also when you say you will be compensating your customer, please stick to your WORD. We travel often and car rentals are always a necessity. Lesson learned for me is to check the Key fob to see if it actually works and will check keys to make sure they actually work. National, you will not be my first choice to rent from anymore in the future. read more

Do not use this rental car company. Customer service was awful had cars and I was at counter but ty old me to come back later

STRANDED, LYING, NO CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! I rented a large car to hold my daughter's 2 wheelchairs. We were in Houston for a wheelchair tennis tournament. I called National before taking a bus over with wheelchairs & luggage, National told us I had a car there waiting. After taking multiple elevators to National, they told us there were no more cars?!? T Swift was in town so they sold all the cars early that day and I'm sure they made a nice profit! We were left without a car & they told us to ride the bus back to find an Uber. We can't take Uber and fit 2 wheelchairs & luggage in a car on a busy night in Houston - that is the reason I rented a car! The National guy lied and told National I was a "no-show"!!! He told everyone to leave National, go back to the airport, get an Uber, and marked us all down as no-shows?! Lying is a terrible way to run a business!! I have called for weeks with a reference number & every customer service person transfers me to the next person or says someone will contact me - THERE IS NO CUSTOMER SERVICE - a complete joke! National DOES NOT stand by ANY reservation made! They will sell out of cars before your plane lands if others want to rent a car - and they upcharge them to make more of a profit! We were forced to rent a car from another company that was charging double the amount of money I had in the "agreement" with National. I refuse to use National again. DO NOT TAKE THE RISK. read more

They never have any cars avaialble. The lot will be full, however no cars will be clean and ready to go. You will wait atleast 45 minutes for a car you already reserved. How about have the extra managers who are standing around go help clean cars? Or maybe hire some extra help? I rent cars most every week for work at the airport... and this ALWAYS happens. Ridiculous! read more

I rent with National exclusively, but this might change for Chattanooga rentals going forward. It seems every time I come to this airport (3x a year), they have a crappy selection of vehicles available. At executive status you get the next level for free, hence if I reserve a compact, I would take a standard. They never have the car classes available. This past rental, they claimed to only have one corolla and 2 SUVs, I didn't want either, but had no choice. I get out to the lot and there are a ton of other cars. Like usual, the car I get in is filthy. The car cleaners need to step up their game here. There is a huge stain that I must go report or risk getting charged with. I rent cars over 30 days a year. However, the rental experience is the worst in Chattanooga. Unfortunately, it's where I visit the most. Time to rent with another company while in Chattanooga. read more

I arrived on a Tuesday evening around 8pm. First, there is no Emerald club aisle. You have to go to the counter. Apparently they were understaffed. There were about 30 people waiting for cars. I had to wait an hour for my vehicle to be ready. First time National has ever let me down. Based on this, I do t recommend the Chattanooga airport location. The reason I use National is so I can just get a car and go. Terrible experience. read more

A solid two stars here - solid because I got a decent car - not my choice, but decent and it was clean and gassed up! Two stars because the person at the desk was an idiot and only knew how to waste my time and tick me off. I am not impressed when there is a line of people and the person behind the desk/counter wants to chit chat with everyone. I'm normally on a timeline that has no extra time allowed for bullshit. I was asked if I wanted a sport car - of course I do - then was told about the added cost for the upgrade - again - I always get free upgrades because of my status with National - but not here. I declined and said that I won't pay for upgrades. To which she asked if I wanted an SUV - again an upgrade cost and again I declined. She must not have paid attention the first time. I finally said - just give me the damn car I selected on my reservation. She said - is a Journey ok - I didn't say much, but thought a lot! When she finally handed me the keys - she said - sorry but I don't know if it's in spot 4 or 14 I cannot tell - can you? OMG - PLEASE - just give me the damn keys! I ventured out - but saw no National signs - why - because Avis has their signs horizontal and National in their infinite wisdom put all of their vertical so one cannot see them from the exit point of the airport - nice freaking touch! A person outside the airport asked if I needed help - he actually sat on the plane I flew in on - I told him I was looking for the National cars and he said - oh just keep walking past the first lot of cars and National is next - both sides. Amazing - I walked and pushed the panic button on the keys to find my car - spot 14 it was. Getting back to the car rental wasn't an easy task either. The airport did such an amazing job, but the car rental signs were crappy! You might as well had a homeless person with a sign then the ones they had. Once I drove around - I spotted where I picked the car up - and guess what - parked it right back in the same spot - 14! Turning the keys in - again - person behind the counter having yet another cheerful conversation with someone on the phone - with no look of ending the conversation - I dropped the keys on the counter and walked away! read more

I agree with Tom D. My husband and I have had similar experiences at this National Car Rental location. There is no incentive to rent from National at this location. No emerald aisle. My husband and I both are executive status. First time we rented from this location was in August 2014. They gave my husband the keys to a car and told him this was it. No choices at all. The key they gave him was to an impala and the car did not even have key less entry. It was a manual key! Since when do you get a manual key for a rental car? I went back in and was really upset. One of the young men was so rude, I told them the HAD to do better than an impala with a manual key and he said that was the best he could do. There was a second young man and he stepped in and said lets look at what we can do. We ended up with a pathfinder and went on our way. My husband has been working in the area and renting weekly from this location. Every time this certain young man with dark hair is working there is an issue. He is just rude as heck, snotty. He will hand you the keys of a hyundai and if you ask if he has anything else he will quickly inform you that they do not have emerald isle and that is the size car you are entitled to. It makes no difference if you are executive level. We have had some good rentals if that young man is not at the counter. The set up is horrible, they give you keys and you have to find the car in the lot among all the other rental companies cars. Imagine doing that without key less entry, we were going around trying to put the key in every impala's door. Crazy. You might as well price check the other rental companies at this airport location. read more

We just wanted to say thanks to the wonderful staff member, Callie, who took care of us during our recent stay. After arriving at 12am instead of 8pm due to weather challenges, we were tired and needed to get to our final stop. We were concerned we would not have anyone to meet with at the rental counter, but Callie was great and stayed late to help the passengers from our flight get rides home. Her willingness and friendly attitude were a true blessing after a challenging start to our trip. Our family believes in providing positive feedback when great service is provided and wanted to thank Callie for helping us. God bless! read more

I have been a National Executive member for a couple years now. Although Chattanooga doesn't have an Emerald Aisle they always accommodate my upgrades when I rent out of Chattanooga. They are in the midst of upgrading the rental car area at the airport to make the rental experience much better. Staff always very helpful in getting what you need. Rented about three times from Chattanooga. My last experience was great. Needed a larger SUV for a vacation trip and they easily fixed my right up. National in general has good car options and now that Enterprise, Alamo and National are one in the same, they will borrow cars from each other as well. read more

Although it may take a while to get to the desk if there are more than two people in line, it is a good experience. They only have one or two people at the desk as it is a small airport. I found myself becoming impatient at times to get my car. There was literally only one person working the counter with two people in front of me. Took much longer than anyone would like. I travel for work and had a two hour drive before a scheduled appointment. As I have said; although it took a while, they are very friendly and courteous when you do finally get up to the counter. They also make sure to apologize for the wait. I have rented from thi location 3 times now and will again in the future. They are also very accommodating if you do not like the car booked. read more

National did not honor my reservation. My flight was delayed at O'Hare. The night representative called me to say that my reservation was okay. However, when I arrived no one was there and the National Reservation was of no service. I am an Executive Elite member who noticed that Hertz and AVIS waited on their people on my flight. National closed their counter even after inquiring. As of today, I have not heard back from the GM after an e-mail was sent. Business travelers take notice. read more

One of the worst car rentals ever. The automobile's previous renter had smoked in it, and National did not remove the odor. They did not offer me an upgrade, only a downgrade as a replacement. I had to make the trip in third hand smoke and it caused voice issues for me that made the event at which I was speaking less than optimal and cost me money. I will use my other rental options in the future. read more

I rented a car out of the Chatanooga airport and the service was excellent! National was the cheapest rental and the car was almost new. (Plus they gave me a free upgrade when they saw my huge suitcase!) I couldn not have asked for more,: speedy service, friendly clerks and cheap prices! read more

National make it easy to do business. I have rented from a other companies but do not find the same benefits or ease of transaction like NATIONAL. Keep up the great customer satisfaction program! read more

I made a reservation ahead of time for a one-way rental from Chattanooga to Atlanta. When I arrived at the counter with my family at 10:30 PM, I was told that they would not honor my reservation since it was for a one-way rental. Although they had cars available, they mentioned that their fleet was supposedly separate and they were only allowing local rentals. So why take my reservation in the first place? Denying a rental while you have cars available is completely unacceptable. I had to rent from another company at a much higher rate. I would like to add that the staff at the counter was very unfriendly and completely unapologetic. I sent an e-mail to the location's general manager and have not received a response so far. This is how you can be expected to be treated if you rent from National, Alamo and Enterprise in Chattanooga as all these brands are managed by the same local affiliate. read more

I picked the car up in Chattanooga and they didn't have the class I reserved. The girl behind the desk was helpful but it is disappointing that I had to take a lower class car. I returned the car to Nashville airport and accidentally left my sunglasses in the car. I called the Nashville location and told them about it but they seemed disinterested and I have never heard anything back from them on whether they even looked or if the glasses were just gone. read more

Does anyone answer the phone here... Emerald Executive member 30 calls in already no answer....

I flew into Chatanooga to visit with my sister who had terminal cancer and the service I received from National was beyond excellant. I could not have asked for better service. I am a Emerald Card member and so they upgraded me for free to an SUV which was perfect to ride around and view the sites. I would recommend National to anyone, anytime. read more

I rented from the Chattanooga Airport this week. The associate at the counter was nice and pleasant but did not know which spot the car was parked in. Not that big of a deal since the area is small and the cars are rather close to the building. The issue is that the SUV was a complete mess! I was running late to a meeting so did not have time to go back for a different car. There was food under the seats and hairbrush left behind at some point. It looked like it was never vacuumed and the seats were a mess. When I returned the SUV I showed the associate at the counter pictures and he was very nice and apologized. I understand that the people at the counter have no control over what the lot people do and do not do but someone should be auditing the cars before renting them. thanks sherry read more

National is very easy company to work with for check in and check out. The car was clean, however smelled like smoker recently had the vehicle. Reserved car through agency (Expedia) and price was compatible to other agencies. HOWEVER, even though car was checked out and returned on time, and only 110 miles was put on the car over three days, I ended up being charged additional $23.00, with no justification for additional fees, as was rented with unlimited miles and fuel tank was filled 5 miles prior to drop off. Doesn't seem to be much, but this appears to be a common practice between National and enterprise, although Enterprise is much worse. read more

I've an Emerald member and have always had a good experience at the Chattanooga Airport. Always friendly and efficient. Only once did I get a car someone had smoked in...I thought they would have taken it out of the fleet until they could have it fumigated. I like the express check in at most major airports. read more

National is always great to me across the nation as a 10+ year Emerald member. While the Chattanooga location does not have the convenient Emerald Aisle feature, I can appreciate the fact that this feature is not cost effective at all locations. My experience was a quick and efficient counter stop with the car no more than a 100 yard walk from the counter. Great Experience! read more