Best rental option at the Des Moines Airport. The rental counters are next to baggage claim. National's cars are located in the lot connected to the airport. Very convenient. Very quick. The return area is covered and has drop and go service. National rates usually include unlimited miles. In my experience they have always been very accommodating to travel / schedule changes. Simple rewards program. Great rates. read more

We had a wild ride with an Enterprise rental! Unfortunately, we were in an accident while in Des Moines. Folks on the phone had us jumping through hoops, thinking we were going to have to pay for a new car even though we had insurance. We arrived at the Des Moines Airport to get our new rental from National Car rentals and Micheal and his team turned our day around. Michael did some digging to help us figure out where everything went wrong and his patience was uncontested! I will probably never be back in Iowa, but I would recommend Michael at the National/Alamo car rentals to anyone! read more

Ok, so it's been pretty well documented: They do NOT have an Emerald Aisle at this location. Regardless of status, you will have to wait in line at the counter. This isn't that out of the ordinary - there are plenty of smaller airports where National is not set up for Emerald Aisle. The problem here is how it is handled by management. On a recent trip to Des Moines, my flight arrived at around 11pm. I went down to baggage claim to collect my suitcase. After about 15 minutes, baggage in hand, I looked around for the sign pointing me towards the Emerald Aisle. That's when reality slapped me in the face in the form of a 10-15 person long line in front of the National counter. The girl at the counter confirmed that there was no Emerald Aisle and that I would have to wait in line like everyone else. So I waited. And waited. It seemed like an eternity (cut me some slack - it was late and I was ready for bed....) but it was actually only about 25 minutes (sure, about 24 minutes longer than what I'm used to. First world problems, yes - I know). When I got to the counter, I was ready to unleash my frustrations on the girl working the counter (I wish I remembered her name!). But she handled the entire transaction with a cheerful smile and sincerely apologized for the inconvenience. According to her, three flights landed at the same time and she was the only one working because it was almost midnight (typically a slow time?). She was very gracious and accommodating. My former aggravation was immediately curbed by her courteous and professional disposition. I was impressed. I have seen folks in similar positions feed off the frustrations of the customers and push back with rude, defiant service. She did not. All in all, the car rental experience wasn't too bad. I give them two stars for not having an Emerald Aisle (it is what it is), but I give one star to management. They KNOW when flights come in and they KNOW how many reservations they have pending, so they should be able to schedule accordingly so this girl doesn't get stuck by herself having to deal with a long line of angry customers. Finally, I give FIVE stars to the girl at the counter, who handled a bad situation with class. If I do my math right, that sort of averages out to three stars. Roughly. In the same situation, as a National Emerald Elite member, I would definitely rent from them again in Des Moines. But I would RUN to the counter as soon as I got off the plane! Note to Management: I'm not sure if you read these comments, but my visit to Des Moines occurred on the night of December 13th. I don't know the name of the girl at the counter but give her a raise. She deserves it! read more

They lied to me, three times - they said they had no cars. I am Executive-level in the Emerald Club and have 4 reservations with them in 3 other cities this month so I do not yelp this lightly. Because of a mix-up, I had no reservation with the Des Moines location on file. I asked the agent if they could find any cars and she said she did not, but that I should try Hertz next door. I asked her if she could check Alamo or Enterprise - she again said there were no cars and that I should try Hertz. I walked away in disbelief - it was a random Sunday night and not one of the three had a car? I had been polite, even nice, but walked away to call the 800 number. "That's funny, I show a lot of cars available" and I had my reservation. I went back to agent at National and again said "are you sure there are no cars?" Agent: "Hertz has cars but we have none." So I moved down 10 feet to National's parent company, still within eyeshot of where she had told me there were none, and picked up my car. I told the story to the Enterprise agent and she looked at her manager in stunned disbelief. Why are they pushing people to Hertz? Is it too much work to create a reservation? Good luck. read more

This is the worst National that I have ever used.......I am an Executive member and I am ALWAYS happy with their service. I love the counter bypass and how I get to choose my own vehicle.....wait not here I landed, went to the rentals, and couldn't find the bypass arrows so then I went to he Executive line.....oh wait there wasn't one. I then cut in line and asked where the bypass was and was rudely told to get back in line. I proceeded to do so, about 15 people deep with only two agents. When I got to the counter I was told that they do not do the bypass and that I would be given a ticket and had to wait for my name to be called....choice of vehicle was NOT an option. While "waiting for my name to be called"; I called corporate where surprisingly to them; there was "nothing they could do" and apologized. After an additional 15mn wait my crappy vehicle arrived, outside no canopy, on a rainy day. I am a huge fan of National but not this one.........people were rude and the process is jacked!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Boooooooooooo, Des Moines! I have been an Emerald Club member for years, and have always enjoyed the speed and convenience of picking a car with their program. I arrived to the airport in Des Moines today, Thursday, at 6:30 p.m. There is no lot where Emerald Club members pick cars and go. Okay, no problem. I will go to the counter. Oh cool. Look. There are 2 National Car Rental counters, and one is just for Emerald Club members. That's awesome. Less awesome though is the fact that they are all closed on a weeknight. WTH?!? I had to wait a long time with a bunch of tense, angry customers in the line at Alamo where one poor employee was trying to handle customers for Alamo, National and Emerald Club by herself. Not renting from National in Des Moines, and if I have this experience one more time anyplace else I am out of the Emerald Club. read more

National Car Rental - Thursday, September 21st at 6:30 p.m. and there is nobody at the National desk or the Emerald Club desk. Neat! - Car Rental Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

No executive pick up or line here but they do try to get you through the line pretty quick. If you're a rewards member and book in advance it makes it much quicker as well. I had a small suv this time (CX5). Nice suv. Had the back up camera and was quite comfy. Didn't have xm radio but that's fine :) Staff was friendly. Drop and go location, so you can drop off before they open (perk for the business traveler!!) read more

I always use National. Friendly service at this airport. It's a small location, there is no Emerald Isle, which is a bummer. But they do at least have an executive line, which is always appreciated. Go online and look for their last minute deals and promotions before renting. When you earn free cars you can use it on any car class. When you get to be Executive Elite, you can pick any car you like when you rent intermediate. read more

Decent car selection for a small airport, friendly service. The cars are located a short walk from baggage claim, no shuttles to take.

Hit or miss. I've gotten some bad cars with them. This time around got a brand new Chevy Suburban. I didn't request an SUV but I got it because they were all out of cars. This suburban had 15 miles on it.....probably the first person to rent it. Fully loaded. Pretty nice read more

I needed to change a reservation. I called the number which went to a call center. They transferred me to a supervisor. I asked for the local number of DSM airport. She gave me the same number I called and she said just hit "5". I did and ended up in another loop without being able to call the local National counter. I called back and they said that was the only number they had. I hung up and searched on the internet and quickly saw every local rental car counter direct numbers in DSM. Extremely dissatisfied. read more

They charged me $66 to extend my reservation from 10:30 pm to 5am. They kept me on hold for 20 min and then I had to speak with Mark employee E502r5, who refused to let me speak with a manager. When I mentioned I wanted to take the customer survey he disconnected me. read more

Thank you, thank you, thank you Des Moines National. Through a series of unfortunate events, a late flight, and a stolen credit card, I found myself with few options at 1am in the morning. Melissa went out of her way to help me, going far and beyond what would be expected. Thank you so much! read more

Amazing service! A special thanks to Pat, and the the level of kindness and customer service she delivered to me. First rate from beginning to end. read more

I felt embarrassed for the counter staff. They're totally set up for failure compared to the other locations with the true Emerald Aisle experience. The line was 15 people deep, waited over 30 minutes just to get the car, and then it had three panels of damage and 3500 more miles than the rental car agreement stated. Somebody from National, please step in and help these folks out they've got to be miserable and they're making you look horrible. read more

I just rented from the National counter at DSM. Needless to say, I was a little more than disappointing. Due to my company, I get instant 'executive' status, and usually pay for one price, and get an upgrade. To get an SUV they were going to charge me an additional $30 a day. I realize that there is no Emerald here, but come on. It was very confusing as well. The agent kept switching terms and asking if it was ok. I was like 'woah, woah'. I ended up with a Sonata that has over 10K miles on it, and hasn't been washed in a good while. Thankfully the satellite works well. read more

Regular weekly National customer expect here at Des Moines airport. Be advised to reserve early. They very, very often are out of cars if you are renting Mon or Tues. read more

This should be a zero but didnt have that option. Shame on you national. I had a reservation to pick up in Minneapolis, MN. My plane was rerouted to Des Moines, IA due to weather as it was unable to land. When calling your reservation department and customer care department, They want to now charge me mileage or a drop off fee to the sum of $1400 as I want to pick up in IA and drop off in MN. My original reservation did not charge mileage. Your service is abominable. The people I spoke with were rude and condescending. I can't believe with me being an executive member who rents cars frequently I could not get anyone to even want to work with me during an already difficult situation. You can bet that I will be taking my business elsewhere. read more

This place doesn't have emerald aisle which makes for a very long wait in the always long line and bad experience. They ran out of the type of car I rented and then they suggested I pay to upgrade. Really?? So much for my loyalty to national car rental. And the cars are not clean on the interior. read more

My flight from Phoenix was originally due to arrive at 11:30pm but got delayed. We arrived at 12:15 and even though their normal hours are only till midnight they stayed open till 12:30 to make sure no one was left stranded. I really appreciate this kind of service, Otherwise I would have been sleeping at the airport and probably missed my morning appointment! read more

I am an Executive Platinum member. Arrived with a reservation booked weeks in advance. One lady working who says "I just got here." Approximately 15 people with reservations already in front of me who are waiting for cars. Why is it so hard to know you've got 20 people arriving at "X" time so you need 20 cars available? Sigh....I am disappointed with this division of a company that usually shines in their customer service. read more

I have been a loyal Thrifty renter, but needed a different alternative for Des Moines since Thrifty couldnt provide what I needed. I can honestly say that National opened the door to take some of Thrifty's business away. From the time I landed until I dropped off my car I was impressed. They had great employees and the email welcome with directions to their rental location was fantastic. Kudos to National and I will check you out very soon! read more

I have to say national has been up to this experience been a good company to rent from however I will not be renting any further from this location. I live in the area and will use another option. I left a garage opener in the vehicle. When we returned home we noticed it of course and called. It was first and as it usual is difficult to get ahold of anyone at the desk so we had to leave a message. We weren't called back until to next afternoon when we were informed we had to fill out a claim to get this back. We have over the last several hours been constantly reminded about protocols. With the claim completed we asked when we could hear back as we needed it by the beginning of the week. The person at the desk stated the only person that has keys to the lost and found is out until Monday. So one person in the whole city of Des Moines has the key. That sounds ridiculous and highly unlikely since it is an airport and I know security has keys. They should have someone on staff during work hours with that access but they say they don't and don't expect to get anywhere on a weekend. The desk person did say she would go across to the garage to see if it was in the rental shack. We asked her to call us back if she found to or not. I then had to call again 5 hours later as she never called back. She said she was only going to call if she found it but it must have gotten locked up. I asked how it got locked up since I dropped it off after the guy who has the keys was gone and she had no answer that made any sense. I asked to speak to her supervisor of which she tried to give me an email. I told her i didn't want an email as I wanted to directly speak to someone. She told me that they have no other number. How do they do any business? I was upset about the fact that they have zero understanding and do not care that a customer is in need of an item and constantly remind people about protocal and procedure and do not actually understand what customer service is. She ended up hanging up on me as she didn't like my tone. In my opinion go to another counter at the DSM airport. Anywhere else will be better service. read more

Awful. I do understand Customer Service have been in the industry for over 20+ years. I have never been involved in such runaround in my life. My fault I did look for best deal on a Dodge Charger for Spring Break rental. Went to pick it up and they do not even have this car or similar in there fleet. Tried to bump me up to a SUV or Crown Victoria which would have gotten 10-15 mpg less on my trip. Girl at Des Moines international Airport was so busy on her phone she didn't care to help me at all. Called corporate and they didn't speak very good English it was a call center over sea's. Thank goodness a guy had been ahead of me in line had the same thing happen to him he stepped down to the Avis line and they got him hooked up immediately . He stopped and told me that they helped him. I followed suit and got a car within 5 minutes. I am a single mom and planned out a vacation with the Thrifty price in my budget. They put a little damper on my pocket by having to go through Avis but the lady there gave me a little price break to help me out. I am unable to believe in this day and age that a company could stay in business doing a service as bad as this. I have since read all reviews on Thrifty since this and have learned to do more back ground on companies. Think I will stick to Avis from here out. read more