Overall satisfied

A very enjoyable car rental self-drive tour

First, the car pickup. Arriving at San Francisco airport at 9 PM, it was quite convenient to take the blue line AirTrain to the rental car center after getting our luggage. Possibly due to the late hour, there were only 2 staff members at the Alamo counter. Though there weren't many customers, they seemed a bit overwhelmed. We had booked a Jeep Grand Cherokee, but it's rare to get that specific car. The staff offered us a Hyundai Santa Fe (not many options in the same price range, and I'm not a fan of Korean cars). Seeing that I had a lot of luggage, they then suggested an upgrade to a Chevrolet Suburban (a massive SUV almost like a pickup truck; it seems rental car companies love recommending American cars, which are big and gas-guzzling and not very popular). I went to the parking lot to check it out. I thoroughly inspected the car and documents and found there was no registration document. The manager spent nearly half an hour trying to locate it with no success. By this time, it was almost 11 PM. The manager, seeing no other option, finally gave us an Infinity QX60. This car had a spacious trunk that fit my luggage, so I agreed to pay the extra $18 per day to upgrade. The whole process took about an hour. Since I had full insurance purchased through QEEQ, Alamo did not try to sell me any additional insurance. Return: I returned the car at Los Angeles airport, where Alamo has a much larger facility and more vehicles compared to San Francisco. The return process was very straightforward and quick. Once you enter the Return car area, staff will direct you where to park, unload your luggage, and leave the keys on the dashboard. A staff member noted the mileage and did a quick inspection before giving me the final receipt. The whole return process took less than 3 minutes. We then took the Alamo shuttle directly to the airport terminals.

The service at the rental counter was average, with a suspicion of discrimination against Chinese customers.

We were assisted by an enthusiastic and humorous African-American lady. She only briefly mentioned additional insurance, and when we declined, she did not push further or show any dissatisfaction. Overall, the evaluation of Alamo is very high.