This post is sponsored by National Car Rental. I’m a paid influencer for them. While they have paid me for this post, the opinions and ideas in it are mine and mine alone. #ad #sponsoredpost
Have you ever been to the Orlando International Airport? It’s a little…chaotic. When you travel a lot for business, like me, you tend to avoid chaos. You want serenity.
It’s not the airport’s fault. Orlando, of course, is the home to Disney and Universal Studios. Which means a lot of families, young children, high school groups, youth sports teams, cruise ship visitors and Disney World vacationers making their way through the airport. I’ve been there dozens of times and there’s always a lot of screaming, tantrums and crying fits. And that’s pretty much from the parents!
That was certainly the case when I visited there recently to speak at a conference. The conference was at a Disney resort, which was about a 45-minute drive from the airport. But I was also meeting a long-time friend for dinner that night. So I definitely needed wheels.
But that’s no problem. I rented a car from National Car Rental. I’m an Emerald Club member!
Have you ever been to Orlando Airport’s consolidated rental facility? It’s organized but very, very busy. Even when renting my car online, I was concerned about how long it was going to take me to get in and out of there. Orlando airport stresses me out. Chaos stresses me out. Sometimes renting a car stresses me out. All I wanted to do was get my car and get out of the garage as quickly as possible and in one piece.
And that’s exactly what happened.
For starters, my National mobile app was a lifesaver. Days before and up to my reservation I received “friendly reminders” via email from National. But the mobile app also allowed me to add the reservation to my Google calendar so there was no chance of me missing out on the information I needed.
Although I booked my car a few weeks before on National Car Rental’s website, the app of course knew all about it and I was notified the minute my plane touched down that my car was ready to go. I was also told exactly where to go to pick up my car (it’s on the first floor of the facility) and that I could head straight to the Emerald Aisle reserved for Emerald Club members. Everything was well-signed and easy to follow. I followed the arrows and…
…there it was! A beautiful 2019 Chevy Impala. As an Emerald Club member, I could have upgraded to a large SUV but I chose not to. Why? Well, I prefer to drive smaller, zippy cars, OK? Plus, I’m a big fan of American cars so the Impala was a perfect choice. Plus, it was – of course – clean, gassed up and ready to roll. And so I did – with just a quick flash of my driver’s license – and was on the road within minutes of arriving. A total piece of cake. Ah, serenity!
I never had reason to contact National during my Orlando stay and that’s a good thing. It means that the Impala drove fine. No breakdowns. No mechanical issues. No funny smells.
And my drop off was even easier. Cutting it close for time – a bad habit of mine – I pulled right into the drop off line, grabbed my bags…and left. No interviews, strip searches or séances. By the time I checked my email an hour later I already saw my receipt in the inbox. It’s also available online as part of my Emerald Club profile.
Something that I find exciting as a business traveler is getting what I pay for, on time and without hassle – it is a huge thing. I know that National Car Rental’s rates are as competitive as anything else out there. But you know what? That’s not my first concern. My first concern is service. Stress reduction. Ease of use. Renting my car from National was simple…and fast. Believe it or not, I may just start looking forward to the next time I visit Orlando!
