When booking a rental car from this Key West Airport location- NOTE THEY CLOSE @6pm - NO MATTER WHAT !!!! I am sharing my LESSON LEARNED EXPERIENCE in case you, like me, book with budget with the intention of your flight arriving on time, and then it's delayed. The day of our car reservation we were expected to arrive 4pm ish , hours before the 6pm closer. However, storms that day in Key West delayed many flights - taking off and landing ( May 20- 2024). Once we took off, we were still expecting to arrive before the closer time, but when flights landed, we were then stuck waiting to deplane (told the airport only had two ground crew working and another plane was broken down and blocking a slot) Finally after getting off the plane, rushing to the rental counter, everyone who rented with BUDGET was SOL - SH*T- OUT-of - LUCK ! ***I get it, I rented and had seen 6pm, but knew we had hours before then to arrive. I also stupidly thought that when making the reservations, when the Budget website has you key in your airline and flight #, that means they care and will be monitoring should you be late, they'll know and be there for you. Hahahaha joke is on me! To further educate those deciding on who to rent a car with at Key West Airport note this: ***Hertz & Enterprise website's says they both close at 5pm & 6pm, BUT they HAD folks at their counters at 7pm. ***Alamo stays open till 10pm and that's who we ultimately rented from that evening. (We then cancelled our budget reservation). Key West is a tiny airport, it's smaller than Augusta GA. The folks working the car rental counters can see right there where people are coming off their flights. The delays are on the board. The intention of this one star review is: *1st) - Help WARN OTHERS, looking to rent a car at KW airport, and you decide on Budget, KNOW IF YOU ARE DELAYED and arrive after 6pm, you take your chances on being left stranded until the next morning when they open! That is what budget told me when I called their main # - all they could do was tell us to come back in morning! I explained we need to be in the car prior to when they open up bc we have somewhere to go in the morning, that's why we are renting a car for this day, not tomorrow!! They said that's all they could do for us, was tell us to come back to that counter in the morning. I told them Hertz and Enterprise folks were there still and Alamo, WHY couldn't their folks stay? They said Budget closes at 6pm. Ok Got it, loud and clear - so this is why I share this experience bc I hated to see how others looked when they had no Budget car too. *2) I hope the management for Budget Key West counter reads this review and realizes that when it's so stormy, and flights are delayed, make a better business decisions for your customers - pay your folks a few extra dollars to stay a bit over - even an hour or two, you would have had dedicated Budget customers forever - Instead you have a NEVER AGAIN BUDGET CUSTOMER for Key West and possibly all other Budget locations. Even if you don't look at the actual reservation flight details, your team HAD TO HAVE KNOWN you had quite a few folks who had not arrived to pick up their cars!!! We watched others show up looking so drained from flight delays earlier in the day, only to then almost crying because their car rental counter was closed !!! *3). To those needing a rental car out of Key West airport location - please again note ALAMO website shows they are open until 10pm - Hertz and Enterprise websites show they close early 5 & 6pm, but their counters were open later, serving folks that had been delayed on same flight. If you have an afternoon flight, consider there could be delays. Consider the chances you take if you rent with a company that is definitely closing at 6pm. read more

Budget - Weather earlier that day in Key West - Car Rental Near Me - Key West, Florida

I needed to return my car early and Michael gave excellent customer service. Very friendly and got me out of there quickly, i appreciated the service. read more

Probably the best experience we have had with a rental car service. Pick up and drop off were by far the fastest I have ever had. They provided a very nice car, and we enjoyed it very much during our stay in the Keys. read more

Budget's website will allow you to reserve and pay for a car when they knowingly have no cars available. You will not know this until you arrive and will have to scramble to find an alternative, if you can. read more

The situation we had with Budget really had the potential to turn for the worse. Our flight was delayed coming into EYW due to inclement weather. We originally were supposed to arrive at 4:30 but didn't make it until 6:30 (after they closed). I called multiple times in the afternoon, knowing we would be late and no answer. We made other arrangements for that day and went back to the counter at 10:30 am the following day. The line was about 35 people deep when I got there. Stood in line for an hour but NO ONE in line was leaving upset. The counter workers were doing everything to make the customers happy, no one had any attitudes (employees nor customers). I heard them go out of their way multiple times to help others get a rental. I really was pleasantly surprised as I came in expecting a battle. Nice job, Budget! read more

The employees really went out of their way to help me get a car, during a storm that cancelled everyone's flights for the day. I got the last car from the lot and it wasn't even in the lot- it was just returned! They didn't bother wasting time getting it cleaned before asking me if I just wanted to get it and go, to help me avoid the storm. I was totally down for that. The gas tank was full so the car was ready to go. We drove 9 hours home and dropped the car off the next day. The deal they gave me was even cheaper because I returned it earlier than expected. Subsequently I was charged for the tolls but it was totally worth it. The car was reliable, maintained its speed, was sturdy in the wind and torrential rain. It was a Nissan Altima. Pretty new. It wasn't the car type I requested, but it was a car nonetheless and it got me out of key west so I could get home and be at work the next day. Because I booked an SUV and they didn't have one, they cut me a nice deal. This is true customer service. They totally could have capitalized on my need for a car. But instead, they provided outstanding customer service. Thank you! read more

This rental is for a pick up during spring break only, I will be dropping off the car somewhere else Everything about this process went very quickly the car rental counter was easy to find they were helping people fairly quickly and to get my car only took about five minutes. I walked out to my car and it was a nice car and there's no shuttle or anything like that and I was on the road in 10 minutes I'm sure not everyone has the same experience but this was actually better than my pick up from Alamo on the way down. read more

Reserved a car in January, when I arrived in Key West I was told they couldn't rent me the car because my license was no good. I am a 57 year old man who never ever had an issue with my drivers license. So my wife attempted to rent the same car, which was going to be 350 dollars more than my original reservation. Everything was moving along when they told us they were out of cars, and than informed us that my wife's license was also no good, I told them they had a glitch in their system to no avail. Something VERY strange going on here, do NOT use them and I intend on going further with this situation, and this is not our first or final trip to Key West, but I feel slighted by the way we were treated. read more

I would give this only one star but the lady working was very kind and handled the pressure of the job well. We dropped a car off a couple minutes before closing - no receipt was given. We accidentally left a bag in the trunk, and went back a couple minutes after they were closed and they were gone. We called about 20 times a day trying to get ahold of someone to get our lost items. They do not answer their phone!! Went back a couple days later to rent a car again and of course they said they didnt have it. Not to mention, we waited over an hour to pick up our car and there was only a handful of people in front of us. The car we picked up had trash still in it. And make sure you make your reservations days ahead of time or else they wont honor your reservation even if it did let you online. I would not rent a car from here again. read more

We called to rent a car on 11/7 for the following day. They stated there was a car available and allowed us to book the reservation, only to uber there and find out they actually didn't have any cars available. In fact, multiple customers were awaiting car arrivals; and we were told we could join a "wait list" for available cars as they get returned to Key West. This significantly impacted our travel plans as well as two other friends I was traveling with. It's not acceptable to allow people to book car rentals that are not physically available. On top of that, you would think we would be automatically refunded for our rental, but we were not. We still had to waste more time, and call Budget for our refund. We should have also been refunded for the Uber we took to your facility only to find out our reservation was worthless. This type of thing should never happen. read more

I'm giving them a 1 because I can't give them a 0 ! The agent at the key west airport office was rude, nasty and acted as the customers bothered her! I called to pick up car they said open at 7 am, got there they open at 8am, then at 7:55 am she said She wouldn't be ready till 8:45 am .. just plain rude! Oh and every time someone can to desk she'd try to convince them to go to Alamo ! It was crazy. To make matters worse when she finally gave us our car which we had reserved, it had a dead bird in the grill and expired license plate and was dirty. read more

I had a reservation , the plane got delayed and when I got there at 6:05 they were already gone. Who closes at 6!!! at an Airport. thanks to Enterprise our trip was salvaged. never gonna give you another chance Budget read more

Very nice brand new Ford Edge. Would have been nice when we picked up the car for a one-way trip we were told the car should be returned to the car rental at the airport at our destination city. Paperwork address was not the airport car rental facility. Almost missed our flight because we tried to return the care at the address in the paperwork. Big mistake on our part. Also thought for a one way trip the price was a bit high. read more

Be warned!!! They added in full coverage even though we told he we declined. They rushed us through the check out (we should've know better too) and so we didn't check all they added. There was no one there to return the car to so we used the key drop. They then charged us over $70 saying the tank wasn't full, we had just refilled it. All in all the rental was nearly 3 times the amount we were expecting. I am not sure what is going on at this place but they rushed us out then had no one to talk to when we returned it. Be very aware with this place, it loos to us that they will try to get extra $$$ anyway they can. Not very honest read more

Never prepay for a reservation for the chance to save $3 per day. I learned the hard way that if you end up having to cancel the reservation from a prepaid version, you lose a minimum of $50 and typically $150 in a cancellation fee even if you let them know you can't be there for the pickup. Prepay = STAY AWAY. if you just have a regular reservation and did not show, no charge. I am a budget corporate user and we rent pretty often.... read more

Small airport so it wasn't hard to find the rental counter. I am a Fast Break customer with Budget so I never have to stand in the regular line but there was only one other customer there. I walked up said my name and they handed me the key and said the car was parked in spot 124. I walked out and found the spot but what I was surprised about that it was an Avis parking spot. It was the car I had requested so I hit the unlock button on the key fob and it opened, I guess it was my car, if not I was in trouble. LOL So there was no exit gate that I am used to going through at airports which kind of surprised me but I was on my way. Returning was also a breeze. I parked it back in the same spot I picked it up for, Whew no cops so I guess I was ok. Walked right in the door and dropped the key in the box as it stated. Man it was an easy pick up and drop off. read more

Avoid airport rentals, at KeyWest ESPECIALLY Budget I had reaerved a vehicle and showed up at the counter but found nobody for 2 hours. I finally caught an Uber and found other rental outside airport. read more

If I could give zero stars I would. The employees here didn't want to help me and my friend out at all when we were trying to rent a truck, they don't accept debit cards for some weird reason but allow reservations on them. That makes no sense. Two the employees at the kiosk don't have any customer service skills, they won't explain company policy and seem like they could care less about they're jobs or the customer base for this business, bad customer service ruins any company no matter how large. Please don't waste your time with this business, go somewhere else. read more

They rent cars, then all employees go home for the night. Arriving Key West visitors are stranded. Where's my refund ? And cab fees? Almost lost my hotel room due to late arrival.... From now on I'll drive from Miami, and skip Key West! read more

Arrived today, had prepaid for VW Jetta or similar. Waited a bit (we were 30" earlier than 3:00 time reserved). The Budget representative said they only had a Jeep Wrangler available and he didn't know when another car would be ready. Did we want to "try" that? Sure, we'll try it. So we wrestled the golf club case and suitcases in and drove to the rental house. Immediately we decided we've tried it and we don't like it for a variety of reasons. So we call the rep and he says there's nothing he can do. He doesn't know when another car will be available. (Wait. If we rent a car for x number of days and we are to turn it in at a certain time, don't they know when a particular car is going to show up)? Anyway, so after talking with him about 10" and getting nowhere, we hang up and call the corporate headquarters and after about another 10", the gist is, go back to the Key West location and see what they can do. So we're going tomorrow and I'll update this after we know the resolution. Terrible customer service. I'm not optimistic. We've reserved another car at Enterprise Just in case. And we'll never rent from Budget again. The KW guy basically said they had reserved more cars than they had available. What?!? They actually had 4 more people waiting for cars they had reserved and there were NO CARS AVAILABLE. Mercy. UPDATE: Today, 12-4, we went back to the Budget place at the KW airport at 3:00 pm., which was 24 hours of rental. Said we had "tried" the Jeep Wrangler and it wasn't working. The young woman behind the counter at Avis (Avis and Budget are operated together) was professional, prompt and without questioning, gave us the kind of car we had reserved (sedan, 4 doors, mid-size, I think). Color me pleased and surprised! Maybe it was just the people we were dealing with yesterday? Don't know but happy with the outcome, Will we use Budget again? No. Will we pre-pay for a car rental again? No. read more

Budget: you lost a loyal customer to make miserly $36.10. I hope it was worth it. It is only matter of time before a customer protection organization brings a class law suit against you for your predatory billing practices. BEAWARE: Budget extorting $$$ from customers a week after the car return. I returned the car with FULL tank. Budget accepted the car and gave me a receipt showing tank was full (see attached receipt). I got a $36.10 bill for 3 gallons of fuel a week later. When I called the 1-800 number on the bill to ask why I am billed for fuel, considering I returned the car with full tank and I have Budget issued receipt to prove it. The answer I got was that it was my word against theirs and there was nothing they can do to resolve this without a receipt for the fuel. I discarded the gas station receipt when I returned the car and got a receipt from them showing the tank was full. read more

The airport in Key West, FL is pretty small, for those who don't know. So, the car rep, Scott F. (I think he also works for AVIS [i think]) was really great. I was a little slow on the uptake with my Toyota, pushing the gas instead of the break with the start button in the car (despite the fact that I've rented a car like this before), so he gave me Nisson, which after a moment's drive I realized didn't work for me, so I sheepishly came back and asked for the toyota again, which he very graciously arranged for me. The car was great, and Scott was great. A very great experience with the company. Look for Scott F. when renting a car at the Key West, FL airport. I was impressed. read more

If I could give negative stars I would. Never in my life have a seen something so disorganized. The employees are painfully slow and baffled by everything. They were incredibly over whelmed with 4 people waiting for cars.. read more

Terrible. The employees were nice but the car stunk like wet dog. I paid online then when i picked it up, i had a $100 hold on my account which is returned when the car is returned. I returned the car with a full tank, as stated in agreement and I see a $100 deduction on my checking account. Called national customer care and the employee was an idiot at his job. He wanted me to screen shot my bank account and email it to them showing both deductions. Was not a help at all and made me have to do all the work instead of just looking it up and talking to the local budget place regarding it. read more

Marcus was awesome and really helped us out. We all know rental car companies are awful and pinch out every possible cent with hidden fees and extra charges and I'd say Budget on the large scale is no different...HOWEVER one guy gave me a little faith that there might be a little humanity in rental car companies. I started having mechanical issues with a car I picked up elsewhere. I did not feel comfortable driving this car back up north several hours but I was told to drop it off in Key West would cost and additional $300! After several phone calls I was told to drop it off in Key West no charge. Obviously the waived fee was not documented on my account or relied to Key West location and there was no manager on duty to waive the fee when I dropped the car off. Marcus, the customer service guy, said "I'm have to charge it now but I promise I'll have this taken care of tomorrow". And he did! He was super nice, no hassle, seemed happy to help. He called the next day to let me know the extra charges were taken off. Give Marcus a raise! read more

Our flight out of Key West was cancelled due to weather so we decided to drive to Ft. Lauderdale to catch our connector. While booking, my husband explained the reason for the need and in passing asked about a military discount. The attendant excused herself and returned a moment later to say her boss authorized an upgrade at no extra charge. We really appreciated this extra touch, especially in the middle of an unexpected snag in our travel plans! read more

I have rented from Budget many times in the past. Went online to reserve a car 2 months before our trip, printed out rental web page that said "YOUR BOOKED" through the AARP website. The total $ amount and the days of the rental were on the page, along with pickup location and drop off, pretty standard stuff for car rental (done this many times) Got to Key West no car and they didn't have any cars nothing they could do. Did I have a confirmation number... No I did not, it was blank on the area it was suppose to be, wasn't on the email I printed for some reason computer glitch I guess. Budget was no help at all the girl behind the desk was rude and indifferent even though I showed her the emails showing I should have a car. They had no cars to rent at all ....I ending up going to another counter and renting a car at AVIS for $350.00 MORE for the week than what I should have paid. I will say AVIS was very helpful even though their rates were high. Sent an email to Budget asking for some help, all I got was the standard BS about we appreciate this and that, but no offer of any credit or discount in the future. Cant say it was all their fault I should have checked the email better but ... I WILL NEVER RENT FROM BUDGET AGAIN! They just lost a customer read more

Great customer service and a pleasant staff. I will definitely be using them again for all my business rental needs.

Hi Folks, I never post BAD reviews but this is just fraudulent and misleading. I would have given this place 0 but I had to select one. Do yourself a favor and stay away from Budget rental car, especially the Key West Airport location. Some time ago, I found a deal via trip advisor for a wkly car rental for a set price if I prepaid online. So, I booked online. This was great because I could select all my options online and read ALL the fine print. I DECLINED the options, coverage etc. Obviously, the appeal being the wonderful price and ease of doing all the paperwork online. I chose the key west airport location because of convenience and them boasting that the whole process would be less than 5 minutes. Also, tell me if I'm wrong, when you pay first for something, you should just be able to pick it up right? And this is how it sounded to me too... Now here's the FRAUDULENT, MISLEADING, KNOWINGLY SHADY, SCUMMY part... Our day of pick up came. We were greeted by an unfriendly rude lady. I told her our names and let her know that I had already selected all my options and prepaid online due to a special. She anxiously rushed us through the paper portion saying sign here initial here etc. She asked for our license and my credit card. Again I said, we don't want anything extra and that I had already prepaid online. She said yea, yea ok, she just needed it to hold until we returned the car etc. We returned from our trip and incurred another charge from Budget... almost equivalent to the initial price. I just thought it was the hold and that they would refund later on. 2 months later the charge had never been refunded. I called budget call center and inquired about this charge... they said that it was insurance coverage that was paid for in Key West on the day of pick up? I said I already prepaid and did this paperwork online and declined all the options before our trip. The representative said I should have read the fine print on the day of pick up. Anyway i've learned my lesson and won't be wasting any time with this company. Also don't bother thinking you are saving yourself time by booking online because regardless when you go to pick up your car you'll have to reread the fine print again at which point your shady service person will add 200 dollars worth of insurance that 1) you already declined online and 2) Will not tell you she added. How does prepaying for a service in full change upon arrival? I paid double because I did't read the fine print. Budget is preying on you to not look and making you feel like you can just pick up the car. Taking trusting people and scamming them! Take my advice and use another Rental service. Note BUDGET/AVIS are one and the same! read more

OH MY. Where do I start? I booked a 'package' which included a car with a 24hr. reservation hold for my car. I arrived on 3.10 after a LONG day of flying and NO CAR. 'Sorry. We're busy. You'll have to wait till one comes in." Say What?! I'm not waiting 10 seconds- give me a car. (I could SEE other car keys on the board.) I called my 'package provider only to learn because it was a package (PRICE LINE, by the way- NEVER BOOK WITH THEM. Hidden fees all over the place.). Price Line 'strung me along' having to 'escalate' my issue. Budget refused to refund my money because I"d booked a package By the time I finally got someone from PriceLine on the phone (30 min. later) a car just 'happened' to show up. And off I went...But NOT before they 'sold me' the $300.00 for collision 'Florida requires it'. Only later returning the car do I read that I am NOT REQUIRED to buy the collision. Budget and I are about to have a 'discussion' about proper fulfillment. NEVER RENT from these people. They DON'T keep their word! NEVER package with PriceLine. WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!!!!! read more