Three stars seems about right and may be a little generous. All the other reviews are from dopes who clearly didn't read the fine print or don't have a concept of tolls. Let's start with the good: It's aptly named. Definitely the cheapest car rental place out of ALB. I got a pretty new, clean, Nissan Sentra. Unlimited mileage. When I brought it back there were no hidden fees. I paid exactly what I was told it'd be. Now the bad: No counter at the airport itself. You have to wait outside at the taxi stand for the shuttle. This sucks in the winter (though I will say the wait was short and they did drop me right at my airline when I was flying back). The actual office is very cramped. There are desks right next to the counter. The guys were all playing grabass right in front of the customers. Ugh. They didn't walk around the car with me to check it out. They just pointed me in the direction and said where it was. Also it'd be nice to know how to work the radio and where all the controls are and such. The point is you get what you pay for. If you're a cheapskate like me you might not mind this agency. If you want to spend more money on a better agency you'll probably be happier. Also, pay attention to the fin print! read more

Thrifty Rent A Car - There's about 2 inches between the counter and the door and people's desks right next to the counter. - Car Rental Near Me - Latham, New York

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First, when I came off the airplane I didn't see a Thrifty counter at the airport. That's because there isn't one. You have to use the courtesy phone to call an extension and then they come and pick you up to take you to an off-site rental place. After being stuck in airports all day, this did not make me happy. Then, paying with a debit card isn't good enough. You also have to provide a major credit card OR proof of your returning flight. I had to get out my laptop and sign into my email to be able to show proof of my return flight to get my car. Again, I was not happy. This was the most inconvenient way of renting a car that I have ever experienced. Next time, I will pay more or get an Uber. Dang it, don't be Thrifty! You deserve better. read more

When one is renting a car out of town, there are a few things you want: speedy check in and check out, a clean vehicle, and no surprises. First things first: online rental: easy. Get to the airport, and learn that the Thrifty lot is offsite--no big deal, lots of places are like that, though that would have been helpful to know with the email confirmation, which would have been easy enough to do just by including it in the email. Once we learned this (from one of the other car rental agencies there in the airport), we were directed to a bank of phones by the luggage carousel, the kind one often sees to summon the courtesy shuttle. OK. Wait--there is a giant sign by the Thrifty phone saying the phone doesn't work, call such and such a number, sorry for the inconvenience. I might believe they were truly sorry if the sign didn't look like it had been there for about a year, which signals to me that customer service is not something I can look forward to. I call the number from my cell, guy says they will be there in about ten minutes, wait outside. We wait. And wait. And wait. Every other shuttle that has ever served the Albany airport comes by two or three times. Tick, tick, tick. FINALLY the van shows up, guy gets out, opens the back door--nary a glance or a 'how de do'--waits for me to toss my luggage in. When it became clear that I wasn't going to do this, he deigned to lift them and THROW them in. We ride back to the car lot--I think that it's going to take a while, since the van took about a year and half to get there. (It was about five minutes.) The entire trip was done in stony silence. In fact, the fellow who picked us up, didn't utter one single word from the moment he stepped out of the van to the time we landed at the car lot. Dude--a little common courtesy goes a long way. You don't have to be my best friend, but a nice 'hello,' 'where you from?' blah blah blah, makes one feel welcome; surliness and a gruff attitude certainly does not incent me to use your company again for my auto rental needs. Nor does it make me crack open my wallet and throw down with a tip, which I always do--not this time. And, the vibe in the office was realllllly a downer--I've been in cheerier funeral parlors. How about some music, maybe a water cooler, something to liven the place up a bit, make the customers--who have just spent five minutes of their lives with the Unfriendliest Human In The World--feel like they are valued customers, not somebody who can't wait to get the keys and skedaddle out of there before you're sucked into the Black Hole of Despair. The car was fine. If you live in a state that has an I-Pass, bring it with, as otherwise you'll be VERY unpleasantly surprised a couple of week after the return and your credit card is dinged with all sorts of charges in addition to the tolls. Our return on the shuttle to the airport was thankfully driven by a different chap than the one who brought us there--young African American guy, who was very friendly. I certainly don't disparage Thrifty as a viable rental agency, but it would behoove them to pay attention to the details that matter: 1. Let the customer know that their site is a van ride away on the email confirmation, and provide the number to call. 2. FIX THE PHONE IN THE AIRPORT! 3. If you say it's going to be ten minutes to be picked up, make it EIGHT MINUTES, not half an hour. 4. Give the employees a lesson or two in customer interaction. Happy customers are return customers! read more

We booked a standard SUV (Hyundai Santa Fe or similar) through a third party. We were pleased to receive a Jeep Grand Cherokee with less than 3,000 miles and loaded with option (panoramic sunroof, 4X4, Sirius satellite, navigation, etc. etc.) The staff treated us as if we were members of their elite service program regardless of how we booked. The gentleman that checked us in , Derek, was awesome! He offered to upgrade the vehicle, to either a Chrysler 300 or a Jeep Wrangler, for the very reasonable rate of $20 additional a day. We were extremely happy with the Grand Cherokee, so while we didn't upgrade, having the option to do so was nice.. This was the third time that we have rented from this location during the busiest time of their tourist season. We have always had an efficient and great experience. The office is about a 3-5 minute shuttle ride around the corner from the airport but the shuttle is prompt and the drivers are friendly and courteous. The money you save is well worth having to take the shuttle. We had to pay extra ($3.25/day) for an additional driver but we were expecting that as I was unable to add a driver through the third party that we booked through. Overall a great experience that helped start our vacation off the right way! read more

Worst customer service experience ever. Tried to modify my rental (after being told by Thrifty 800 number that it had to be done in person) so I went to this location. Big mistake...Aunje, the person behind the counter, told me the 800 number rep had "lied to me," and it couldn't be done. It went on from there. He actually said he didn't care and sarcastically said "Good luck," when I said I'd be contacting his manager. Although upset about not being able to modify, I was even MORE upset by how rudely I was spoken to by this person, who seemed to enjoy being unpleasant and unhelpful. There were other employees who witnessed this exchange who did try to help me. Gail, from a back office was particularly nice as was a driver whose name I did not get. I will be in touch with Scott Maynard, the manager of this location and Thrifty corporate... but pay attention to the reviews about this place and rent your car elsewhere! read more

STAY AWAY! An awful experience from start to finish. The ONLY redeeming quality was our shuttle driver. He was friendly and helpful, but when we arrived at the off-airport location and entered the tired, run-down facility it all went downhill quickly. The very UNFRIENDLY counter agent basically ignored the fact that we had a reservation, even though we gave him our confirmation number, and tried to put us in a small SUV. I informed him that we had reserved a 4 wheel drive Chevy Tahoe (or similar). We had specifically reserved 4WD so that we wouldn't have to worry about the snow. We also required a 7 passenger vehicle. It's what I reserved and paid for! He looked at me and stated unapologetically, "We don't have those vehicles." Well, you need to inform corporate because I booked it through your website!! He reassigned us a much smaller and older vehicle, at a much higher price than we had originally booked. When my husband refused to pay a higher price for a inferior car the agent said he'd have to get approval to charge us a lesser rate. He disappeared for about 10 minutes. When he finally reappeared he just went straight to his computer and began typing away. No update on the outcome of his request, no apology, nothing. He just had the computer spit out a contract at a lesser rate and that was it. He wasn't wearing a name tag, nor was there a name plaque on the counter. I asked him twice for his name, but he simply ignored my request, so I've included his photo. Dude, you have NO business working in a customer service oriented field!!! When we got in the car, it was dirty and smelled of cigarette smoke. The vehicle didn't have 4WD, didn't seat 7... it basically was NOTHING like the vehicle we had originally reserved. Save yourself time, money and frustration; rent from another company. Enterprise was only a few dollars more for the vehicle we had originally reserved. read more

Thrifty Rent A Car - Car Rental Near Me - Latham, New York

Mr Brooks this is for you man you treated me like u was the bully on the school playground because u couldn't come out to recess I don't think u have good customer service at all Wish there's a camera to show ur responses read more

Do not rent from this place. It's NOT at the airport. Every other car rental place is conveniently on site at the airport. Not this one. No easy way to call the place from the airport. We waited for a shuttle for several minutes and none appeared. We spent more time searching Google for a local number to call. When we found one, we called. They said they would send a shuttle. A small minivan (not a full size van or shuttle) appeared several minutes later. It didn't have enough room to transport the three of us as well as another family. Pretty beat up van. We let the other family go ahead of us and cancelled our reservation. With such bad customer service on the front end, we didn't want to have all the hassle when we returned the car. Avoid this place. Pick any other rental place and skip the hassle. read more

Did a priceline bid on rental car and got this place again. No problems what so ever. Professional, efficient, I was picked up at the airport and in my car quickly. Very much improved read more

The cars are newer and well maintained. I've rented multiple times from Thrifty and have always got the car I wanted. They recently added airport drop-off which saves a lot of time. For the rental cost, I can look past little inconveniences such as calling for shuttle pickup. The shuttle is always moving and they're only 5 minutes away so the wait is very short. The staff is respectful and helpful. The one location serves two rental agencies so they often appear quite busy. However, I had to dock one star since they're incredibly difficult to reach by phone. Very frustrating when you need to upgrade/extend rental time. Took two and a half days of constant calling to finally reach someone. Take the one-star reviews with a grain of salt. The rental agreement clearly states they're off-site and to use the shuttle marked "Thrifty". read more

I got in late but Moe picked me up and had a brand new car for me, much better than what I'd reserved. I had an issue with my credit card.. he was super patient and helpful in getting it straightened out. I had used the Albany Thrifty in the old location many times, but this new location is right across the street from my motel. It couldn't be more convenient. Just wish there was restaurant there too! Moe's great and I will continue using Thrifty. read more

Not actually at the airport. Plan in an additional 30 minutes or so each way for their shuttle bus shenanigans.

Called to make sure my cars were there, we were renting 2 SUV's preferably Yukon we were told they were there and available, by the way we had reservations. Waited for the shuttle for 1/2 Hr and when we got to office there were no SUV's available. The only thing they had were 2 Mini Vans, it was 1:00 in the morning and we had no choice but to take the Mini Vans. Returned the cars a week later and asked for a rate adjustment, no such luck, also mention that when we picked up the cars 1 of the Mini Van's was not full of gas. One of the worse customer service representatives I have ever seen really didn't care. Don't was you time or money. read more

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!!! I paid for this rental IN FULL back in February 2019 through cars.com. I called the general number when I hit the ground for my layover in Philadelphia to let the reservations department them know I would be landing 2hours later than originally planned. The representative told me thrifty cancelled my reservation back in March 2019 and had ZERO idea as to why nor did I get a notice. In fact, on Wed July,31st I got an email from cars.com for my reservation reminder. I asked to speak with a manager and none were available and got transferred to a CLOSED customer service line. "There are no cars available to give to you" This was the mantra I heard from the representative from thrifty and the cars.com representative. The Thrifty representative did not offer me a refund and I have to wait up to 7 business days to receive my refund since there is nothing available. So the solution was to go to enterprise last minute where I am paying about $300 more because of the inability to tell me about this cancellation 6months ago. read more

Booked a regular car a couple months in advance for a reasonable rate. Their shuttle picked us up at ALB airport and took us for the short (5 min?) drive to the business location. We were able to add an extra driver for $3/day at the counter. Moe was on the counter and really helpful & chatty with directions and advice. We had a Kia Forte with low miles in new condition. There were a few scratches near the trunk when we picked it up and Moe told us not to worry about them. I took video of the car before and after, just to be safe based on other people's experiences at other rental agencies, but there were no quibbles about the condition of the car on return. Their shuttle took us back to the airport as soon as the return was done. Overall a good experience. read more

I don't know whether to point to Thrifty or Carrental.com but I leased a car for 13 days in August 2019 through carrental, even got a confirmation from Carrental.com. For $400. Got to the airport to get the car and was told Thrifty no longer resides there and there was a computer glitch and the lease (including confirmation) were totally worthless. I was quoted over $1,000 for another lease. The man at the Dollar station did find something in the range of $500 from Hertz, thankfully. Infuriating. read more

DO NOT RENT HERE! YOU WILL REGRET IT. They didn't have my rental upon my arrival & tried to push me into a much much older model with higher miles. The inside was filthy & stunk of cigarette smoke. The vehicle was just used & abused. I tried to make a complaint & here it my take on things: Paul the District Manager is a clueless & ignorant person with no sense of customer service whatsoever. He didn't care about the situation & basically said that. The "managers" appear to be high school students, also with no sense of customer service. Just there collecting a paycheck, also did not give a damn about the customer in the end. Pathetic Hertz owns Thrifty & Dollar. They are a joke read more

Stay away. They are not located at the airport, very deceiving. There is no obvious way to contact the local office to send a shuttle. The 800 number provided no help other than to confirm that I had a reservation, the obvious. Very disappointing. read more

This place is the worst car rental spot ever dealt with. Lies and traps, manger Kevin Lee NO HELP! Other options at Albany and use anybody but this ONE! I would even take a horse and buggy! This place says anything to get you in a car and then sticks it to you when returning the car! read more

Worst experience renting a car ever. I rented a Chrysler 300 online and when I showed up they said they don't even carry the vehicle at that location. I asked them to just give me a economy car then and that would be fine. Instead they insisted they had to make me pay the luxury price for a car that was not even close to a Chrysler 300. They had me come back to the store multiple times and each time they did not fix the issue. I called their help desk and they said to go back to the store and they could fix it. At the store they sent me back to the help desk. They repeated this process 3 times costing me time and gas without ever fixing the problem. They were rude and had terrible customer service. I have not once had such a bad experience with a rental car company where I actually took the time to write a bad review but yes this company is that bad. On top of all that you have to pay for your own uber to get to the airport because they don't have a shuttle for early flights out of the airport but claim to be part of the airport. read more

We would not ever use this location again. They are NOT located at the airport but about a mile or so away (past a jail and juvenile detention facility) that we were not going to walk past at 4 o'clock in the morning! No shuttle that early and we had a 5:30 flight! We ended up having to call a cab to get us back to the airport for the flight which is just so ridiculous! Don't call yourself an airport location if you're not AT the airport or offer shuttles the entire time flights are departing and arriving. Also no trash cans to throw little things out with at their location and out of envelopes for the key drop. Avoid them!!! read more

We were a bit concerned that we would need extra time for a shuttle as the office is not in the airport. The shuttle was there when we arrived and on our return we were taken back very quickly as well. The car had fewer than 4,000 miles on it and drove quite well as we headed to Hudson,NY. Prices were very competitive. We would rent again from them. read more

No stars! Have used Dollar and Thrifty in many locations and only have good things to say. But NOT at this location. Landed at Albany International Airport and tried to take a cab to the off premise location, they couldn't drive me. I have to take the Thrifty shuttle. Finally found the telephone for the shuttle, kept ringing BUSY and after 5-6 tries gave up and called the 800 number...they could only confirm my reservation but NOT HELP get that shuttle to pick me up! I've booked cars off premise all the time now, because it's cheaper and usually a little more effort but never this difficult. Luckily, had a second car rental reservation with Hertz on airport premise. Employees were very polite, helped me with my luggage and offered me water. Got a really nice VW Passat from Hertz and they treated me like the valued Gold Club member, that I am! Next trip to Albany will definitely skip Thrifty and reserve with Hertz! read more

I returned my rental car an hour late due to unforeseen circumstances. My initial bill was $182 and was now told by Joe who was at the counter that I'm being charged $15.99 for late fee and my bill is now $321. Joe was especially very unhelpful and rude. It was appalling! He went to get the manager, Gabriele who thoroughly gave me the lecture of my life about not abuse the grace period then asked me for my initial bill only to find out my rate had been increased by 100%. Only then did she make some adjustment with additional lectures to me about reading my contract because the rate can change at any time if the car is returned late. I have never had such a horrible experience at a car rental! You guys are the worst in my book.. And, this is my first time taking to social media to vent read more

Super friendly staff all around! Great rates and my vehicle was clean and smoke-free. Shuttle service was quick. No problems whatsoever with check-in or check out. I would definitely recommend these guys! read more

Waited 40 minutes at airport for shuttle. Called three times. Finally bailed and rented from enterprise. Finally saw thrifty shuttle after we were getting in our enterprise car. And they beat the price. read more

Their hours aren't posted here so I'll do the honors. As of now 12/5/15, their normal hours are: Sunday-Friday: 5:30 AM - 1:00 AM Saturday: 6 PM - 8 PM Service was okay. I use them often because they are cheap, so I can give you a brief run down of all my experiences. Tip 1: You have to call using a courtesy phone located in baggage claim area to get their Shuttle to come. THEY ARE NOT IN THE AIRPORT. (I called their 1800 customer service line and they told me it came every 15 minutes, but it doesn't.) Tip 2: I would use a credit card to avoid the MANDATORY credit check for debit cards AND make sure you have money to cover the initial hold on your card. Tip 3: Prepaying for a rental car is tricky. Don't do it unless you have to! You're better off paying at the counter. Tip 4: Arrive on time for returning. Rates are good unless you come very late. Call in 24-hours before the return date to extend or else you'll get smoked with a late penalty (small print says the rate MAY change if you come late). Tip 5: It's not advertised but there is a underage fee for anyone under 25. It's expected but it's not well-advertised, just like how there isn't any signs in the airport for them. 1. The first time I used them, I didn't know that and I looked around for them and waited out of the airport for 30 minutes before someone told me to use the phone to call them to send a bus. It's not a far trip, about 3-4 minutes away. It's kind of hassle-some to take a shuttle, but for the price, I'm fine with waiting. 2. I use my Visa credit card because I was told that the deposit for the renting the car is less, about 15% on top of the rental vs. my MasterCard which is like $350, and I can pay with cash or my debit card (w/o doing a credit check) when I return. They won't let me use my debit card as a credit card, so I bring my spare credit card just for this. 3. Their website makes it seem like it's cheaper but I still have to pay taxes on it and I think it may be the same price. Plus, I tried it once and it's hard to modify the reservation and they don't refund the entire amount back to you if you cancel. I just use the pay later option for my own convenience. Overall, their selection of cars aren't bad. I rent a lot for business travel, so I'm not picky with what I drive, as long as I get from point A to point B. Some cars have the typical wear-and-tear, a few scratches and dents here and there, so I make sure I take pictures. I don't really expect the cars to be in pristine condition, since it is a rental car after all. Whenever I get a smokey smelling car, I tell them and get them to exchange it for something else with no trouble. I'll use them again, but if I feel like wanting to drive a flashier car, I'll try some place else. read more

When I dropped off the vehicle a day early they accused me of smoking in it and they told me the car had been hit. His exact words "air neutralizer, dead giveaway, dead giveaway. And the car was hit on the right side." Needless to say what he was looking at was streaks of water/dirt from the rainstorm we had Thursday which I wiped off in front of him. I will not be back. read more

I've rented here 4 or 5 times and have always had a good experience. The shuttle drivers are good and polite, check in/out is efficient, and never a hard sell on the insurance, gas, or up-sell. They're only about a mile from the airport and the shuttle is pretty responsive when you call for a ride. read more

Rented car for seven days. Arrived and after spotting a small sign on the counter describing tolls asked, "How does it work?" Rental agent said, you can pay cash or there could be an PlatePass on your car. No explanation about how to use the PlatePass leaving us with the impression using it came with the daily rental fee. When we returned the car, the same agent told us we had not signed up for their "toll package" so we would be assessed for the tolls. We expressed surprise. He told us the "toll package" was still open so he could add it and since we were not given an explanation of the tolls he would deduct $25 from the fee. By now we thought we would be late for our flight, so we paid the bill, grabbed the receipt and the agent took us to the airport. A week or so later we got an additional bill for tolls from Thrifty for $95.98. Turns out there the agent didn't add no charge for a "toll package" and no $25 deduction. E-mails back and forth resulted in a lowered cost. However, when the amended bill arrived we found they had added $15 per toll-some of which were itemized at less than a two dollars! So, instead of paying $95.98 we paid $81.00 for bad customer service and lying about reducing the bill. When we specifically asked the agent about the tolls and how to handle their payment, if he had simply explained it, we would be loyal Thrifty patrons. But not now and never again will be use a company who practices deceptive pricing. read more

Staff was very courteous and helpful. Pick-up at terminal was fast and convenient. I had my car and was on the road just 20 min after landing. Return was equally easy and convenient. Great team! read more

STAY AWAY!!! I wish I could give zero stars. We rented a car through here for our recent trip to NY and this was the WORST experience. We had one vehicle scheduled for pickup earlier in the week and we were going to pick up another for later in the week when the rest of our family arrived. The first vehicle we never received because our flight was (very) late, so they were closed. We decided to cancel that vehicle and they would not refund us the money even though we never got a vehicle! They made zero attempt to accommodate us whatsoever. The second vehicle, we arrived at the terminal and family gave us a ride to the Thrifty lot, which is separate from the airport. Well thank goodness we scheduled that because even though this flight was ON TIME and the business was supposed to be open, we got there and all the doors were locked. There was a sign on the door that said "Assisting a customer to the airport, be back in 10 minutes". We got on their lot at midnight and waited until 12:30. Their business hours were posted until 1am. We called management and they picked a fight with us saying they didn't have our reservation, but after the first experience, we called that morning and confirmed everything! They KNEW we were coming in at midnight! We were even early!!! We got yelled at by management telling us that they didn't have our reservation for almost 15 minutes! That means we were there 45 minutes and NO ONE SHOWED UP! So we left without a vehicle AGAIN! Oh man, we were SO annoyed, we almost cancelled this vehicle AGAIN! But we went back AGAIN the next day because we really needed this vehicle. We got there and they found our reservation no problem, which means the manager the previous night just didn't want to deal with us. So after all this we finally get our vehicle and it was FULL of trash, stained all over and just filthy. It stank of cigarette smoke and because I was travelling with an infant, this was especially an issue. But they said this was the only van they had. I was livid. I SHOULD report them to the better business bureau. In fact, I think I will. read more