Cheap Car Rentals in Connecticut

I inadvertently rented my car from West Hartford when I really wanted the airport. Being unfamiliar with the area, I was not sure of the address. The pickup experience at West Hartford was great, getting there was a little more problematic. When I returned the car, I opted to pay the fee to return at a different location, and picked the airport since it was right across the street from our hotel, so much easier to get to. Everyone I worked with had great customer service.

We got a great deal on the rental at an enterprise on “airport road”. Unfortunately, that was NOT the enterprise actually AT the airport. So my wife, my fifteen-month-old, our copious luggage and our carseat were all stranded, the place we had our reservation at had just closed, and we were told we’d have to take an Uber to our hotel, then another Uber the next day to pick up the car from the proper location. Embarrassed, we accepted the expensive mistake, and started looking into getting an Uber that could fit all our bags (probably a minivan? Probably a hundred-dollar ride?) But just as we were reeling from TGAT sticker shock, lo! The enterprise representative had returned with a solution just for us! They had a minivan there we could rent. We were so relieved at avoiding the expensive Uber, we didn’t think to ask the cost of the minivan, and it wasn’t mentioned. As it turns out, that was an EXPENSIVE mistake on my part. After signing the paperwork, our budget reservation (at $70/day) had suddenly turned into a $200/day disaster. I should have said something, but I was too stunned and embarrassed and it was too late—I’d already signed. But MAN! Talk about a bait-and-switch! I know… it’s my fault for mixing where I had to be to pick up the car, and it’s my fault for signing without asking the price first, but that doesn’t stop the whole thing from feeling predatory and kinda gross, not to mention personally pretty traumatizing. Now, to be fair, everything ELSE about the car rental experience was excellent and I have zero complaints. Return was a breeze, the car itself was fantastic, everyone was kind and the lady at the return even offered to drop the car off at the terminal, if that would make things easier with our child, but we declined, partially out of worry that it might include an extra charge of some kind. Nevertheless, the glossed-over, hand-waved cost-tripling was just too traumatic, budget-wise. I’ll be avoiding Enterprise, Alamo, and National in the future.