Road Trip on Highway 1 from South to North

The pictures and the actual vehicle were wildly different. It was a bait and switch. I requested a large SUV, but got nothing close.

We picked up the car at the Los Angeles airport location. There were both self-service machines and manned counters. After seeing the long line at the manned counters, we decided to try the self-service machine. We entered a lot of information, which took a long time, but in the end, it printed out a small slip of paper instead of a contract. Since our return time was outside their business hours, we were told to go to the manned counter. A helpful lady suggested changing the return time, but since it might take even longer and there could be other issues, we decided to join the queue. We waited for a long time. The middle-aged man who attended to us had a stern expression and tried to sell us insurance. I told him I already had third-party insurance and showed him the notice under the rental order on QEEQ. He wasn't happy but walked away. When he returned, he asked me to sign a lot of liability clauses in a cold tone. The guy helping us choose a car was really nice. Under the SUV section, there were options like the Grand Cherokee, Buick Envision, Santa Fe, Toyota, and more. Only the Buick had leather seats, which I thought would be easier to clean, so we picked the Buick. It was a new car and drove very well. We returned the car in the early morning at Bozeman airport. We parked the car in the designated area, took photos, and followed the signs to the rental car counter in the airport terminal. We filled out a form and had to write down the parking spot, but we couldn't remember it, so we just noted the row and side. We then dropped the keys into the key box. The process went quite smoothly. We also rented from Alamo in North Carolina, and their service was much better than in Los Angeles. The car was even upgraded, though it was a bit older and did not drive as well.

Car pickup and return were very convenient

The content to fill in for self-service car pickup is a bit much. Other than the inconvenience of input, it was generally okay.

The car had an issue, but they replaced it without any fuss.