CAR RENTAL REVIEWS ON ROUTES AT OTTAWA AIRPORT, YOW

Like: Julie and the girl that served us when we turned the vehicle in were both excellent! Vehicle ran well and was ready when we arrived.
Dislike: Car was not that clean....clearly the renter before us had young children and the windows were covered in small hand prints. It was not a big deal but after we left and drove in the sunlight the front window was a mess and had clearly not been cleaned at all.

Like: Price
Dislike: None

Staff is great! Price is great! Cars are great! Just need to be a little more thorough in cleaning the cars. It was also awkward to get the car with 5/8 of gas and then have to bring it back to that amount upon return. Getting it full and returning it full is an easier/smoother process.

Didn't get the exact car I requested but it was similar and understandable due to the small size of the rental office.

We called to return the car the night before, didn't get an answer at the location, so tried the 800 number, to confirm that someone would be there to drop off the car. When I arrived all the doors were locked, even though online it said it closed at 8 pm, and it was 7:54 pm. There were other customers waiting in the parking lot who said they were supposed to pick up their car at 8 pm and couldn't get any answer. In calling back the 800 number the service was rude, and said it was 8:03 and the office was closed nothing she could do from Toronto office. In the morning I received a call asking if I could return the car early as they had a customer waiting. Very poor planning and experience with Routes.

Like: Great experience from booking to dropping off. friendly staff and quick pick up from airport!
Dislike: cant think of a darn thing

Like: I was upgraded as vehicles had not been returned by other clients. Was a very good experience.
Dislike: Had to call three times to get picked up - 1st time I was told right away, 20 minutes later I was told on way and 1/2 hour was told that no one had told the driver there was a pick up waiting - was picked up 45 minutes after first calling.

Like: good price, efficient.
Dislike: We would rather pick up with full tank and return with full tank rather than return with 5/8 of a tank. How do you fill 5/8 of a tank?

shuttle bus took way too long to arrive. I called Routes immediately upon arrival and was told the shuttle would pick me up in about 10 mins. After 20 minutes, I called again and was told it would be another 10 minutes. Finally, I was picked up after 30 minutes. It was -14 degrees celsius on that day and standing outside, waiting for 30 mins was frustrating. The representative at the desk was not at all apologetic. Otherwise, I was happy with the service. The car was very nice, clean, and more spacious than I was expecting.

They never picked up their phone upon my arrival in Ottawa. Free shuttle never happened. Never again.

My car category was not available when I checked in so they upgraded me. The counter staff were very efficient and courteous

Easy to use and great pricing. I will definitely use them again and recommend them to my friends

The location was under construction. The gates were locked so I had to go around them and climb through the construction site. This was my first time at this location. it did NOT look like a rental agency. I dropped it off at night. Felt I left it in an insecure place - outside the fence. Then I climbed the embankment to walk over to the key drop off. Everything was dark. Good thing I knew where to look and that a friend was close by.

Like: Staff gave great advice where to refuel vehicle near to drop off location

Unfortunately it wasn’t the vehicle that I had booked, this is the 4th time booking with routes and each time they give a different vehicle than the one booked.

Driver from airport made quite disturbing comments about people’s race and seemed to very much dislike anyone from Toronto. It was uncomfortable being with him in the pickup and return vehicle. Also, car wasn’t washed and there was quite a bit of damage that wasn’t recorded until I pointed it out. Construction at the Routes site was terrible and driver did not ask to help with the bags even though the gravel made luggage wheels unusable.

My pickup time was longer than usual but was understandable! “Stuff” happens.... the gate was blocked by a malfunctioning vehicle. The staff was patient and apologetic for the inconvenience. I will rent again From Routes.

Like: Only put on a few kliks, but still very worth the cost.
Dislike: Nothing

15 minute wait for pickup at airport, 20 minute drive to car location because of traffic - should have rented from on-site company

Not clear from website how far off-site rental was

Vehicle was bigger than the one booked, I presume it was because I collected it on the Sunday of a holiday weekend; this posed problems with my 95-yr-old mom as the vehicle was too high off the ground for her. We managed though. I was disappointed not to be able to book further insurance and reduce the amount deductible in case of a claim, but I was very pleased with the cost of renting the vehicles do the online booking process was easy. I had tremendous difficulty though with the pick-up location and ended up waiting 1.5 hrs for them, as they were waiting in a location that someone else told me was not a available for vehicles to enter so I didn’t wait there. It turns they’d been there twice and couldn’t see me. Then when I dropped off the vehicle, I booked an Uber in advance to collect me from there (I needed to go to the train station and not the airport), but the Uber driver could not find the Routes location, so I ended up being stranded ... a Good Samaritan ended up helping me out.

The location is a bit remote, but there is a shuttle service at the airport.