Enterprise Overview

Enterprise Rent-A-Car was founded in 1957. Over the years, the company has made innovations in the car rental industry. In 1974, one location in Florida started picking up customers for free and bringing them to the rental facility. Shortly after Enterprise launched the “We’ll Pick You Up” program which is still in existence today for local car renters. Enterprise is also different from some other car rental companies as they realized that there were growth opportunities in neighborhoods, so they did not originally infiltrate the airports. Instead, they relied on hometown car renters and only many years later did they start opening up locations in airports. Enterprise still maintains that they operate in more communities than any other car rental agency.

Enterprise is internationally known with more than 6000 offices in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, and Germany. Enterprise claims they have exceptionally low rates and outstanding customer service compared to other car rental companies. Currently Enterprise offers a variety of services including: car leasing, vanpooling, car sharing, and hourly car rentals.

Services Available by Enterprise

Unlimited Mileage

With Enterprise, typically, mileage will be unlimited. However there might be some restrictions. Usually mileage is unlimited within the renting state and the surrounding states. Any restrictions on mileage can be viewed when booking on-line and once the vehicle details have been submitted.

Protection/Insurance

Enterprise offers its customers a range of optional protection services for purchase including: damage waiver, personal accident/personal effects coverage, and supplemental liability protection. These services vary in price, depending on location of rental.

Roadside Assistance Protection can be added when reserving the car or mid-rental. For an additional charge, the following services are included: flat tire, jump start, lockout service, key replacement and fuel delivery.

Loyalty Program

The Enterprise Plus rewards members for renting with Enterprise. Some perks include free rental days, shorter lines, faster reservations, special offers, a dedicated phone line for their tier etc. The program consists of four tiers: Enterprise Plus, Silver, Gold and Platinum which is based on the member’s rental history.

Reservation Process

Renters are encouraged to use the online booking service for car reservations. This user friendly system makes it easy to book, change a booking or even cancel a reservation.

Check-In Process

Enterprise offers free Pick Up service for all customers renting from a local rental facility – it is not offered at the airport locations. During normal business hours, an employee will pick up customers and take them to the branch to fill out the necessary paperwork and pick up the vehicle.  For airport locations, a shuttle service is offered when vehicles are not close to the airport.

For customers delayed by flights, the airport location will honor the rental for the business day without needing to update the reservation. However, if they flight is going to be delayed until the next business day, customers should update their reservation to ensure their rental is still available.

Delivery Process

For the delivery of car rentals, most of Enterprise’s expedited services are geared towards members of the Enterprise Plus loyalty program, ie choosing a car from the reserved category.

Drop-Off Process

Enterprise does offer a drop-off service for customers. Upon the return of the rental car, Enterprise will take customers back to the office, home, or another location, provided it is in the local area. Again, this service is not available from the airport locations.

Another convenience for airport travellers is that airport locations will allow vehicles to be returned after hours. Customers must notify the location at time of pick up that they require this service. Most local rental facilities do not offer this, however some might, so customers need to specifically ask whether it is possible to drop the car off after hours.

Conclusion

Enterprise’s foundation was based on providing rental cars in the local areas, therefore they did not integrate into the airport market until many years later. Local facilities all offer a Pick-Up service and a Return service, making it very convenient to customers. As this service is not available for airport travellers, they have instituted a drop-off service which allows the rental cars to be dropped off at any time back at the airport.