Thrifty Reviews 3,699

WARNING ** I have been waiting on a return from thirfty car rental for over 2 months !! They overcharged me 1,400$. I towed the vechile with their roadside assistance since my husband lost the key ( Uhuh go figure lol ) anyways they charged me $650 for lost key & tow truck , but here is where it gets tricky !!! Somebody drove around on the car for 3 extra weeks returned the car to New York City , mind you I shipped the car to Newark nj & they ran up a HUGE bill & I am been fighting for my money back for over a month now! I am very very disappointed , I used to rent from this company often !!!! I had to open a bank dispute which is taking even longer. Thirty agreed to refund me & nothing has been done!

I paid for the rental in full and completed online check-in to avoid waiting in line upon arrival. However, when I went to pick up the car, the representative at the counter gave me a very difficult time and insisted that I purchase their insurance, charging me an additional $500. I already have my own insurance and intended to use it, but I was told their coverage was mandatory.

Since it was late and I had my family with me, I didn’t want to argue and just took the vehicle so we could be on our way. That said, this experience was extremely disappointing. I will not be renting from them again, as I found the practice misleading and unacceptable.

Absolutely unacceptable experience with Thrifty at Málaga Airport.

At the rental desk, we clearly stated that we had already purchased full insurance (RentalCover via Ryanair). Despite this, the staff insisted that this insurance was “not valid” and that we were required to purchase their SuperCover in order to collect the car.

We were also explicitly told that these costs would be refunded afterwards.

This information turned out to be completely false.

As a result, we were pressured into paying an additional €20.25 per day for 11 days — costs we would NEVER have agreed to if we had been correctly informed.

This is not a misunderstanding. This is misleading sales at the counter.

After the rental, we contacted Thrifty multiple times requesting a refund. To date, we have received no response at all.

Avoid this company if you value transparency and honest communication. What looks cheap upfront can quickly become much more expensive due to misleading practices.

Terrible. Had car 4 days, they delayed collection for 3 days so they could charge Ford extra rental, and then a week and a half after car collected and deposit returned I had forty pounds taken from my card which I had NOT AUTHORISED!!!!!! Have had to freeze card and notify card provider and police because in my book that is THEFT.

This is the email I sent to thrifty about them being shut on our arrival to Spain. They replied simply saying check our opening hours! I rang them and emailed them BEFORE we left and was told there will be no issue. If they are going to hire cars you would of thought they would be open when flights landed. Total rubbish.

I had a car hire with you which I booked when I booked our flights to our holiday with Ryan Air on November 4th 2025.

Ryan air then changed our flight which was FR8028 from Stanstead to Murcia on the 29th March 2026 to FR8026 on the same day.

I rang the Thrifty branch at Murcia on the 2nd February to tell them the flight has been changed. The person I spoke to said he put notes in our booking to reflect this and he assured me it would not be an issue. He then gave me the branch email which is - spmjx51 @thrifty.com and asked me to also send an email, which I sent straight after our conversation on the 2nd February.

We landed at Murcia and low a d behold the branch was shut with none on site. My 9 year old son ended up in tears as we had no clue how to get to our destination. We ended up having to order a taxi to our destination and another taxi back to the airport in the morning. I got to your branch at 9am only to be told to wait outside from a girl who told me this is her first day back for over a year and she has to set things up.
After 10 minutes I asked to come in as I was freezing. She let me in and I explained to her what had happened and she simply shrugged her shoulders and said ‘ oh well, this happens all the time’. Not even a sorry to ruin the start of your trip!

This is absolutely terrible service from such a big company.

I would like a refund for the first day car hire as I could not collect the car and a full refund for the 2 taxies I had to hire.

I have attached all the evidence for this and would appreciate this to be resolved ASAP.

Regards,

Reading the 1st review we had the same experience and have contacted Thrifty on several occasions regarding money they had taken and promised to give back on return of the car and never received a cent would never ever use them again. Watch out people !!!

I rented car for 10 days. I paid for automatic transmission extra and when I arrived to Alicante airport in Spain, they didn't have anymore automatic 7 seater available.

I made claim for refund, but they aren't willing to do it. Not a single Euro. Already emailing back and forth 2 weeks. Unbelievable behavior. Never again Thrifty or mother company Hertz.

This is the second time I have rented with this company and they have charged my credit card 243.00 dollars for what I don't know why already prepaid for my rental through my paypay and now I have a charge for what with now explaination and when I picked up the car I took pictures and made a video that I sent to the agent Gabriel Rivera because the car has some spot on the car window and the car was dirty. I cleaned the car before I brought it back and before I took it off the lot I let them know of issue that I had with this car and he we are again me being charge for something that I didn't do. I will be reporting this to the better business bureau today this is unexceptable and will rage war against this company if it's the last thig I do. you alread have a bad reputation for your rentals juss wait until I'm done

I have rented from the site at Eagle Airport in CO twice and both times I had car trouble. I will never rent from them again. 
Your corporate office was VERY helpful in getting me some aid. The gentleman on the phone (Tre Jones) was my hero. He stayed with me the whole time (more than 1 hour) and solved the problem. 

Little did I know I was supposed to call the desk at Eagle airport - who knew? Car didn't function at all... the dash came up with Voltage Abnormalty, lost power steering for a brief moment but then felt somewhat normal. Stated I should go to the dealer. After going to a gas station and filling up everything was locked up.... couldn't press the brake pedal, wouldn't start, back hatch wouldn't open. I went to the website for Thrifty and called. 

I was told (by corporate) I wouldn't be charged for returning the car two days early but, in fact, was charged for the two days per "we don't reimburse for early returns" from the staff at Eagle airport. I just wanted rid of the car!

Checking with the desk when flying home, they knew nothing of the event and sent the car back out the next day. Hope there was not an issue for someone else.

Needless to say - I'll be avoiding renting from the company in the future.

This is the first time I used Thrifty as wanted to benefit from what appeared to be an all in one vehicle rental with zero excess. The Protect The Car option I chose on the Thrifty website during booking does not reflect the actual product I received at pick up. I chose and paid for Protect The Car so I had piece of mind with zero excess. When I collected the car it was all dealt with by Hertz with just a tiny Thrifty sign at the desk, and the final invoice came from Hertz. The Protect The Car product also appeared as a Collision Damage Waiver and when I questioned this with the agent they had no idea what I was talking about. I paid €64.89 for this add-on for a three day rental as it seemed more convenient than a third party excess insurance. This was a daily charge option, so would have been significant if my holiday was longer. However, when collecting from the Hertz desk I was told my excess was €2700 and I only had a CDW cover. I showed the agent what I purchased and they said that is not what is on the system. If I have an accident I might be able to get excess refunded if contacting Thrifty. This appears to be a stealth charge for CDW that is usually included in the daily rental rate (e.g. via comparison sites or Zest). I could have got this level of cover if I booked elsewhere and used a third party excess insurance for over €65 less if I wasn't miss-sold at booking, but I wanted to avoid a need for an excess claim if the worst were to happen.

There was also an issue of no petrol left in any of the petrol stations within 25 miles of airport rental return location. When I explained this to the returns agent he knew all about this issue but I was still charged full for the fuel. Even a small token of discount would have been appreciated noting it was out of all parties control.

Thrifty (or Hertz) experience was extremely poor in Paris Charles De Gaulle. I have driven on all my holidays in destinations across the world (including Europe, USA, UAE). My recommendations are to use a third party booking comparison to find alternatives to Thrifty or Hertz as even though you will need to purchase insurance cover separately it will be cheaper and exactly as purchased.

My rental with Thrifty was fraught with complications. First the vehicle assigned to me was damaged. Approximately 1 mile into my journey a low tire pressure light came on. When I returned the vehicle there was no apology - and no concession that the rental time would be altered to reflect the 45 minute delay. During my rental I extended by an day and they randomly charged me an extra $100 fee which was not disclosed. When I called customer service to inquire, the agent interrupted me and then hung up on me. It was very unclear what was happening with charges. All in all - having a damaged vehicle given to me, followed by extra unexplained charges and a rude customer service person - not a good experience.

Thrifty London Beckton Branch:

As customers we choose the car we want because we are paying for it! Thrifty Beckton failed to deliver and to make matters worse they upgraded me to a smaller car. Avoid!!!

Thrifty Malaga. Staff were all ‘explaining’ to customers that they needed full insurance ‘so there are no problems’. In my case, extra insurance would cost as much as the rental. I told them I didn’t want it. I also told them that aggressively upselling extra insurance was borderline illegal. On returning the car, the guy at the desk refused to come and check it had no scratches because he was alone and his colleague was on a break. He seems to be surprised I wanted proof before I left the office that he affirmed lack of damage. Clearly both policies are insisted on by management and the poor staff are forced to carry them out. Do not use this company in Spain

Scandalous experience.

Prepaid booking through CarJet, but no car provided by Thrifty at Charleroi Airport.

Refused at the desk because of “no credit card” — something that was never clearly communicated during booking.

No help, no solution, no refund.

After renting cars in over 20 countries without issues, this is by far the worst experience I’ve ever had.

Be extremely careful — this system feels unreliable and leaves the customer completely unprotected.

After a nightmare experience with another provider at Barcelona Airport, Thrifty was a breath of fresh air. I approached them late at night with my Italian passport and UK driving license, and they processed my booking without any issues or "made-up" document rules.

The staff was incredibly professional and helpful, especially considering we were a large group with kids and an elderly family member. We rented a 7-seater Dacia which exceeded our expectations—it was clean, reliable, and perfect for our needs. Pickup and drop-off were seamless.

I highly recommend Thrifty for their honesty and great customer service!

Thrifty Car rental did not honor my Priceline Quote for a car rental for 48 days in Guadeloupe. Customer service ignored my situation and shifted blame to the Rental location.

We met a nice lady behind the counter at Atlanta airport. Thank you so much, Rita, for the best car rental experience ever.
We will use this company next time as well 🤗

I am a regular customer at Thrifty shrewsbury, the car is arranged through the company I am working for and delivered and collected at my home.
The service is great, the personnel are friendly and the cars are presented in perfect condition.
The car selection is great and all the cars are nearly new with one which had the mileage that was the distance to my home from their depot

we picked up a car in Anchorage AK and there was no one around when we picked up the car. It was almost 10 below and when we were leaving a lady ran out. I did a walk around and found nothing but a small chip in the windshield. She said it was fine. When we dropped t off they them want to charge us over 200 dollars for the chip we didn't do.

These guys keep sending me a link to “accelerate your upcoming rental” (L46908735D4).

Using the link to wheelsys, I add all the required details and then on the final “confirm” prompt, I keep getting the error “Service is unavailable at the moment. Please try again later”.

I have now tried ten times and this bag of canine excrement system has wasted about an hour of my life.

FIX YOUR IT SYSTEMS PLEASE

I hope the actual hire is less troublesome