Thrifty Reviews 

I've rented a car from Thrifty at Riga Airport four times over the past two years, and every experience has been a good one.

This time, I actually looked at other rental companies because Thrifty wasn't the cheapest option. In the end, I still chose them because I knew exactly what I was getting – and for me, that's worth paying extra.

The staff have always been friendly and helpful, the cars have been clean, modern, and in excellent condition, and everything has been straightforward from pickup to return. I've never had any hidden fees, unexpected charges, or unpleasant surprises.

I can only speak about my experience with this Thrifty location, but after four rentals, they've earned my trust. For me, a stress-free rental experience is worth more than saving a few euros.

I’m giving 1 star, and the only reason it isn’t zero is because the employee at the rental desk waited for us after our flight was delayed. He was friendly and helpful.

Everything else was an absolute rip-off.

Our rental for three weeks cost around €500, but because they refused to accept a Visa Debit card for the security deposit, we were forced to pay an additional €400 for their insurance. That almost doubled the total cost.

This felt like a hidden extra charge rather than a genuine choice. If you don’t have a traditional credit card, be prepared for extremely expensive add-ons.

I would never book with this company again and cannot recommend them.

White Plains Airport
At time of pick up of the vehicle I reported to the lady attendant the condition of the car. Dirty and strong smell of smoke. They did not offer a replacement vehicle. Time of return I spoke to the same lot attendant lady and did remind her of the condition. She remembered me from a couple days earlier. At the rental desk I told the attendant what happened and he told me I will get a discount for my trouble. Later I have received an email with the final bill and they charged me $400 for smoking in the car instead of the discount. At the desk the attendant attitude was, it’s too bad we have to charge somebody for cleaning the car. Asked for the manager and I was told he cannot be bothered, I should take it up with customer service. Talking to the only sane person, the lot attendant lady remembered and offered to help. She called somebody and she said they will adjust my bill. That was yesterday but I still have not received a final bill with the corrected amount. Spoke to the people at the security checkpoint and they told me I’m not the first passenger these people try to scam. DO NOT RENT FROM TRIFTY AT THIS LOCATION!

It took 2 hours on the phone to get them to honor the full Roadside assistance for a flat tyre from a screw.

Last week, I was on a flight to FLA when I got a voicemail from Thriftycars telling me (an hour before my reservation) that despite having paid up front for a car rental, no car was available. I called back as I ran to the gate of my next flight, no refunds offered. So I scrambled & got one with Budget
instead.

Despite Thriftycars being owned by @Hertz
they are terrible. You think you will save money, but you will not. You will be left with nothing, and they won't care.

I actually paid up front, which is why its even worse. Don't be foolish like I was. Go with a reputable company.

When I complained, they pretended they couldn't issue a refund because I used my employers travel benefit agency to procure the ticket.

What a horrible company. Do better! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY

I cannot without much profanity tell you how bad they are, I walked out.

Warsaw airport.
Gave us the car with 4/8 fuel and they argued that was full. Also no damages and clean, although they took the security deposit.
Moreover the counter staff tried to charge double the price of the deposit.
Operated by hertz

Absolute con artists. Avoid.

Whilst Thrifty aim to provide a professional service their policies are unnecessarily inflexible in order to charge their customers more. My PIN was refused at the office and then Thrifty refused payment from my wife (from the same credit card account) based on the fact that she might cancel. But... they were happy to add my wife as a driver for an extra 170 Euros, using my wife's card.... which, in theory, she could also cancel.

Thrifty has low price but they are employees don’t know shit and their systems crash and steals your money. Even if you prepaid using priceline. They will still charge you like you didn’t prepaid at all. Plus my credit card company credit one worthless cause they take their side. I suggest if u are renting from any car company know exactly how many days u renting and if u have to extend. Return their shit back and rent another one through Priceline its way cheaper and make sure u need the extension cause Priceline don’t do refunds or have a customer service line. Thrifty customer service is trash too

Sharp practice at Kerry Airport, Ireland.

This is a small Thrifty office operated by one person. The collection process took about 40 minutes.

When I returned the car several hours early there was another long queue. I used the drop box to return the key. I thought that this would be the easiest option for both myself and the sole person behind the desk.

This has resulted in an extra charge of GBP 30 applied to my credit card.

Thrifty should explain that the drop box cannot be used and that I should have queued up instead.

The woman working the night shift at the Thrifty location at Chicago O'Hare, who wears a hijab, was incredibly unprofessional. Due to multiple flight cancellations, we reserved a car online and went to pick it up. She informed us that there were no cars available, despite there appearing to be several vehicles in the lot.

When I politely questioned the situation, she responded with a disrespectful tone and attitude. I asked why she was speaking to me that way, and she replied, "You're the one giving me attitude." When I requested her name, she simply responded, "Dollar" (the company associated with Thrifty). She then proceeded to tell me that I had a bad attitude.

After dealing with a four-hour delay that ultimately turned into a canceled flight, this interaction made an already stressful situation even worse. The employee was unwilling to help, disrespectful, and did not provide the level of customer service I have come to expect.

We have used Thrifty for many of our car rentals over the years, but this experience was extremely disappointing. Unfortunately, because of this interaction, we will not be using the Chicago O'Hare location again.

We had a pre-paid car rental voucher that was not honored at the Chicago O'Hare airport. The GM would not give me her name or business card and refused to put in writing that they were refusing to give us a car. We booked the reservation on a third party website and showed up with all of the requirements listed on the rental agreement, but, she told me I needed to have a Spanish driver's license in my possession. The requirements stated that I had to present a valid driver's license, nothing about which country. I am a US citizen with Spanish residency and I have a US and Spanish driver's license, but, since the reservation did not state that I needed a Spanish license, I left it at home and presented my US license. The woman was extremely unprofessional, rude, and unwilling to honor the contract. Since she did not put in writing that they refuse to give us a car, the third party is refusing to refund us the €740. We have filed complaints for deceptive business practice and complained to the executive office at Hertz and have not received any support or assistance. Hopefully, the IL Attorney General will help. I will never use Hertz Global Corporation or any of its subsidiaries. Don't expect written legal guidelines to be followed or to receive a refund when they're at fault for not following the law.

Rental Agreement: 95328350-5

I rented a car from Thrifty at Alicante Airport and was told I was receiving a nearly new Ford Tourneo with only 2,000 km on the odometer. I was also assured that the vehicle had no damage.

However, when I inspected the car after collection, I found several areas of existing damage that had not been pointed out or recorded. I was told that if I discovered any damage, I should take photos and contact customer service immediately. Unfortunately, despite repeated attempts, nobody answered the phone.

This is a very frustrating experience. Customers should not have to discover undocumented damage themselves or struggle to reach customer service to report it. I have documented the damage with photos to protect myself from being held responsible for pre-existing damage.

Based on my experience, I cannot recommend Thrifty at Alicante Airport and would not rent from them again.

Giving 1* as no option for 0*. Very disappointing experience with Thrifty, booked through Holiday Autos. Our flight arrived on time, but we were delayed by the immigration process at Preveza Airport, which was beyond our control. When we reached the Thrifty desk, shared with Hertz, we were told our reservation had been marked as a no-show and our car had been given away. No consideration was given for the immigration delays at the airport.
To make matters worse, the Hertz staff at the desk representing Thrifty were rude, dismissive, customer service were extremely poor. They offered little assistance, showed no understanding of the situation, and failed to provide a reasonable solution. The manager refused to provide his details. The whole experience caused unnecessary stress and disruption at the start of our holiday. We have since escalated our complaint with them and have yet to receive any further response and they will not answer the question we have asked a couple of times, what time precisely was our car given away. We went on to rent a car from Europcar, their representative at their desk said not one of his customer’s had arrived on time, some were over 2 hours late that day due to the delays getting through.
I would not recommend Thrifty or Hertz based on my experience. Absolutely terrible, not even responded to our email!!

In Sevilla Airport🚨 A COMPLETE NIGHTMARE! AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE! 🚨
This isn't just a bad car rental agency—it is THE ABSOLUTE WORST NIGHTMARE YOU COULD EVER ENCOUNTER. If you value your sanity and your money, stay as far away as possible!
The girl (unsurprisingly SHE FLAT-OUT REFUSED TO GIVE US HER NAME, probably well aware of how she was acting) reached levels of RUDENESS, AGGRESSION, AND VERBAL HOSTILITY that I have never seen before. We were literally attacked and threatened by someone whose job is to help customers, but who instead behaved in a downright disgraceful manner.

What happened
* WHAT WE BOOKED: A regular rental through Ryanair, including FULL COMPREHENSIVE INSURANCE (KASKO) WITH ZERO EXCESS.
* WHAT SHE DID: Once at the desk, she tried to force an unjustified extra surcharge on us.
* HER REACTION TO OUR REFUSAL: When we rightfully refused to pay twice for the exact same service, the employee REFUSED TO GIVE US THE CAR, leaving us stranded in the worst possible way.
> THE BOTTOM LINE: We were treated like dirt, threatened, left without the car we had legally paid for, and forced to run to another (actually professional) car rental company at the last minute just to save our trip.
>
THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR IS UNACCEPTABLE AND BORDERS ON A SCAM. Ryanair should be ashamed to partner with such companies. STAY AWAY FROM THESE UNPROFESSIONAL, RUDE INDIVIDUALS!

I booked and payed a car but did not get it , just because i did not have a boardingpas. Lost my money as well. Criminals!

Stay away, the worst car rental option available

Thrifty Car Rental DO NOT TRUST THRIFTY, THEY WON'T EVEN GIVE ME A DAILY COST FOR LIABILITY INSURANCE AND SOME SOME COMPANIES CHARGE OVER $30 A DAY. HERE'S MY CORRESPONDENCE: HI, I'M PLANNING TO RENT A Hyundai Santa Fe CAR IN WEST PALM BEACH THROUGH ECONOMY BOOKING.COM, WHAT IS THE DAILY COST FOR LIABILITY INSURANCE?///////. Hello, Matthew!. Thank you for reaching out to us. You may purchase our desired coverage(s) upon opening your rental contract. Since our coverage rates vary depending on our location and car class our rental agents will be best to discuss the specifics with you upon arrival. Thank you! -Karen. ///////. I just wrote in message car size and location, if you cannot provide me a liability insurance quote for my rental starting next week then you're not an honest company and will cancel!!!!!

I rented a car from Thrifty (a Hertz brand) at Chicago O'Hare, Rental Record #574431395 — a one-day, one-way rental, May 4–5, 2026, O'Hare to Newark. I booked online, where the one-way pricing was already built into the rate.

My signed rental agreement shows a Total Estimated Charge of $371.17 for the whole rental — everything included — which I paid at pickup via Apple Pay (the agreement says "Paid By: Wallet/Digital"). On the morning of the rental the car got a flat tire, and it took Thrifty roughly 5 hours to deal with it and swap the vehicle. Because of their delay, I returned the car a couple of hours late. On May 7, Thrifty emailed me confirming the car was returned, inspected, and had no damage. The rental was closed.

Then, more than a month later, on June 14–15, a brand-new charge of $923.53 appeared on my card — pulled through the Apple Pay token from the counter, with no new authorization from me. That's roughly 2.5× my entire agreed total, taken after the contract was already closed and confirmed.

When I asked for a breakdown, the numbers didn't hold up:
They added a "One-Way Rental Fee" of $393.47 that appears nowhere in my signed agreement. I already paid for one-way when I booked online; this is billing me a second time for the same thing.
Even their own line items only add up to $550.23, leaving $373.30 of the $923.53 with no explanation at all.

To make it stranger: Hertz customer service told me in writing they find no such charge in their system.

In my opinion, inventing line items after a rental is closed — a phantom one-way fee, double-day charges for their own service delay, and hundreds of dollars that aren't itemized at all — looks like improper billing. I'm requesting a full itemized invoice, cancellation of any stored payment token, and a refund of the unauthorized amount. I'll update this review if and when it's resolved.