Unlike the more leisure-based Alamo, National has a dual focus. It serves the most popular domestic and international travel destinations. Currently, National Car Rental operates in over 3,000 locations throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asian-Pacific, Africa and Australia.

National is one of the oldest car rental companies. It was formed on August 27, 1947, as a coalition of 24 independent car rental operators with 60 locations and 800 vehicles. The group chose a marketing slogan that said what it meant and meant what it said -- National Car Rental was "the best in localized, personal service."

Over the years, National showed it was an innovator. They went to great lengths to improve the rental experience for their customers. For instance, In 1954, they became the first car rental brand to offer one-way rentals. In 1966, National became the first computerized rental agency, equipping its regional reservation offices with the "Telemax" computer system. National was one of the first in the industry to begin giving net rates to corporate customers. Its commitment to the corporate traveler really became apparent in the 1980s. Although the airlines had loyalty programs for almost twenty years starting in the early 1960s, the car rental companies hadn't concentrated on building that into their businesses. In fact, it wasn't until 1987, when National introduced their "Emerald Club" program that anyone offered this type of inducement for business travelers. Because of their familiarity with computers it seems to follow that National Car Rental would be the ones to innovate with the "Paperless Express Rental Agreement" which really sped up the rental process for the harried business traveler. This wasn't the last time that National developed ways to make the car rental process more efficient to time-sensitive business travelers. The "Emerald Aisle" program allowed members select their own cars and get on their way without filling out any paperwork -- this lets you bypass the whole rigamarole at the rental counter! More recently, National has started to focus in on the growing population of small business owners with the "QuickRent" service in 2002, which offered customers, who were not enrolled in Emerald Club, the ability to bypass the counter when they complete their rental transaction online. This is meaningful because folks that own or run a small business might not be enrolled in any corporate programs, and in fact might be renting from National because they've found a favorable rate. Any way to improve their experience might assure future rentals.

You can rent the following types of cars from National - Subcompact Compact Intermediate Fullsize Premium Luxury Sports Utility Mini-van Convertible

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