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Ace Rent A Car

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Author: Kaitlyn Short

LAST UPDATED: December 30th, 2024

Robert Sorenson founded Ace Rent A Car in 1966. Sorenson initially owned two Indianapolis car washes. There he branched into his first car rental business, Airways Rent A Car, where he rented out cars to meet the needs of the surrounding neighborhoods. Over time, Airways Rent A Car expanded to multiple locations throughout Indiana and the Chicago area. Sorenson ultimately formed the Ace Rent A Car chain after breaking away from Airways and its affiliations. Today, Ace car rental is headquartered in Indianapolis with over 350 affiliated locations worldwide.

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The Good

  • Competitive Prices
  • Locations at Major Airports
  • Great Cancellation Policy

Competitive Prices

Ace offers a low, competitive price range in the car rental industry. To rent an economy car, you are relegated to airport locations in some major cities like Miami. Ace does have a few local stores that are not in the airport, such as in New York City, making local renting convenient. Many companies only have airport locations.

Locations at Major Airports

Ace has rental counters at most major airports throughout North America. Since they only have locations in 21 States, their locations are limited to those states. They have counters at major airports such as LAX, LaGuardia, JFK, Miami International, Atlanta, Houston, and Portland.

Great Cancellation Policy

Most Ace reservations have no cancellation penalty at any point before the scheduled arrival time. However, some of their reservations do require advance deposit. In these cases, there may be a charge for late cancellation or no-show. You can cancel your reservation easily on their website. It is recommended that customers check the rules carefully before confirming their reservation.

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The Bad

  • No Luxury Rentals
  • Only Available in 21 States
  • No Instant Return
  • No On-Site Fuel Discount
  • No Toll Prepay Option
  • Limited Roadside Assistance

No Luxury Rentals

At this time Ace does not offer luxury cars for rent. The closest they get is specialty economy cars like SUVs and vans. If you want to rent a car (like a Mercedes or Lexus) for the day, you cannot do that with Ace. This puts them at a disadvantage because many of their industry competitors offer luxury rentals.

Only Available in 21 States

Ace Rent A Car has locations in 21/50 states. Some of these include U.S. territories like Guam, Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands. This is scarce for a car rental company, many have locations in 45 or more states.

No Instant Return

When you return your rental vehicle, Ace requires that it be done in person. The option of not having to wait in line and leaving the keys in the car is not offered. Having to return your car manually is not uncommon in the economy car industry, but it is an option worth exploring to better serve customer's needs.

No On-Site Fuel Discount

Regarding discounts, Ace has a rewards membership program called Rental Genius. This program lets you earn points similar to a credit card each time you book a reservation. You can put these reward points towards Ace's list of prizes or instant discounts. If you earn 500 points or more, you qualify for an instant discount on every rental offered at Ace's website or mobile app. This discount, however, does not include an on-site fuel discount for your vehicle and it only seems to benefit those who rent cars frequently. If you only rent a car once in a while, Rental Genius is not an advantage for you.

No Toll Prepay Option

Ace allows you to order toll passes through their website to make your commute easier. When booking a reservation online, you can purchase the prepay toll feature before checking out for an additional $10.99 a day. This price is extremely high for toll passes, which other major companies typically charge an average of $4.95 a day. The other disadvantage is that Ace's toll pass is subject to availability at time of rental. This leaves you open to the possibility of checking in at the rental counter only to find out Ace is out of toll passes once you get there. Having a prepay option avoids this by allowing you to reserve your pass ahead of time.

Limited Roadside Assistance

Ace offers a RSP (Roadside Service Plan) for $3.95 per day. This service helps protect you if your car has mechanical issues or if you accidentally lock your keys in the car. If your rental vehicle has mechanical problems, you must contact their rental office using the phone number in your rental agreement. They "work with you to solve the problem." This is pretty vague and can be a huge inconvenience having to wait on them to take action. Also, there are no guarantees what they will do and how much you will be accountable for financially. The major disadvantage is that Ace only offers Roadside Assistance Plans in certain cities. So if you are renting a car in a city that Ace doesn't offer RSPs, you have no coverage if something happens with the vehicle.

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The Bottom Line

Ace Rent A Car's daily rates are affordable and overall satisfactory for economy car rentals. Cancellation is free (unless you prepay). The company does not offer luxury rentals. Ace is not available in many states, but has rental counters in many major airports. If you need local rental car service, Ace has options in a few places like New York City. Also, roadside assistance is not available in all locations. If you need a car rental where Ace Rent A Car is available, we recommend using their services.
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100 Reviews

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Stephanie Neuling

They did not discuss pricing with us when picking up our car at FLL airport. I made reservation through Priceline for $126 for 5/10-5/14. When we went to get the car I put the reservation under my name instead of my husband so they told him to wait for me. I got there and handled everything. Normal questions do you need ins-no we use our own and provided name of company. Do you need toll pass-I said no have one. We see you have another driver l-yes my husband and I showed her a pick of his license because he was on the phone. She stated $200 hold on card. We left and returned the car on Sunday and I noticed today 5/17 we had a charge of $312 on our credit card. They charged for additional driver and said I never told them about insurance. I stated yes I did tell you about insurance and she said was never documented nor was I told about the extra $41 for husband driving. They would not work with me at all and stated rental was closed nothing they can do. Be very cautious and make sure you verify everything with them before you leave the counter. I know they can be overwhelmed but to act like it was never stated is a lie. Guess I should always check everything with the agent and ask about any extra charges. We rent cars monthly in Florida and have never had this happen before.

1 year ago

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Reply from Ace Rent A Car

Hi Stephanie and thanks for reaching out about your experience at our Fort Lauderdale location. Thanks to your detailed response, we were able to find your reservation and have opened up a complaint on your behalf. You will hear from us shortly at customercare@acerentacar.com with our findings. -Richard W.

May. 19th, 2023

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ນາງດາລິງ ສະເດັດຕັນ Everett, WA

Vegas Airport, Take too long to get the car, we were told we are getting one car and we were given an other plus the car given to us was really beat up, I mean really beat up, dents and scratches every where, the car in that condition should not be rented out, it is almost to point that is unsafe, the dent was obvious right on the roof where the windshield meet the roof, metal were tarnished and exposed, the interior is ready dirty even feel sticky dirty so we refused it then they gave the car that they initially suppose to gave us. When we return the car we are the only car driving into to lot, there is a stop sign with garbage and no one was standing there so we stop and we said now what do we do? we see no one there so we drove in and the lady at the end of the lot flag us down and she was kind of rude and say no one never read, i told her we read and we stop we didn't know what to do....someone should be at the sign at all times, new customer like us would know what to do, we only rented from more civilized establishment where we spend no more then 5 minutes both picking up and returning, this place make me feel like i am falling into some sort of scam. not get a second chance with me.

3 years ago

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Renee Lichtenhan Madison, MS

Run like the wind!! Terrible company! Seems like a good deal until you show up, and there are tons of add-on charges that end up tripling the price. I bought insurance, which I was thankful for, because a huge rock flew out from the freeway and shattered the rental's windshield. Except. I now see a $200 extra charge on my card. For what? Good question. Can't get an answer for all of the people who have "transferred me" and then disconnected me.

3 years ago

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Camie Escobar South Jordan, UT

Update: after complaining and leaving a negative review, Ace opened an investigation and ended up refunding all of the extra fees and insurance.

2 years ago Edited July 8, 2022