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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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1.7

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Alex Urbanski Austin, TX

Similar to some of the other consumer reviews I have read, I also booked my car rental online in advance for a great price in Denver. When I got to the counter I had a similar experience to other customers who had ridiculous fees added on without my knowledge. While you’re in the process of renting the car with the man helping us distracted us by writing down all of the places we could go and see. He never showed or explained to us what we were being charged for or why. By the time we left we had an $800 bill for four days when we had originally booked an economy car. This put a dent in our entire vacation. I made the decision to go back the next day and try to get an economy car like we had originally booked. Initially they came back to us with an even higher price than the upgraded vehicle the first man had booked. The saving grace of this experience was a wonderful woman named Carolyn. After I picked apart the receipt, I asked her to take away any of the unnecessary fees. Carolyn was kind and helpful. She did what I asked her to do and got us a much better price than we had gotten from our original guy. She is the only reason for the three stars. If we had not gone back and seen her this place would’ve gotten one. I will say after all is said and done we did pay more than we were expecting to pay but we had no problems with the car. My overall experience with this company was disappointing. I agree with other reviewers that they were sleazy and manipulative. However they clearly have some good people working there too. I have nothing but positive things to say about Carolyn and I appreciate the help she provided.

2 years ago

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Reply from Ace Rent A Car

Thanks for your honest feedback, Alex. These practices are not something that we support, but we are glad Carolyn was able to make it right! We want to open an official incident for your experience, but we are unable to find a reservation under your name. Would you be able to provide us your reservation number at customercare@acerentacar.com?

We look forward to helping you further!

May. 9th, 2022