National Car Rental

Review by eFreeware

Renting a car rarely fails because of the driving. It fails in the details: a reservation that needs changing, a receipt you cannot find three months later, a return date that shifts by a day, or a lot you have never visited and cannot picture. Those small tasks usually arrive when you are already moving, which is why a rental company's app matters more than its size suggests.

The National Car Rental app comes from EAN Services, LLC and sits in the Travel & Local category. It is a free companion for the company's Emerald Club loyalty program, built around reservations, trip records, location search and the Emerald Aisle checkout process. It has been on Google Play since August 2013, has passed a million installs and holds a 4.4 average from roughly 12,500 ratings.

Built around the Emerald Club, not around browsing

The clearest thing about this app is what it assumes. Emerald Club membership is the entry point: profile details are applied to a reservation automatically, so the information you have already stored does the work when you book. That is a convenience for someone who rents regularly, and it shapes everything else the app does.

If you rent a few times a year for work, or you have a standing preference for a certain vehicle class and a certain airport, the appeal is obvious. The app is a way to keep the parts of a rental that normally live in email confirmations and counters in one place, on the device you already have with you.

Someone who rents once on a holiday and has never joined a loyalty program will find less here. The app is not a general marketplace for comparing companies or hunting the cheapest weekly rate; it is a tool for managing rentals with one company, and it is designed for people who already have a relationship with that company.

Reservations, history and the paperwork you lose

Trip information is the core of the app. You can pull up current and upcoming rentals, look back at past ones and open detailed receipts. For anyone who files expense claims, that last part is the quiet win: the receipt is where you expect it to be rather than in a folder of old emails.

Location search covers National branches worldwide. Each listing shows operating hours, an address and a phone number, and the app can provide arrival directions to the lot. That combination is most useful when you are heading to an unfamiliar city and want to know what time the desk opens before you commit to a flight or a train.

Support sits alongside the trip tools. Support is reachable through the app, which also carries a FAQ section. None of this is glamorous, but a rental is exactly the situation where you want the phone number already in hand rather than found through a search engine in a parking garage.

Keeping control while the rental is running

Reservation Assistance sends updates on your rental as they happen. The idea is that changes, reminders and status updates reach you without you having to go looking, which is the difference between a smooth pickup and a surprise at the counter.

Two features give you direct control over an active rental. You can extend it from the app by choosing a new return date and time, which avoids a phone call when a trip runs long. Emerald Club members can edit their profile, track tier progress and view free-day credits. According to the developer, base rate, Time and Mileage are what the free days cover.

For members who rent often enough to care about tier progress, having the numbers in the app is a reasonable convenience. It turns a vague sense of "I must be close" into something you can check while you are standing in line.

Emerald Checkout and the Virtual Pass

Emerald Checkout is the part of the app that changes the pickup experience most. At Emerald Aisle locations, the phone lets you scan a car, check its mileage and features, and confirm your options. A Virtual Pass barcode then speeds up the exit process.

This is the feature that makes the app more than a records viewer. Choosing a car and completing the paperwork are the two moments that usually cost time, and the app moves both onto the device. It only applies at Emerald Aisle locations, so the benefit depends on where you rent.

The rest of the app is quieter by comparison: reservations, receipts, locations, support and profile management. Together they cover the whole arc of a rental, from booking to the receipt you file afterward.

What the app costs you

The app itself is free. It carries no advertising, and there are no in-app purchases to navigate. The cost of using it is your Emerald Club membership and whatever you pay for the rental itself.

Installing the app means consenting to the terms of use and the privacy policy. It is worth reading before you tap install rather than after.

The developer also mentions that the app has been cleaned up over time; the most recent release notes for version 6.15 describe bug fixes, interface improvements and general housekeeping. That points to an app that is being maintained rather than left to sit.

Where a different tool might serve you better

The honest comparison is not with another rental company's app but with the category of tool you actually need. If your goal is to compare prices across companies before you book, a general travel booking service or a fare-comparison site will do that job, and this app will not.

If you already know which company you are renting from and simply want the confirmation, the receipt and the support number in one place, a general trip organizer or a well-kept email folder can hold much of that. What those cannot do is scan a car in the aisle or produce a Virtual Pass barcode at an Emerald Aisle location.

And if you are not an Emerald Club member, the app's automatic profile handling, tier progress and free-day credits have nothing to attach to. The features are tied to a membership, and that is the line that decides whether this app is useful to you.

A worthwhile companion for Emerald Club regulars

I would point this app at people who rent with National often enough to have an Emerald Club profile and who want the reservation, the receipt and the support line within reach. The automatic use of your stored details, the trip history, the ability to extend a rental from the phone and the Emerald Checkout process at Emerald Aisle locations are a coherent set of tools for that group.

The limits are structural rather than hidden: the useful parts assume membership, and Emerald Checkout works at Emerald Aisle locations.

For an occasional renter with no loyalty profile, a booking site or a travel organizer will cover the basics. For a frequent renter who already lives inside the Emerald Club system, this is the app that keeps the rental from becoming a series of errands.

What's new in version 6.15.0.9354

Take control with our car rental app - speed and convenience in the palm of your hand. Enjoy access to the benefits you know and love to manage your car rental needs and help you continue to Go Like A Pro®. Here's what we did for National Car Rental version 6.15: • Fixed bugs, improved the UI, and did some general cleaning up under the hood.