Cheap Car Hire in Chicago

Staff were extremely polite and accommodating and this is the one redeeming factor. It took about an hour waiting in line to reach the budget counter. Seemed like everything went fine until we reached the garage and found out we were given a Ford Runner with terrible mileage for hundreds of miles of turnpike driving. Representative in the garage tried to help us out and moved us into a Chevy Malibu. Unfortunately the car was dirty (obvious trash left in car), but we were willing to deal since we were already severely delayed. But then we reached the garage gate to checkout and found out from the attendant that one extra feature we asked for; an Ezpass on the rental, was MIA. It was just one issue after another and overall a very bad experience, but again shout out to the staff who were very kind and helpful throughout.

It takes about three hours to pick up the vehicle, and people at pickup location were so rude to customers.

Everything was great

It was two hrs from the time I stood in line to the time I actually started a vehicle!

The staff helping us with pick-up in Chicago at O’Hare was friendly, experienced, and professional. She explained everything thoroughly while making the pick up quick and easy.

Drop off someone had to explain process- minimal staff - holiday and like most business just lack of staff. Taken care of and staff was pleasent

I specifically booked this car service as kayak website said it was located at the terminal. It was not. You have to take a train from and to the location. Also, there were many added fees that doubled the overall rental. These fees included for tolls and additional 15 dollars per toll use, taxes and fees. The car seat was dirty and loose. The car was very clean, but had a tire that was low on air. There was also charges for returning the car early even though the reservation was completely paid.

The pick up experience at Payless in Chicago was horrible. Our car reservation was for 6am right when they opened because we had had a nightmare travel experience and needed to get home as soon as possible. There was nobody at this time. We waited around for a while as we saw employees arrive for all the other car rental companies. After about 15 minutes and still no one there to help us, I ended up finding a Budget employee that was able to assist as best she good. She reiterated several times throughout the process that Payless does things a little differently than them and she was unfamiliar with their process. Long story short, she ended up miscommunicating something to me (not her fault - she wasn't a Payless employee), leading to an expected nearly $100 charge on my card. The silver lining was that Payless Customer services was very nice after the fact via online inquiry. Quick responses, understanding of my situation, and accommodating to my requests. Although I had a good experience with customer service on the back end, the negative experience I had on the front end is enough to make me not use Payless again in the future.

no one answered the phone at the airport so i cancelled. never again

Car we requested was ready when scheduled.

I got overcharged than what's on my receipt and don't know why. I don't mean the deposit which was refunded. I returned it with more fuel than I started with. So this is a scam rental car company that I will never use again for the $20 overcharge. Good luck loosing a customer for $20

There was a line of 100 people and only two employees working behind the counter at O'HARE location in Chicago ( meanwhile the other car rental companies next to them had 5 or 6 people working behind the counter) .. I waited in line 2 hours and 30 minutes and it was miserable because I already had a reservation at noon because I had to to to a wedding that day like 4 hours away .. A lots of nasty actitud from the people working for "thrifty" .. on top of that they FORCE me to pay an extra 30 dollars a day for my car rental otherwise I'll have to wait for an undisclosed amount of time because according to them they didn't have cars available. But after I paid the extra money the car was available . This was so disrespectful

The car itself was fine. I had to wait three hours past my reserved pick-up time for a car. This was a business trip with meetings scheduled which were greatly affected by this issue. It was clear I was not the only one.