Seamless rental experience at a decent price

On two different days within one week, I needed an affordable one-day rental to complete a 360km round-trip from King Shaka International Airport. The service I received from Thrifty on both occasions was perfectly acceptable. In addition, Thrifty was the only rental company that allowed me to increase the included mileage above 200km per day, rather than paying an additional per-kilometre fee, which is sometimes not fully disclosed before making your booking.

Contrary to the many other negative reviews, my deposits were released in good time on both occasions (approximately 3-4 business days). This may be because my trips did not exceed my free mileage, so there was no need for Thrifty to calculate and invoice me for any extras.

In my experience, most car rental agencies have a few operating procedures which are open to mistakes or abuse by employees. Sometimes odometers are misread. Sometimes already full tanks are 'filled up' at the client's expense. Sometimes you are suddenly billed for damage you didn't cause. It's always a good idea to take pictures of fuel gauges, odometers, and all nicks and scratches before and after, but the staff at King Shaka branch were helpful, diligent, and efficient and I will happily be using this branch again.