When it comes to renting a car, there are some people who'd be perfectly happy with little more than a cardboard box and four wheels if it got them where they were going, while others have specific preferences about make, model, color and the condition of the vehicle. If you fall in into the cardboard box camp, you can probably stop reading now, but if you'd like to find out how to have a choice in vehicle selection when it comes to your next rental, then read on.

The oldest of the major worldwide rental brands, Hertz today focuses primarily on the business traveler. Hertz's #1 Club Gold program is designed for maximum efficiency for the customer in a hurry, and to that end, it succeeds.

Hertz's loyalty program actually consists of two separate products: the free Hertz #1 Club and the fee-based membership program Hertz #1 Club Gold. The former allows you to save your information for faster check-out at the rental counter and collect Hertz #1 Awards points, while the latter provides a much more complete express rental experience. It's relatively easy to find ways to join the full Hertz #1 Club Gold product for free, so we'll focus on the full program in this review.

Don't like to wait at the rental car counter? Who does? But with the holiday season approaching you could see longer lines, and longer waits.

But there just may be something you can do to all but eliminate any hassle at the rental counter, and get on your way quickly and easily.

Many business travelers are familiar with the frequent renter programs offered by the major car rental companies. There's the Hertz #1 Club, Avis Preferred, and National Emerald Club just to name a few. These programs offer varying levels of benefits which often include express checkout, upgrades, discounts, and the ability to earn credits toward free rentals. What many people don't realize is that even if you only rent from a particular company once a year, it may still pay to sign up for their loyalty program. It takes only a couple of minutes to sign up on-line by entering your driver's license, credit card, vital stats and rental preferences. A little extra effort now may mean the difference between driving off the rental lot in less than five minutes, or enduring a long line and a slow agent trying to input all your information into their computer system.

As the leisure brand of the Enterprise/Alamo/National group of rental car agencies, Alamo targets the value-seeking occasional vacationer with low rates and a large variety of affiliation discounts. While you won't get the premium, go-straight-to-your-car experience you do with National, Alamo's cheap wheels usually makes up for the difference. And Alamo's free Insiders program helps to make it as painless as possible.

Automatically Speeding You On Your Way

Alamo is one of the innovators of the rental car industry. At major airport locations, you'll see their trademark self-serve rental kiosks. Even at busy locations, there's rarely a line for the kiosks. To use the kiosk, you need to check-in online prior to picking up the car, which involves filling out your personal information in an online form. Alamo Insiders makes this process much easier; since your information is already stored in their systems, you can go straight to a kiosk, get your rental agreement, and head for your car.

Dollar's express rental and loyalty program is Dollar Express.

Named appropriately for its basic function, Dollar Express serves primarily as an express rental program. You put all your information in your Dollar Express profile. An hour or two before your scheduled arrival, the Dollar location processes your rental agreement. When you show up, all you have to do is sign the already-completed paperwork and go.

At least that's the goal. The experience varies, and it's not uncommon at some locations to find your rental contract not done or even to wait for a car. However, unlike sister company Thrifty's very similar Blue Chip program, there's no official satisfaction guarantee.