Firefly Car Rental

If you dont need frills or extra use Firefly — by far cheapest! And no they are not going to give you VIP GOLD service for the lowest price! Affordable = Yes. Car = safe, new, clean

If only it were possible to give 0 stars.
You will never be able to get ahold of customer service.
Returning the car is an ordeal as none of the staff have any idea what is going on in their own department.
God forbid you have to deal with Fransisca at the front desk. She is a nightmare. She will argue with you and laugh at you if you can’t decipher her poorly communicated directions
Seriously just don’t subject yourself to this horrific place.

Do not rent from these guys. They advertise that they are at the Oakland Airport terminal. They are not, in fact no one is. These guys close at 5:00 PM. So if you drop your car off after they close they will not have a record that you have returned your car, and your account will be left open.
I dropped my car off with a full tank of gas after 5 PM there was a man from Hertz checking in cars for his Company. I asked him if he could close out my account and he said no, because he did not have access to the computer or paperwork for firefly. I gave him my keys and left the car with him. I later made three phone calls to firefly customer service and they gave me the local phone number to call because they could not help me. I called the local number repeatedly only to get a voicemail message and not able to leave a message for them.
Extremely frustrating. Not feeling comfortable that I was leaving my car without record I called the emergency roadside service and ask them if they would please update my file to note that I had returned the car. They did not understand what I was telling them and asked that I keep the car until the office re-​opened the following day. I explained that we went out of our way to return the rental car the night before because we had a very early flight with three children the next morning … Very bad customer service. Got pushed around from one person to the next and they all seemed to know less than the one before. Bye bye Firefly.

I read the Unilocal reviews and decided to go with Firefly anyway because their rates were far cheaper than the rest (like 300% cheaper!). They are located off the airport via shuttle just like every other car rental company at OAK. The best part is — I got on the big shuttle bus with tons of other people heading to the car rental station and upon entering the car rental building saw long lines everywhere … except at the far end where Firefly was located. Wow, walked right up, got my car and was gone. The car was just fine and had only 7K miles on it. The Firefly attendants were personable and efficient. Bringing back the car was just as easy. Firefly is the way to go if you are not renting on your company’s account. Absolutely NO complaints!

WORST CAR RENTAL COMPANY EVER. NOT EVEN WORTH A STAR. First of all, I had a reservation thru priceline two weeks in advance, and when I showed up was informed that if I didn’t pay with a credit card (instead of a debit card) they would have to do a credit check, and if my credit wasn’t high enough I would just not be given a rental car. I told the poor lone employee I wouldn’t blame her but she would be getting a supervisor on the line because I would be beyond pissed if that were the case. Apparently my credit was adequate. Now I am getting ready to return the car and THANK GOODNESS I called their 800 # to check the after hours return policy! (No answer and no recording or voicemail at the location, just rings and rings) Because at least at the Oakland location, this is not an option. So… I have to return the car a day early… and by 3pm because they close early on Saturday. I don’t even want to consider what kind of horrible situation I would be in if I hadn’t found that out. And I doubt they will happily give me a refund for that lost day. I suppose after reading the other reviews, I should be glad they even had a car in stock for me. Don’t worry, PR responder, I will be filing a formal complaint.

I was skeptical about renting here after reading the reviews. I also had a hard time getting customer support prior to pick up. At the end of the agreement however, I was an overall satisfied customer. My rental period was 10 days, unlimited mileage in a 2016 Mitsubishi Mirage with only 8K mi. The car worked flawlessly and was the perfect fit for my nearly 2,000mi of travel. It’s a bare-​bones outfit here at the OAK airport, occupying the smallest counter of all the agencies. When I picked up, the neighboring Hertz counter had about 20 – 30 disgruntled patrons all waiting to check out. I stroll right up to the counter and check out within 5 – 10 min. Hertz people looked like they wanted to rent Firefly instead.
They do everything old-​school on paper here from having you inspect the car, bringing the sheets back to the counter, and repeating this process upon return. With the other larger agencies, this is all done electronically. As of this review, all Firefly cars are to be returned to the Thrifty lot.
No hidden fees or add-​ons. They charged me exactly the rate pre-​agreed to. They even let me keep it a couple extra hours without charge. Bravo Firefly.

If I could give this place a zero, I would. First of all they did not have the car I reserved in stock. The First Lady that helped was okay. She tried to find us a car but it took her forever to find one and when she did the car was all scratched up and damaged. They kept saying we have this one car it is a premium luxury. It was a Nissan Maxima 2013. Really, premium luxury?! I don’t think so. A BMW is a premium luxury not a Nissan. They had nothing else in stock. The second lady had the biggest attitude and she told us you would have to wait if you want another car or pay extra. They also tried to charge me $ 31 a day for insurance. The car was $ 11 a day. $ 31 for insurance!!! I will never go back here again!!! The worst customer service ever!!! Stick with Budget or Alamo. It is not worth it!!! I should have known why there was no line in front of the counter!!!

very bad customer service.
Lady on the counter doesn’t know how to speak and she’s very rude.
I will not suggest this place.
please, improve customer relationship and teach your employees how to behave.

Had very bad experience. I booked a compact car and they don’t have it and asked me to wait for one hour more until car arrives. Very bad customer service,

One and done…
Despite reviews I decided to give this place a go. I like to give businesses the benefit of the doubt sometimes before I write them off. Well this was not a good experience from the start. I do believe part of it is the location, not necessarily the company itself. Other than the fact that it takes forever to check in.
Anyways…I booked with them because they were cheap and I was just going home to visit for a few days. The check in process was long, but I tried to keep it simple and make it short for the people behind me in line. I was a little surprised that she did not offer me a map when I was leaving. It didn’t bother me because I knew the area well I just thought it was strange. I walked outside to find my car and there were no signs leading me in the right direction. Finally someone from Hertz helped me find my car. Finally after about an hour I was able to be on my way.
Everything was fine until I went to drop the car back off. When I drove to the return locations I could not find the sign for firefly anywhere. I circled around a few times, a little annoyed, until finally I found a small poster sign that said firefly next to the Hertz and Budget or Dollar rental. Again a little confused as to why she didn’t tell me when I return the car to look for the big yellow Hertz sign and it would be there. I pull my car in to line and a guy came up and asked me if I was with Hertz or Budget… I looked at him confused and said firefly. He said, «oh.ok» I wanted to say something but I kept my mouth shut. He started checking my car and said he worked for the other two locations and apologized that Firefly did not have anyone out there to check me in. Obviously not the guys fault. I don’t like to leave a mess in a rental car, plus I like to be able to make sure I didn’t leave anything behind. As I was cleaning out my car I noticed some cans under the seat that did not come from anyone that was in my car and some trash as well. I thought it was gross that the car had not been properly cleaned. Note to self and anyone reading this… good to know if you lose anything under the seat it will never be found. I had to go inside to finish checking myself out and wait to be helped. Most places you are done right then but I had to go in and wait for the lady to check me out. It took about 5 minutes, and she stopped helping someone else in line in order to do it.
The whole experience was a mess. I will not be renting from Firefly regardless of how much better their price might be. Maybe a different location, but definitely not in Oakland. Its like shopping at Macy’s vs Nordstrom, spend the extra dollars and get good service.

I have a car reservation for 10 pm pick up
Nobody is answering the phone at the moment

What a great experience! There was no line and they were very efficient. Rates were incredible! When back in the area, will definitely use them.

Had to wait an hour and a half just to get to the front of the line. There were only 5 people in front of me and one struggling employee. Every other rental car company and 3 – 4 employees.

This company is as effecient as a government agency in a third world country. It was almost like a bunch of friends got together and said «let’s start a rental car company.»
They had a single employee checking in cars and working the counter. It took over an hour to get a car even though I had a reservation. They don’t have any automated return handheld kiosk for their workers like all other companies. If you are nostalgic for what was like to rent a car in the 80s, then come here.
Any other rental company is better. Worse case you should just borrow your friend’s car.

Had a reservation ¹²⁄₁₇ for an OAK pickup and SFO drop off same day. Great rate. Except, when I showed up at counter at the OAK airport to pick up car there was no agent present. I was advised by the Hertz attendants that the rep works solo and is on ‘lunch break’ and be back in 40 mins. Sorry I can’t wait 40 minutes so re-​booked on the spot with their competitor. Only reason this company did not get 1 star is because their rates were so good. Pointless though if they can’t hire the correct support to cover peoples breaks. Amateur company stay away.

This company is a joke. Go to a well establish company for less headache…
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I usually come every weekend to the bay area for the past 12 months and always rent a car. I wanted to give Firefly some business this weekend because I noticed they were new.
I made a reservation online like I always do for the competition. I went to the counter and they told me they had no cars available. I had to wait for an hour for a car to come in. So the moral of the story, don’t count on them having a car ready for you even though you made a reservation weeks in advance.

My family was visiting from out of the country, so I decided I would rent a car to show them around. From the Bay Area, I took them to LA, Vegas, and decided to make a trip to the Grand Canyon from Vegas. On the way back from the Grand Canyon, we got a flat tire. No biggie, these things happen, that’s life, we got the insurance on the car, etc. We got lucky with a camp ranger stopping to help us put the doughnut on the car. We called road side service since we were still 3 hours away from Vegas and it was after 5pm so no car shop would be open.
We assumed a tow truck would come with a real tire. Not only did they leave us on hold for 30 minutes twice, not only did they not send a tow truck, but they told us to drive on the doughnut back to Vegas at under 50mph. You know how I mentioned it was a 3 hour drive? That’s a 3 hour drive on 4 regular tires going 65−70mph. It took us 7 hours on the doughnut, which essentially cost us our entire trip. Side note: driving 45mph on a highway, in the middle of the dessert at night, next to massive trucks passing you is a whole different type anxiety that I hope no one ever has to experience.
Why not just pull over and stay the night at some motel in the middle of no where? Sound a little Texas Chain Saw Massacre to you? Yea, well it was. Plus, my mother and my uncle both have diabetes and didn’t have their medication with them to stay the night anywhere other than the hotel that they already paid for in Vegas.
Hertz is the ‘sister’ company of Firefly, so when the Hertz dealership in Vegas opened in the morning, we were able to trade the car in for a different one so we would be able to drive home. Once we got back to Oakland, we explained everything that happened… All they did was reimburse us for bring the car back a day early.
This company isn’t just bad, it’s unbelievably awful. Fine, it’s super cheap… Transportation isn’t something that you should cheap out on. EVER.

Made the reservation but when we got to the airport firefly rental cars they were closed and it was only 10:15pm. the itinerary that we had from hotwire said that they would be open till 11 but obviously they don’t care about their customers they left us stranded and we had to find alternate means of transportation.
When I tried to call the phone number in the itinerary, I got a recording saying the number had been disconnected. Not happy with this company and I’ll never use them again!!!

5 Stars for their Manager. He is awesome, proactive, calm and rad.
0 Stars for policy, signage, double charging me insurance and «forcing» me to book gas through them.
Plus $ 250 Charge because my dog rode in the car to and from Christmas? She’s hypo-​allergenic and clean, groomed and trained. And much cleaner than the 13yro, 11 yro and 5 yro who rode in the car with all their sticky Xmas candy.
FAIL.
Next time I’ll pay more and go with a bigger company.