It was the year 1947, and twenty-four independent agents joined forces to create National Car Rental. They started out with approximately 60 locations across the country — still pretty ambitious for a fledgling company. Over the following decades, the corporation expanded to over 2000 offices.  Although headquartered in the small city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, National Car has locations on every continent except Antartica.

Of course, renting an autombile is essential for almost every business person who has to travel.  A few cities like New York city have a plethora of taxis that can take you quickly and directly wherever you may need to go.  But for most other cities, when travelers arrive in a new town, they are reliant on themselves to get to their final destination. In fact, it’s usually much more convenient to have a car available than to rely on taxis or the rigid schedules of public transportation. This is especially true after dark, when buses or trains may stop running, or may pass through areas of town that may not be safe at night.

National, like many other large rental car companies, has some incredible rates on rental cars. It’s possible to have a car for about $20 a day. During some special promotions it’s even lower. Try $1 a day for one way travel to certain cities at certain times of the year.

In addition to the specials many other car rental services offer, National offers last minute deals. It considers itself the last minute car rental specialist, and takes action to make that come true. People don’t always have notice for a trip that requires a rental car. It might be a funeral, or just a sick family member, or a last minute business trip to handle a problem client or situation. Whatever the issue National works hard to provide the best rates and service in that situation. Try some of these. A last minute rental of a full size car for only $170 a week, or an economy car for $19 a day. Those types of rates are a relief to people who have to make last minute plans.

Something not many people know is that National and Alamo rental car companies are owned by the same corporation. Since August of 2007 Enterprise owns both through an umbrella corporation. The reason the brands remain separate is that each has an associated niche. Whereas Enterprise is associated more with business rentals and corporate fleets, and Alamo has a reputation as a vacation car rental company, National maintains the image of the place to go for last second rentals.

That doesn’t mean someone can’t go to any of these companies for any reason. Compare prices of all the companies through a service like Expedia. Look around foar specials and coupon codes. And if they’re the best car rental deal, then by all means choose National car rental.