Get my car and let me go!

For the last two days I learned that Ontario Canada is bigger than it looks on the map.  I was under the impression that Guelph, ON was approximately 20 minutes from the Toronto airport.  For those that are Rush fans you will recognize Toronto’s airport code: YYZ!  I also thought London, ON was another 30 minutes from Guelph.   I was wrong, Guelph is 70km from YYZ and London is another 130km farther down the road.  So, my rental car is important to me on this trip.  

Rental car companies can really make your business trip run smoothly.  I used to rent from Enterprise and earned elite status in their loyalty program.  I earned this status between April and August this year and subsequently dumped them like my brother got dumped by his last girlfriend.  Not exactly like my brother got dumped, I didn’t send Enterprise an email and ignore their phone calls.  I stopped renting from them because they kept my business trips from running smoothly.  I now use Avis for rental cars and am much happier.  I can go directly to the parking lot for my car, run my quick scan for vehicle damage or other problems, and drive off when I get myself comfortable in the cockpit.  I do not need to go to a rental counter and wait in line for the rental staff to repeat everything I already did online when I reserved my car.  The most annoying thing Enterprise employees did was shake your hand.  Some marketing executive (read “over-paid schmuck”) came up with the idea that the Enterprise people should show respect and shake hands with every customer.  They come out from behind the counter or reach across the counter to make you shake hands.  From my point of view, it’s creepy!  And it wastes my time; I want to get out of the airport not touch people that I don’t know where they’ve been.