History of Alamo Rent A Car
| 1974 | Alamo Rent A Car opens four locations in Florida, pioneering the concept of Unlimited Free Mileage. Immediately carving its niche in the leisure car rental industry, Alamo focuses its mission on providing a fun, low-cost, high-value rental experience to family and leisure travelers. The brand quickly becomes one of the country’s largest vacation rental providers and the largest provider to international travelers visiting North America. |
| 1982 | To facilitate the increase in leisure travelers, Alamo constructs its first state-of-the-art rental plaza in Tampa, Fla. Rental plazas serve hundreds of customers per hour in a modern, ultra-spacious environment. More plazas follow in other major leisure destinations including Orlando, Fla., home of the world’s largest rental facility. |
| 1985 | Alamo introduces a new customized rental agreement the size of an airline ticket, and Instant Alamo Rent A Car, a program that stores a traveler’s individual rental information for instant reference. |
| 1990 | Alamo revolutionizes collision damage waivers by introducing the first-ever price and coverage option for all renters. Alamo creates three new consumer-driven optional collision damage waiver products in Florida, named Waiver Savers®, which provide customers with three choices of price and coverage options tailored to their needs. |
| 1995 | Alamo launches the industry’s first real-time Internet booking engine. Customers can visit Alamo.com to find locations, view rates and select their vehicle. Soon, Alamo.com expands to include a membership-services section and travel tools to find the weather, driving directions and fun activities for children to enjoy on their road trip. |
| 1998 | Alamo launches E-Process 2000, a group of technologically enhanced initiatives for tour operators, including electronic reservation links on the company’s website, voucher-less rental processing and electronic billing. |
| 2002 | Alamo announces a partnership with Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, making it the official rent a car company of the most frequented tourist attractions in North America. |
| 2005 | Alamo launches the industry’s first and only online check-in system. |
| 2007 | Alamo is acquired by the Taylor Family of St. Louis, which today also owns and operates Enterprise Holdings. Alamo earns Budget Travel magazine’s “Extra Mile Award” for its self-serve kiosks. |
| 2011 | Alamo launches a partnership with Japan Airlines (JAL) which allows members of JAL’s frequent flyer program to earn miles when renting from any participating Alamo location in the U.S. and Canada. |
| 2012 | A new Alamo branch in downtown Waikiki opens, adding to existing Alamo locations at the Honolulu International Airport, the Disney Aulani Resort & Spa and Waikiki Discovery Bay. |
| 2013 | Alamo expands its Latin American – Caribbean footprint, entering Uruguay. |
| Today | Alamo’s commitment to the leisure travel market has fostered longstanding partnerships with the airline industry, travel destinations, travel agents and tour operators around the world. Alamo’s operations have since expanded throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Latin America and Asia. |
