[m1abcd3]

I work for a car rental company and can assure you that it is not some evil ploy to upsell you. It comes down to this: you are renting a really expensive ($30K-100K) asset and they need to make sure you are not trying to steal it. This can take a few minutes if you are unknown to the company. If you think about it this way, 5-10 minutes to make this decision is pretty damn quick.

[Rebelgecko]

Why do they need to re-do this process every time someone rents a car? With the equivalent programs from companies I've rented with, they check your info at the counter once and from the on its just a cursory glance as you leave the lot. It doesn't seem like there's anything stopping them from making the quick one-time check the default.

[m1abcd3]

I know it feels that way, but we don't redo anything if you have a valid license and card on file. The lines are long at airports because planes deplane at similar intervals and there are a lot of travelers that come to the location without this information on file (think cruise ships, travel agency bookings, discount site bookings). If you download the rental app and take advantage of loyalty programs then you can skip the craziness.

[fmobus]

It shouldn't be more complicated than selling alcohol to an adult, really.

Sixt gave me the car I reserved in 3 minutes time, half of which was me walking to the car, no upsale attempts, just a quick driver license check, some instructions regarding EV charging and here's your key sir have a nice day. That's how it should be.

If I were to steal the car, I'd bet they'd have no trouble tracking it down, as the technology involved is trivial nowadays.

[m1abcd3]

This same experience is provided by every other brand via loyalty programs. The counter does not exist for loyalty (or known) members, it exists for all the other customers that come to the company via third party vendors (travel agency, third parties, etc). Most of those people do not have a license or credit card on file.