Posts Tagged ‘car rental’
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Those deciding to rent a car for their holidays have been advised to read and understand the terms and conditions outlined in the hire contract before committing their signature to the dotted line. Recent research by Which? Holiday has found that many car hire companies are severely lacking in the amount of information they offer up to customers before they hand over the keys. Researchers at Which? Holiday looked at eight car hire companies at Heathrow and Charles de Gaul and came up with some worrying results. When trying to examine the contractual terms and conditions on the websites of both Avis and Enterprise they could find nothing. Limited information was found on the websites of Budget, National and Alamo. A lack of information about the total cost of hiring a car from some of the companies meant that it was not possible to do an accurate price comparison because no information was given about the price of waivers or extra costs.
A spokesperson for Enterprise reportedly told the research team that their website was merely a tool for booking a vehicle and that the transaction as well as terms and conditions being made available would take place at the booking desk. National and Alamo also allegedly said that customers should not compare waivers and insurance cover on price alone because their levels can vary.
Hertz, Europcar and Enterprise all told Which? Holiday that the clause in their contracts making the hirer of a vehicle responsible for paying the full price of that vehicle in the event that they cannot produce the keys after the car has been stolen is a way of preventing fraud and negligence. They said that there were circumstances where exceptions would be made.
Tags: Alamo, Avis, Budget, car hire, car hire companies, car rental, Charles de Gaul, Enterprise, Europcar, Heathrow, Hertz, holidays, National, rent a car, Which? Holiday
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Friday, January 15th, 2010
One of the world’s leading independently owned chauffer services has teamed up with one of the world’s biggest car hire companies in a move that is aimed at offering the customers of both a wider range of vehicle rental solutions. Dav El is an American based service which provides high end luxury vehicle to those who are attending group meetings, functions and conventions. Its fleet consists of Cadillac sedans, stretch limousines, SUVs and minibuses and it has offices in more than 550 cities around the world. With around 15,000 vehicles Dav El offers customers in almost every city the opportunity to hire a luxury vehicle along with a professional driver for any need.
Dav El’s president and CEO, Scott A. Solombrino said that he was pleased that his chauffer service will now offer extra travel options for Hertz customers. He also said that the partnership would provide Dav El with the opportunity to grow its brand around the world.
Mark P. Frissora, President and CEO at Hertz said that a partnership with one of the world’s leading chauffer companies would mean that Hertz is now able to offer its customers yet another option when it came to renting a vehicle. He also said that the fact that Dav El was already well established in many cities around the world would compliment the fact that Hertz has already established itself as one of the world’s major car hire brands. Hertz currently offers vehicle hire solutions in more than 145 countries around the globe.
Tags: car hire, car rental, chauffer, Dav El, Hertz, luxury vehicle, stretch limousines
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Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
Car rental firm Sixt has been voted top car hire company for 2009 by Travel and Leisure Magazine. Sixt received its award alongside other prestigious travel companies such as Singapore Airlines and Virgin America. The awards are given out to those companies which excel in the travel industry and are voted for by over 300,000 professionals within the travel sector. On learning that Sixt had managed to secure the top spot the company’s U.K. managing director, Ian Lawrence was quick to point out that the award was particularly special because it was the consumer who had voted to give it to Sixt. He said that he was excited that Sixt was being presented with the award alongside a number of other extremely prestigious names in the travel industry. He went on to say that Sixt was constantly trying to make its product and its service the best it could be whether it was an executive renting a vehicle for business from them or a family wishing to spend some time together.
Malcolm Cooper from Sixt U.A.E. said that it was the confidence that customers had in the rental firm that pushed Sixt to constantly try to supply a better service to them. He said that Sixt offices around the world would be inspired to try as hard as they possibly could to deliver excellence to those wishing to hire a car through their offices.
Sixt car hire is available at over 3,500 different locations around the world in more than 90 countries.
Tags: award, car hire, car rental, Singapore Airlines, Sixt, Travel and Leisure Magazine, Virgin America
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Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
Car hire comparison site Carrentals.co.uk is advising all customers that the troubles affecting the car rental industry throughout this year are set to continue well into 2010. Carrentals.co.uk managing director Gareth Robinson said that due to the recession many car hire firms have been unable to secure the required funds to increase the size of their fleets in line with customer demand. He said that this has caused a shortage of vehicles as well as price hikes on those vehicles still available.
It had been expected that the recession would produce a reduction in the amount of customers hiring vehicles and that the limited number available would be enough to cater to demand. However the number of people wanting to hire vehicles remained steady and this resulted in some companies selling out completely during peak periods. This trend could get worse in 2010.
easyCar’s Owen Coles said that the industry is bracing itself for chronic shortages of vehicles available to customers. He said that as the recession eases more customers were expected to book car rentals. However there is still an amount of uncertainty as to whether financial institutions are ready to hand over the necessary funds for car hire firms to expand fleets to meet the predicted demand.
Robinson said that his advice to anyone wishing to rent a car next year would be to book it as far in advance of the date of travel as possible. He also advised customers to use a price comparison site to secure the best deals.
Tags: best deals, car hire, Car hire comparison, car rental, carrentals.co.uk, Easycar, hire vehicles, recession, rent a car
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Thursday, December 17th, 2009
The situation for the car hire industry in Spain shows little sign that it has improved much, if at all, since the world went into economic meltdown in 2008. Customers are reporting a scarcity of vehicles and those who manage to find a car say that prices are exorbitant. Spain was hit particularly hard by the global recession. Car hire companies found themselves unable to restock their fleets as the banks refused to give any money to the lease companies so they in turn could no longer supply vehicles to the car rental firms.
The result of all of this is that there simply aren’t enough vehicles to satisfy demand from travellers requiring car hire when they visit Spain. The recession has also affected the number of people visiting Spain. In 2008 the figures for those visiting Spain from the U.K. for a winter break were down by eighteen percent. Suffice it to say this made the people involved in the countries tourism industry slightly nervous so car hire companies hiked prices by way of compensation for lost revenue. During the summer many customers were booking car hire at rates that were more than double the price of just a year ago. One holidaymaker said that she was shocked to find that the modest run-around she usually hired each year for £200 had suddenly sky-rocketed in price to over £500. She went on to point out that she was seriously considering buying a car and keeping it in Spain as it would probably work out cheaper than having to hire every year.
Tags: car hire, car hire companies, car rental, car rental firms, economic meltdown, global recession, Spain, tourism industry, winter break
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Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Online searches for car hire related websites steadily declined throughout the year’s third quarter according to reports compiled by one of the U.K.’s leading internet search agencies. Greenlight announced in its Car Hire Sector Report - Q3 2009 that September searches were down 25% on August and 34% on July. Greenlight’s independent report also found that a number of the big players in the car rental sector had slid down the rankings of most searched for on the web by potential customers.
September’s report showed that the three most popular searches by people looking for car hire related sites were: Car hire, which made up 13%, Car rental making up 5% and Car hire UK taking 3%.
The Greenlight study also looked at the visibility of car hire firms on the web in terms of how many times a key word was used in a search and the respective positions they held on page one of Google. The three most visible car hire websites according to the Greenlight team were CarRentals (54%) Travelsupermarket (40%) and Easycar (32%). Falling down the rankings were AnyCarHire and EuropCar who both lost out to the more aggressive marketing tactics of both Hertz and Enterprise. Avis meanwhile stayed in it second quarter position being visible to only 21% of car hire related online searches in September.
Greenlight’s CEO, Warren Cowan said that achieving the top rankings in the car hire sector was incredibly difficult in such an aggressive market like car hire. He pointed out that it was a market where everyone was in direct competition with everybody else.
Tags: Avis, car hire, car hire UK, car rental, CarRentals, Easycar, Enterprise, Europcar, Google, Greenlight, Hertz, internet search, Online searches, Travelsupermarket
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Friday, December 4th, 2009
EuropcarClub has just launched in the U.K. The concept from Europe’s most popular car hire firm is geared up to provide customers with the simplicity of by-the-hour car hire along with Europcar’s low rates. It is a two tier service with membership of its ‘Easy’ level rental starting out at just £8.25 per month or £99.00 for a whole year. The ‘Easy’ service gives car hire customers access to a whole range of vehicles including compacts, vans and MPVs. Europcar claim that the ‘Easy’ service is ideal for those who do not have a car or who wish to upgrade to a larger vehicle for specific journeys like taking the family away for a holiday.
The EuropcarClub ‘Premium’ service is a little more expensive at £60.00 per month but allows customers to take advantage of access to any vehicle in the clubs range from compacts to the ultimate in prestige vehicles. Membership means that drivers will be given discounts on renting any vehicle whether it is a Mini Clubman or a Mercedes S Class.
Marketing Director for Europcar, Catriona Lougher says that EuropcarClub allows its members to take advantage of low rates all year round as well as change a vehicle whenever they wish. Customers can leave their rental car at any Europcar station throughout Europe and never have to worry about wear and tear, depreciation, tax or insurance. She also points out that customers have access to the most environmentally friendly vehicles on the market so they can be that little bit greener.
Tags: car club, car hire, car rental, compacts, environmentally friendly, Europcar, EuropcarClub, insurance, low rates, membership, Mercedes S Class, Mini Clubman, MPV, tax, vans
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Monday, November 30th, 2009
Sixt Rent A Car says that a blog it set up to provide anyone who logs on with news and stories from around the world has been extremely successful. The Sixt blog was set up to serve customers of Sixt as well as non-customers who wish to contact an expert in order to gain information on car rental as well as what is going on in the car rental world. The site features blog posts from regular guests which cover subjects from world news to local events.
Internet marketing executive for Sixt, David Jackson said the blog site was not simply dedicated to publishing information about car hire. He wants the site to appeal to a broad range of internet customers and hopes that its diversity will appeal not only to regular Sixt customers but also to new customers.
Whether a Sixt customer or not, the site is already becoming an extremely useful tool for those wishing to find out about travel conditions in certain areas as well as any problems that they might encounter on their journeys. Sixt say that they were keen for the blog site to be separate from the Sixt reservations pages so that it didn’t simply feel like a sales tool. One of the most popular functions of the site is an area called Ask The Expert where anyone can get advice on even the most complicated problems associated with car rental such as what tyre type and pressure should one use when on a skiing holiday.
Tags: Ask The Expert, blog, car hire, car rental, Sixt, Sixt Rent A Car, skiing holiday
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Thursday, November 26th, 2009
The European Commission has just announced new regulations which will extend the same protection given to holidaymakers who book their trips through a travel agent to those who book independently. The new rules are to be put into place to protect travellers from the perils of something going wrong on their independently booked holiday such as below standard service or an airline going into insolvency.
Travellers who decide to construct their own holiday itinerary by booking various services such as airline tickets and car rental from different websites will now have the right to cancel tickets and apply for refunds in the same way as holidaymakers who book a package deal can.
Meglena Kuneva, a consumer commissioner with the European Union said that the new rules were needed so that customers as well as travel companies could all now know that they were being treated equally. She said that everyone had the right to be protected from the problems of companies such as airlines going bust. Research by the commission suggests that a large percentage of consumers who put together their own travel itinerary believe that they are protected if anything goes wrong. At present this is not the case and it has been estimated that the average amount of money lost by holidaymakers when something does go wrong is around €600.
The new measures of protection are scheduled to be put into practice some time next year after the commission has had a chance to consult both members of the travel industry and consumers.
Tags: airline tickets, car rental, European Commission, holidaymakers, independently booked holiday, travel agent, travel industry, travel itinerary
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