usrentacar.co.uk ® Car Hire USA Blog

Hi all,

Today Alamo have agreed to remove their peak season surcharge for all new bookings collecting in July and August 2012 for a limited time.

The removal of the peak season surcharge will reduce usrentacar.co.uk Alamo peak prices by around £25 per week.

Frank Williams Director of Communication said

We are delighted that Alamo Rent A Car have given our customers the opportunity to hire a quality product during peak season without the extra charge.

The new peakless rates are ready to book on our system right now and can be secured with a £50.00 deposit.

Please note once this offer has ended, if you have not secured your rental on usrentacar.co.uk, a peak season surcharge may apply.

regards,

James

Hi all,

Alamo were doing so well this week, on Monday they amended their petrol policy and Tuesday they revealed their new Cape Canaveral location, Wednesday was a bit quiet but today we’ve been advised of some new terms that aren’t quite as positive.

One Way Rentals

Ford Mustang and Convertible lovers collecting in San Francisco may have to rethink their schedule due to this new fee.

One way rentals commencing 01 July 2012 – 31 August 2012. Intercity fees from all San Francisco Locations for the STAR (Convertible) to all destinations will be charged at 350.00 USD

So to confirm, if you are collecting a Convertible from a San Francisco location and looking to drop it off at a different location between the 01/07/12 and the 31/08/12 you will be liable for a one way rental fee of $350.00 plus tax. Please note if the usual one way fee is greater you will pay the greater amount, for example SFO to MCO would still be $500 plus tax.

Gold rate

Starting from February 1st 2012, the Alamo gold rate will now only be available on rentals of 4 days or more from all locations.

The minimum rental period for all of our Gold products will be changing to 4 days (Alamo and National brands) for destinations USA and Canada and will apply to rentals picking up on or after 1st April 2012; this will apply for all new bookings made from 1st February 2012. Existing bookings will be unaffected.

These changes will effect all companies offering Alamo/National products.

Remember at present Dollar Rent A Car are still offering free one way rentals on their Convertible product within certain locations, contact our reservations department for more information or use our website to obtain a quote.

regards,

James

Hi all,

Following on from yesterdays fuel policy alteration, Alamo Rent A Car have followed in the foot steps of Budget Rent A Car and Dollar Rent A Car by offering a Florida Car Hire services out of Cape Canaveral.

Located near the port at 6211 N. Atlantic Avenue, the office will run a free shuttle bus service to and from the cruise area during the following hours.

Mon-Fri: 07:30 am 05:30 pm

Sat: 08:00 am 04:00 pm

Sun: 07:00 am 04:00 pm

Alamo’s addition to the area can only be a positive move for customers as increased competition should see a positive effect on service and rates.

regards.

James

Hi all,

Good news from Alamo Rent A Car today. After a lot of lobbying from ourselves, Alamo have agreed to return too the fuelling policies of  the past.

With our inclusive (silver) USA car hire product the customer is expected to purchase a full tank of fuel upon arrive and return the vehicle empty. Pump prices from suppliers can be more expensive, as we touched on during this post and if you’re renting for a short amount of time can work out to be more expensive.

So its refreshing to see that Alamo Rent A Car have heard our concerns and agreed that from 01/04/12 usrentacar.co.uk customers will be given the option to either pre-purchase their fuel upon arrival at an agreed price or return the vehicle the same way it was collected (full).

I’m sure you’ll all agree this is good news from Alamo Rent A Car and nice to see that the largest car rental supplier in America isn’t too big to listen to our concerns.

Now all we need is for the other car rental companies to follow suit.

regards,

James

Hey everyone,

For those of you that like statistics and fact based blogs – come on now, dont pretend like this stuff is boring and you’re not a car hire nerd Here are a couple of stats that you might find intresting. Honest! 

While looking at some numbers from a data post from 2011 regarding the amount of cars each major supplier operates versus the amount of revenue generated, we can grab a snippet of which supplier is generating the most revenue per vehicle for car hire in the USA. Its not an exact science but its in the ball park.

Check out these numbers;

We all know that Enterprise/Alamo is the monster player in the market with almost 1 million cars in the market but its surprising to find they are not the top dog when its comes to getting the most revenue per vehicle.

As you can see above the master’s of milking every last dime out of their vehicles is Avis/Budget making on average approximately$14,421.05 per vehicle.

Now the second hand market has been extremely buoyant for the last couple of years, and this is where the car rental suppliers are really making their profits.

So can we assume that Alamo are selling their vehicles before Budget, therefore not getting the most out of the rental revenue but getting more from the second hand market?

If you liked this post and still have a little ‘nerd time’ left to fill why not check the related blog James posted back in December.

Cheers

Simon

Hi all,

Hot off the press (our guys have just finished loading the rates!), we have just been given some discounted prices for new pick up’s with Alamo Rent A Car between the 25/01/12 and the 31/03/12 on every car group in Florida. ***Hooray***.

Both our inclusive and gold rates have been lowered by around 5% offering even greater value for your fully inclusive Florida car hire.

You can book via our website – usrentacar.co.uk or call our reservations department on 0845 226 8523.

I hope some of you can take advantage of these great low rates.

regards,

James

Hi all,

Here at usrentacar.co.uk we were the first car hire company to ask and provide real car hire USA reviews from our customers.

After the car rental has been returned we ask our customer a series of questions which the customer marks out 5, these questions cover the pick up service, the drop off service and value for money. These scores are added together to create a percentage score.

Below are a selection of 100% reviews supplied this year (2012).

Alamo Rent A Car

Mr D Baines 100% review.

Very helpful Alamo staff including shuttle driver who helped put cases in hire car and gave us directions.. We were upgraded for free! Smiles all round!!

Budget Rent A Car

Mr D Boyle 100% review.

usrentacar.co.uk has always provided me with excellent service and good value over the years that I have been visiting Florida. I can recommend them without reservation.

Mr D Stanley 100% review.

I specifically wanted a Mustang as every time I”ve rented in the past, we”ve ended up with a Sebring because of the ”Mustang or similar” statement. Through Budget via US Rent A Car, I had my Mustang this time and an excellent car it was too.

Dollar Rent A Car 

Mr R Potts 100% review.

The rental process was so easypeasy. The Dollar representative who took my details was excellent, efficient and full of enthusiasm for his job and the on airport facility had me heading down the interstate highway from Tampa very quickly. The hire vehicle was very clean and fresh inside and out and prepaired to a high standard and full of fuel and ready to go. Upon return the Dollar agents have you on your way to the airport terminal as easy as 1 2 3 with a “Thank you sir enjoy your trip, your on your way”. Another “Absolutly Fabulous” Car Hire from “usrentacar.co.uk”.

Mr S Harding 100% review.

IN THE PAST WE HAVE ALWAYS FLOWN INTO TO ORLANDO AIRPORT AND HAVE FOUND THE DOLLAR STAFF ON THE RENTAL DESK TO BE VERY RUDE. THIS TRIP WE LANDED IN TAMPA AIRPORT. THE STAFF ON THE DOLLAR DESK AND IN THE GARAGE GAVE US EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A VERY LONG WHILE OUR RENTAL CAR LASTED US THE ENTIRE FIVE WEEK RENTAL!!!!(IT DIDN”T NEED TO BE RETURNED FOR A SERVICE)

Mrs E Byers 100% review.

Small SUV unavailable so given an upgrade and really enjoyed the car – just a bit thirsty on the gas. Customer service from Sam was great. No problems and would definitely use this company again.

Some great positive comments to start 2012 and we hope this continues. Remember you can also leave a review via our iPhone and Android app’s available at the app store and android market, search “usrentacar”.

regards,

James

Hi all,

2011 has been hard for the average Joe but for Car Hire USA suppliers things couldn’t have been rosier, statistics show a total revenue of $22.4 billion, an 8.1% increase over 2010.

At this time of year I always like to take a look at the statistics I think are the most important; Number of vehicles, Number of pick up locations and total revenue for the top four car hire suppliers.

Alamo Rent A Car

The number one supplier and largest in the U.S. is The Enterprise group consisting of Alamo, Enterprise and National Car Rental in 2011 they had an estimated 920,861 vehicle on the road being picked up from 6187 locations across America including airports and city locations. They had 2011 total total revenue exceeding $1 Billion.

Hertz

The number 2 car hire usa supplier for 2011  is Hertz. Including their budget brand (Advantage Rent A Car), Hertz had an estimated 320,000 rental cars available from 2500 pick up locations bringing in a combined approximate revenue of $4,241,000,000.

Budget Rent  A Car

The Avis/Budget Group consisting of Avis Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car operated approximately 285,000 USA rental cars out of 2,300 locations bringing in a estimated yearly revenue of 4,110,000,000.

Dollar Rent A Car

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group consisting of Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental had 118,000 vehicles on the road from an estimated 445 USA locations bringing in a revenue of appropriately $1,645,000,000.

As you can see from these statistics the battle to buy Dollar Rent A Car between Hertz and Budget is very important in securing the number 2 spot in the U.S.

Enterprise continue to dominate the U.S. market in 2011 and the likely hood of anyone toppling them is very slim.

regards,

James

Hi all,

As 2011 enters its final months I thought it might be interesting to look back over a very busy summer period and see which vehicle categories were the most popular with U.S. Rent A Car customers.

usrentacar.co.uk offers car hire USA in over 500 locations and supplies vehicles ranging from Family Salons to sporty looking Convertibles all of which come with  insurance and unlimited mileage.

Top 10 Most Rented Vehicles in the USA

1. Intermediate Sports Utility – Ford Escape or similar
2. 7 Seater Minivan – Dodge Caravan or similar
3. Convertible 2dr – Ford Mustang or similar
4. Economy 2dr – Chevrolet Aveo or similar
5. Full Size 4dr – Dodge Charger or similar
6. Intermediate 4dr – Hyundai Sonata or similar
7. Standard Sports Utility – Jeep Grand Cherokee or similar
8. Full Size 7 seater Sports Utility – Ford Explorer or similar
9. 12 Seater Minivan – Ford E-350 or similar
10. Full Size 2dr – Dodge Charger or similar

Some interesting vehicles appearing in the top 10, and for the first time I can remember the 7 seater minivan was not our biggest seller, the Intermediate Sports Utility has snatched the top award. This could be due to the real shortage of minivans this year and the fact the Intermediate has been priced so aggressively.

Which vehicle did you hire?

regards,

James

Hi all,

For the past 3 years we have been keeping a keen eye on the annual JD Power Rental Car satisfaction study.

Now in its 16th year, the study measures overall domestic customer satisfaction with USA car rentals at airports by examining six factors (listed in order of importance): costs and fees; pick-up process; return process; rental car; shuttle bus/van; and reservation process.

Overall satisfaction in 2011 averages 758 on a 1,000-point scale, up from 750 in 2010, driven by increases in satisfaction across all six factors compared to 2010.

“Rental car companies continue to build upon the improvements made in 2010 and are bouncing back from the lower satisfaction levels reported in 2008 and 2009,”

Stated Stuart Greif, vice president of the travel practice at J.D. Power and Associates.

“As positive as this increase in satisfaction is, there remains ample opportunity for rental car companies to further delight their customers in the future, particularly in leveraging technology.”

But who was top I hear you cry?

For the last few years Enterprise Rent A Car have run away as top of the car hire tree…. so did they finish top this time?…..The answer – NO

Well what about Budget Rent A Car?…again NO.

Dollar Rent A Car? – NO

Alamo? – NO

Thrifty Car Rental? – again NO…

The overall winner was little known independent car hire company ACE Rent A Car, a domestic specialist who although have been getting good reviews in the past have never quite managed to hit the criteria for entry as beaten all the muti billion pound companies…. so a massive congratulations to them. It appears they truly do live by their company moto of “Take care of the customer and everything will take care of itself.”

Top 10 Car Rental Companies

1. ACE Rent A Car
2. Enterprise Car Rental
3. National Car Rental
4. Hertz
5. Alamo Rent A Car
6. Budget Rent A Car
7. Dollar Rent A Car
8. Avis Rent A Car
9. Advantage Rent A Car
10. Thrifty Car Rental

Great to see the little guy coming out on top and showing that the advantage of being small is being able to look after the customer correctly.

regards,

James