usrentacar.co.uk ® Car Hire USA Blog

Hi all,

Seems a long time ago that I took a look at the average Wait Times for each supplier from some of our more popular locations. Today I’m taking a closer look at Orlando International Airport one of the busiest airports in the world.

How do we collect the data?

We are the only car hire USA company to collect data regarding the length of time it took the customer to collect their vehicle. We do this via our unique iPhone app available for free from the app store.

Customer’s are prompted to add their wait time on the day of collection and this data is displayed on our website. The wait time data is specific to location and supplier.

So who’s top dog?

Alamo Rent A Car - 14 Mins

Budget Rent A Car – 17 Mins

Dollar Rent A Car - 13 Mins

National Car Rental - 15 Mins*

Sixt Rent A Car - 12 mins*

Thrifty Car Rental - 14 mins*

*The data on usrentacar.co.uk is based on 100 individual wait times, suppliers marked with a * are yet to hit 100 individual wait time reviews.

So Dollar Rent A Car are still quickest from Orlando International Airport, however all the suppliers wait times have increased since we last viewed them in June 2012.

How can I speed up my collection?

An old tip but a good one is to send one of you party off the the car rental desks immediately upon arrival while the rest of you get the luggage. However the best way is to take advantage of our suppliers pre-registration facilities, further information can be found here.

Kind regards,

James

Hi all,

usrentacar.co.uk is the UK’s number 1 USA car hire specialist, we’ve helped over half a million British residents rent a car in America and 100′s of thousands of Europeans as well.

What’s the secret?

We are niche! We aren’t bothered about European car hire or Australian car hire or any other car hire, we are fully focused on the USA. All our attention is  on our core market and continue to ask how we can make the experience better for the user.

Our culture is based on providing the best customer experience we possibly can and this culture has allowed us to be the first to offer a mobile app dedicated to making the customers collection easier and  quicker, we aren’t concerned about making money from it.

We were the first to offer reviews of our suppliers written by our own customers, we started this back in 2004 and now this idea is copied across the industry.

We were the first to show multiple suppliers within one search, we pre-dated meta search engines, in many ways we were the first car rental comparison site.

Why use us?

If you needed dental work done you wouldn’t go to a Doctor, you’d go to a Dentist. Its similar here; if you need Florida car hire you go to a U.S. specialist and that’s exactly what people do!

You can view testimonials from previous customers via our partnership with independent review specialist Trustpilot and you can also see how the media has covered us on our about us page.

What we offer

We offer fully inclusive USA car hire but that’s just the start, we offer advice, tips and news via this blog. We offer access to cheap Orlando Attraction Tickets and we offer first class customer services.

What’s not to like?

regards,

James

Hi all,

For most readers of this blog you already know what’s required for your 
Florida Car Hire but some this may be your first experience of renting a car in Florida. So I thought I’d put together a little post on what you should be looking for and accept from your Florida Car Hire.

Suppliers

Florida offers the most diverse amount of car rental suppliers of all the USA States due to it’s popularity with tourists. On usrentacar.co.uk we offer car rental with

1. Alamo Rent A Car
2. Budget Rent A C ar
3. Dollar Rent A Car
4. National Car Rental
5. Thrifty Car Rental
6. Sixt Rent A Car

The first 5 companies listed above  make up the top 3 USA car hire companies in North America. Enterprise who are number 1 own both Alamo and National, Avis own Budget Rent A Car and Hertz have recently purchased Dollar and Thrifty.

Sixt Rent A Car are the new boys on the block who are looking to offer something different to the market, including some great higher end prestige vehicles.

Insuance

All car hire brokers independently negotiate with the car rental suppliers, so insurance exclusions can vary. Here at U.S. Rent A Car we offer the following,

• Unlimited Mileage.
• Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) which is a combination insurance of both Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) and Theft Waiver. As long as you adhere to the rental policy of the supplier you will not be held responsible for the cost of replacement or repair to your hire vehicle.
• Uninsured Motorist Protection (UMP) up to $1m Liability Cover. Offers an Uninsured/Underinsured/Hit-and-Run Motorist Protection (UMP) that provides the renter and family members travelling together in the rented vehicle with up to $1,000,000 of non-stacked coverage for bodily injury sustained while driving the rental car, and caused by another driver who has no insurance, minimal insurance, or is a hit-and-run driver.
• Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI) up to $1m Liability Cover. All drivers included on the rental agreement will not be held liable for third party claims for bodily injury or property damage resulting from an accident.
• Basic Roadside Assistance
• All Taxes and Airport Fees.

Our Gold rate extends the insurance to multiple drivers and includes your first tank of fuel.

We also offer our exclusive Platinum package which extends the insurance further via our 3rd party supplier to cover the following

Reimbursement for any physical loss or damage to the Rental Vehicle for which You are responsible under the terms of the Vehicle Rental Agreement, including: (Total section limit: GBP 2,000.00)

• Physical damage to windscreens, tyres, and undercarriage.
• Towing costs relating to the loss or damage.

If unintentionally locked out of the Rental Vehicle.

• Our supplier will pay up to GBP 100.00 to open the Rental Vehicle.

Pay to replace a lost or stolen Rental Vehicle key, including replacement locks and locksmith.

• charges up to a maximum of GBP 300.00 for each and every claim.

Young Drivers (under 25)

We also offer great deals for drivers under 25, generally each supplier will charge approx. $25 per day per driver plus tax to extend the insurance to younger drivers.

We’ve managed to negotiate our own Young driver package which not only pre-pays these charges but actually makes them more cost effective.

Locations

We cover all major airports including Orlando International Airport, Miami International Airport and Tampa International Airport but it doesn’t just end there. We can offer car rental collection from the Disney area, cruise ports and city locations.

Our handy location finder can help you pick the location that’s best for you.

What I’ll need to collect the vehicle

To collect your car rental you will need;

1. Your usrentacar.co.uk car rental voucher, which you can print from your account.
2. Your full driving licence, both parts.
3. A credit card in the name of the lead driver for the security deposit.

Things to remember

1. The main one is to remember you are fully covered, the guys and girls on the desk at all the car rental companies work on commission  so they may offer you additional extras. Some of these extras can be useful, for example the toll pass can save you money and time if you’re going to be doing a lot of driving through toll roads or the manager may have an upgrade special offer on, for  that Ford Mustang you’ve always wanted… remember though none of the extra’s offered if refused will stop you from collecting your vehicle.

I think that about covers it without turning it in to a novel…

If you think I’ve missed something important out please comment below.

regards,

James

Hi all,

We are now 8 months away from U.S. Rent A Car’s 10th birthday and scarily my 15th year of working in car rental! Yes I started work in car rental when I was 5 ….

Within the 10 years I’ve seen a lot of companies come and go, including massive companies like XL Airways and Travel City Direct (reborn under Virgin), I’ve seen the travel industry have to deal with acts of god like the Volcanic Ash caused by Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 which grounded flights to the U.S. for 6 long days! so I count 10 years of running a company in the travel industry a real achievement in an industry that has been hit heavily by the economic downturn.

U.S. Rent A Car has gone from strength to strength mainly built upon a great culture and good supplier relationships. In my opinion we are one of the only USA car rental companies who actually offers innovation within the marketplace.

What do we have planned for 2013

App

In the first quarter of 2013 we plan on releasing a new version of our iPhone app the new functionality will be a first within our industry and I’m hoping will be met with a big thumbs up.

Version 2.0 has been in the making for 6 months and new partners are coming on board everyday, if uptake is good we’ll look to update our Android version also.

In House System

We’ve also been working on a new in house reservations system that will help integrate all our brands, this should streamline our processes here in the UK which can only be good for the customer.

Orlando Attraction Tickets

For 2013 we have invested heavily in our stand alone attraction tickets website, we are hoping to launch a new look and feel in quarter 1. The new look and functionality is definitely unique within the Theme Park sector and in true U.S. Rent A Car style will be innovative and visually appealing.

Social

This blog has really been a highlight over the years and my hat goes off to James who has pretty much single handily provided all the content which now stands at well over 600 unique posts.

This year, James and his team will also be writing and editing 2 more blogs, the first is Attraction Tickets which is Orlando Attraction Tickets own blog. The second is Wizarding, a blog we recently purchased which is dedicated to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and offers tips, offers and rumours for Orlando’s hottest property.

We are also keen to do more with our facebook pages, both usrentacar.co.uk and orlandoattractiontickets.co.uk have good active users but we are keen to engage more, its finding the balance between engaging and becoming a annoying…

Car Hire USA

We are still speaking to a few new suppliers about how and if we’ll integrate them in to usrentacar.co.uk and we are chatting to exsiting suppliers about their performances in 2012 and how we can help them improve.

So that’s pretty much what we’ve got planned for the first quarter, I’ll keep you updated if anything changes but in the meantime keep an eye out for the launch of the new usrentacar app.

regards,

Gavin

Hi all,

Firstly Happy New Year! 2013 is now upon us and the feeling I get through social websites is that people are in positive mood for the future. Here at usrentcar.co.uk we share the same optimism.

As with previous years I thought I’d take a look at how our suppliers performed in 2012  and take a stab at predicting what 2013 might hold.

Please note that the opinions below are solely mine and may not be representative of supplier relationships with other companies.

Alamo Rent A Car / National Rent A Car

Alamo/National are definitely not performing on usrentacar.co.uk as well as they could, a lack of special offers was apparent which mean’t they were out performed by smaller Car Hire USA suppliers, who reacted quicker to the market.

Having said that their niche offerings including young driver packages and great pricing for one way rentals through National continued to perform well.

For 2013 – I’m hoping that we will see a more competitively minded Alamo Rent A Car this year, the purchase of Dollar Rent A Car by Hertz could be a real game changer and Alamo will need to keep their eyes on the prize if they wish to remain number 1 in North America.

Positives – Niche and exclusive products continue to sell well. Customer services turn around in the second half of 2012 was amazingly quick for the car rental industry.

Negatives - Lack of special offers in 2012.

Budget Rent A Car

Although Budget removed some of their more attractive offers this year, including the young drivers package and their upgrade special offer, they continue to perform well without reaching the highs of 2010.

We are still negotiating prices past April 2013 but I’m confident their product will be strong. We have a very good working relationship with Budget and I’m keen to continue this.

For 2013 – Now officially the 3rd largest car rental company in the USA, I expect to see some refinement in their distribution channels. I remember when we first started supporting Budget’s move in to the leisure market it was a bit hit and miss when it came to pricing, now nearly 10 years on Budget understand the market well and are a real player.

Positives – Package wise they still include an additional driver and offer the pick up full return full fuel policy. Good understanding of the UK market.

Negatives – Slow to offer rates for 2013 which could effect yearly numbers.

Dollar Rent A Car & Thrifty Rent A Car

Performed extremely well this year, were quick to offer special offers and moved quickly when we approached them will ideas.

For 2013 - 2012 was a massive year for DTAG which culminated with their sale to Hertz how the buyout will effect the two brands is yet to be seen but I for one think it will be a very positive.

Positives – Very competitive.

Negatives – Although the first 3 quarters of the year were fine, the last quarter of 2012 saw a back log of customer services queries which we found unacceptable, to their credit they have worked very hard to not only remove the back log but also to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Sixt Rent A Car

Although our contract negotiations took a while, we finally had Sixt on board for the final quarter. They have been very keen to learn from us and listen to our feedback. Pricing was extremely competitive to match the fact their product is off airport.

For 2013 – 2013 is a massive opportunity for Sixt, they will be opening up a franchise network that could see the amount of locations they operate from increase dramatically.

Positives – Really competitive.

Negatives – Off airport, which can put some customers off as they assume its a longer process.

I’m sure 2013 will see a lot of twists and turns in it, for U.S. Rent A Car we’ve already been approached by 2  more car rental companies who want to appear on our site for 2013, one is a value brand and the other a new start up, both look interesting at first glance however first appearances can be deceiving so we’ll be taking a much closer look before even considering placing them live.

2012 figures which I’m working through at present, point towards a record year in both number of rentals and revenue. The launch of the new look website in April 2012 definitely had the required effect and my hat goes off to the team.

Within 2012 we launched several new products including our Platinum rate, our unique location finder and one way rental tool all of which have been “borrowed” by our competitors, although I find this highly frustrating I’m assured its a form of flattery…. hmmm. 2013 will see the release of our redesigned iPhone app which I’m excited about, no other car rental app will include our new features.

We also had a very successful year with our first dedicated theme park site Orlando Attraction Tickets I think we have taken the correct steps for our first year by getting to know the product and what our customers expect; 2013 will see a complete redesign of the site and the introduction of some unique features that others have yet to implement.

I would like to thank the staff, suppliers and most importantly the customers of U.S. Rent A Car Ltd, here’s to a successful 2013.

Kind regards,

Gavin

Hi all,

Merry Christmas! Tis the season to be jolly… lalala la la la la 

Its Crimbo time again and even Car hirer’s need some time off, please find below our 2013 Christmas hours.

Christmas Eve: 9:00 – 16:00

Christmas Day: Closed.

 Boxing Day: Closed.

Thursday 27th: 10:00 – 16:00

Friday 28th: 10:00 – 16:00

Saturday 29th: 09:00 – 13:00

Sunday 30th: Closed.

New Years Eve: 09:00 – 12:00

New Years Day: Closed

Back to normal office hours on Wednesday 2nd January 2013!! 2013 sounds weird already

Remember the usrentacar.co.uk website doesn’t close for Christmas and is open for business 24/7.

Have a cracking Christmas and stay safe.

James

Hi all,

As reported last week we are slowly rolling out pricing for our very popular guaranteed Ford Mustang Option and I promised I’d keep you all updated when we launched new locations.

Today I am keeping my word, as I’m happy to announce that the Ford Mustang option for 2103 is now available from participating locations in California.

What is the Ford Mustang Option?

usrentacar.co.uk exclusively offer’s it’s customers the opportunity to guarantee a Ford Mustang, generally suppliers only offer vehicle’s based on a “or Similar” basis. We have reached an agreement to override this.

How do I book the Ford Mustang Option?

When you search our website look for the Ford Mustang Option logo on the results page – Its clearly marked so you wont miss it (assuming its available at your location, otherwise it wont appear in the results), its marked by a red logo that state “Ford Mustang Option”.

All you need to do is select that option and go through the booking process; usrentacar.co.uk will then take a maximum of 72 working hours to secure you that particular vehicle.

What do usrentacar do that others don’t?

Behind the scene’s we go to each of our suppliers and basically offer them the rental under the strict conditions that they guarantee the Ford Mustang.

The Ford Mustang Option is subject to the following  terms and conditions -

• Ford Mustang Option is only available for request in selected locations.
• If Ford Mustang Option logo appears in results it does not necessarily mean the vehicle will be confirmed. All requests will need to be confirmed by the supplier.
• At the time of your request we will take a pre-authorisation from your payment details. You will only be charged if the supplier confirms your vehicle and we issue a rental voucher.
• In the event that the vehicle is not available you will not be charged.
• Minimum drivers age is 25.
• Offer not available for USA or Canadian license holders.
• Offer is subject to confirmation by our suppliers.
• Vehicle make: Ford, Vehicle model: Mustang will be guaranteed. Vehicle model specifics: such as GT or Hard top, interior, vehicle features etc cannot be guaranteed.
• Ford Mustang, once confirmed, will be a convertible vehicle.
• Driver must have held a full, clean valid drivers licence for a minimum of 1 year.
• Drivers that have been banned from driving within the last 5 years will not be allowed to hire.
• Rental is subject to our normal terms and conditions

At present the Ford Mustang Option is available from San Francisco Airport and Los Angeles  Airport only we hope to add further locations shortly.

regards,

James

Hi all,

Apologies for the lack of posts lately I’ve been over seeing the relaunch of our Theme Park blog, attraction-tickets.info. Why not head over their and tell us what you think…

Anyway I’m glad to announce that today we’ve been able to roll out our exclusive and popular Ford Mustang Option for Florida. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this option I’ll explain how it works.

Driving a Ford Mustang down the open roads of the U.S. is the holiday dream of many but its pretty tricky when suppliers quote a Ford Mustang “or similar“, there are several reasons why a supplier is reluctant to guarantee a specific make or model, if you’re interested why click on the link above.

Our Ford Mustang Option will guarantee you a Ford Mustang convertible and this is how to go about booking it.

When you search our website look for the Ford Mustang Option logo on the results page – Its clearly marked so you wont miss it (assuming its available at your location, otherwise it wont appear in the results), its marked by a red logo that state “Ford Mustang Option”.

All you need to do is select that option and go through the booking process; usrentacar.co.uk will then take a maximum of 72 working hours to secure you that particular vehicle for you. Behind the scene’s we go to each of our suppliers and basically offer them the rental under the strict conditions that they guarantee the Ford Mustang.

Please note that at the time of your booking request we will not charge your credit card. We will take a pre-authorisation and only collect the funds once your vehicle has been confirmed.

This offer is subject to terms. Please see below for details.

Look for the ‘Ford Mustang Option’ Logo;

Please note: The Ford Mustangs we have access to are all convertibles. We do not have access to hard top or Ford Mustang GT versions. Once your vehicle type has been confirmed your rental voucher will be issued with a special confirmation number guaranteeing your vehicle.

Locations where ‘Ford Mustang Option’ is available

Florida Car Hire

Orlando International Airport
Sanford International Airport
Miami International Airport
Tampa International Airport

At present we have only completed negoptiations for Florida, however California and Nevada are on the way, so bear with us and I’ll let you all know when its up and running via this blog.

regards.

James

Hi all,

2012 has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for the car rental market from natural disasters to major consolidation, but what does 2013 have in store for us.

Below are my 5 predictions for USA car hire in 2013.

Pricing

USA car rental suppliers have been making huge profits in the second hand car market for quite a few years now, however 2013 may see this revenue stream drive up a bit.

The cost to purchase new fleet is set to rise and that will obviously effect suppliers bottom line.

I think its safe to say we will see a rise in car rental prices however the rise of independent car hire firms may actually prevent this rise from being as high as it could of been.

Independent Car Hire Suppliers

The biggest car hire news of 2012 was Hertz’s pursuit and capture of Dollar Thrifty the 2 year saga was finally bought to a close when the FTC agreed to the deal but with a few stipulations. One of the stipulations was the sale of 26 Dollar Thrifty locations including some big airport spots including Orlando International Airport, Miami International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.

13 of these locations will be given automatically to Hertz’s value brand Advantage Rent A Car, which as part of the deal is being sold off to the  FSNA (Franchise Services of North America) who already operate U-Save and Rent A Wreck, the other 13 will be up for grabs, I would assume that Sixt Rent A Car, who we believe could be the next big thing in USA car hire, will be in for a few of these. I would also guess that Fox Rent A Car who have been expanding quickly across the U.S. will also interested.

The FTC were very worried about competition within the North American rent a car scene and although some fear they haven’t gone far enough the releasing of major airport locations is a massive opportunity for someone to perhaps become a big player in area’s that generally don’t come around to often.

Technology

The car rental industry is notoriously slow at embracing technology, which is so frustrating for a dynamic company like usrentacar.co.uk. It does appear though that perhaps 2013 might be a turning corner for the industry.

The on airport car rental industry in the USA  is worth approximately $10 Billion and is ripe for disruption from new, quick companies this is actually already happening in the city area’s with the rise in popularity of car sharing and suppliers are realising they have to be more proactive in adopting new technologies and ideas.

I believe will will see adoption of personalisation features moving from web 2.0 to 3.0.

Consolidation 

Although there will definitely be no further consolidation within the American market, we could see consolidation within the broker market in the UK. Although there may appear to be quite a few USA car rental brokers, there are actually only a handful of brokers within the UK that are actually producing a large amount of rentals to the U.S.

Now is a prime time for consolidation for key members of the USA broker industry and I would not be surprised to see at least one purchase.

usrentacar.co.uk

We are currently working on version 2.0 of our iPhone app. I’m confident in predicting that the new version will be very successful. I’m also confident in stating that the new concept is a first for the car rental market and we are quite excited about its possibilities.

I’ll keep you posted.

It will be interesting to look back at this post in late 2013 and see how many I got…

Do you have any predications?

regards,

James

Hi all,

I’ve had a fun week of looking through our 2012 statistics, yesterday I posted about the most popular vehicles collected in the USA and previous to that I posted regarding the most popular pick up locations in America.

One of the questions we are asked quite a lot is “which car rental package do people normally take?”

Our packages

Here at U.S. Rent A Car we offer 3 car rental packages Silver, Gold and Platinum.

Silver Rates (inclusive)

• Unlimited Mileage.
• Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) which is a combination insurance of both Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) and Theft Waiver. As long as you adhere to the rental policy of the supplier you will not be held responsible for the cost of replacement or repair to your hire vehicle.
• Uninsured Motorist Protection (UMP) up to $1m Liability Cover. Offers an Uninsured/Underinsured/Hit-and-Run Motorist Protection (UMP) that provides the renter and family members travelling together in the rented vehicle with up to $1,000,000 of non-stacked coverage for bodily injury sustained while driving the rental car, and caused by another driver who has no insurance, minimal insurance, or is a hit-and-run driver.
• Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI) up to $1m Liability Cover. All drivers included on the rental agreement will not be held liable for third party claims for bodily injury or property damage resulting from an accident.
• Basic Roadside Assistance
• All Taxes and Airport Fees.

Budget Rent A Car include 1 additional driver free of charge within their fully Silver Rate. Additional driver must be spouse.

Sixt Rent A Car include 1 additional driver free of charge within their Silver Rate

All our suppliers include 1 additional driver free of charge when collecting in California.

If our Gold Rate is purchased in addition to the Silver rate inclusions your first tank of petrol will be included (excluding All Alamo Manhattan Locations and San Francisco downtown locations) and extend the insurance to accommodate additional drivers.

• Alamo Rent A Car Gold covers up to 9 additional drivers over 25. (Alamo Gold only available for rentals of 4 days or more)
• Budget Rent A Car Gold covers all additional drivers over 25.
• Dollar Rent A Car Gold covers all additional drivers over 25. (Dollar Gold only available on rentals for 4 days or more)
• National Car Rental Gold Gold covers up to 3 additional drivers over 25. (National Gold only available for rentals of 4 days or more)
• Thrifty Rent A Car  Gold covers all additional drivers over 25 (Thrifty Gold only includes fuel when rental is for 4 days or more)
• Sixt Rent A Car  Gold covers all additional drivers over 25

If our Platinum Rate is purchased (where available) in addition to the Silver and Gold rate features you will also be covered for the following.

Reimbursement for any physical loss or damage to the Rental Vehicle for which You are responsible under the terms of the Vehicle Rental Agreement, including: (Total section limit: GBP 2,000.00)

• Physical damage to windscreens, tyres, and undercarriage.
• Towing costs relating to the loss or damage.

If unintentionally locked out of the Rental Vehicle.

• Our supplier will pay up to GBP 100.00 to open the Rental Vehicle.

Pay to replace a lost or stolen Rental Vehicle key, including replacement locks and locksmith.

• charges up to a maximum of GBP 300.00 for each and every claim.

Please note that the additional Platinum insurance is exclusive to usrentacar.co.uk and is not provided directly with the supplier but through our third part insurers, for more details please see our terms.

So, which should I select?

I’ve been able to look at the 2012 statistics to determine the number of customers who select each car rental package and break it down in to a percentage result.

Silver – 21%

Gold – 45%

Platinum – 34%

As you can see the GOLD rate comes out just on top, for the sake of transparency its important to point out that the Gold and Platinum rate are not available with some supplier for rentals under 4 days, it is also worth pointing out that the Platinum rate was only introduced in April of this year and is not available on all vehicles. 

Conclusion

The additional drivers and first tank of fuel does work out to be a much better deal than purchasing these locally and customers are savvy enough to know this. Looking back at 2011 stat’s the Gold rate was the most popular then as well  beating Silver by over 20%.

Which package do you take?

regards,

James