With car manufactures getting more and more advanced with their technology offerings, (see our post technology and car rental) the american automotive authority believes the time is drawing near when we’ll get in to our hire cars and not know how to even start them!

Facebook integration, keyless cars and even vehicles run on electricity are becoming the norm, if you’d mentioned this 10 years ago to the average Joe they would have thought you’d gone mental.

Here at usrentacar.co.uk we believe in being prepared, so before you drive out of the parking lot here are 5 things we believe you should know.

1. All drivers should know how to start the car, it use to be straight forward, stick the key in turn it and hey presto, these days its not so simple, take the Prius for example, to turn on the engine you insert the key, push down the brake pedal and press the “power” button….simples.
2. How to Turn on the lights, last thing you need is to be driving in a foreign Country fiddling around the dash board trying to figure out how to switch the lights on after along day at Universal Orlando!
3. How to Switch on the Windscreen wipers, again you don’t want to be caught in a sudden storm and not know how to quickly turn the wipers on.
4. How to open the petrol cap and where its situated on the car.
5. How to disengage the hand brake. (this one came from our facebook page, via John Young) ”I remember sitting trying to figure that one out for ages the first time we hired an SUV. The parking brake release was a button on the dash”.
6. How to operate an automatic, for UK drivers we generally all drive “stick” then change to automatic can briefly throw you, get use to the controls before leaving the car park. (suggested by Adam Robertson via facebook)
7. How to remove the key from the ignition, some vehicles require a push or a reverse twist to remove the key, better to figure this out before you’re miles away from the rental office. (suggested by Paul Bevan via facebook)

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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

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If you’re a new car hire USA supplier getting your vehicles on airport at such locations as Orlando and Sanford Airport is not only expensive but near on impossible as spaces rarely become available.

On the 16th January 2012 Sixt Rent A Car, a large player in the European Market, opened up a local office to serve Orlando International Airport. The new location, which is situated in close proximity to the major transport hub, will also offer a free 24 hour shuttle to and from the two airport terminals to assist customers in reaching the conveniently located branch with ease. The total journey from Airport to location is approximately 7 mins (source = google maps).

Now one of the unique selling points of established suppliers in Florida is the fact their hire cars are on on airport, customers have generally be travelling for over 9 hours when they hit Orlando and so he last thing they want to do it travel again.

Last night I asked our facebook friends this question - Would you consider taking a shuttle bus for a cheaper car hire rate?

Granted we didn’t give our other facebook friends very long to comment, however I think the above couple of answers are possibly a typical response.

So how do car rental companies successfully operate off airport; here are a couple of ideas.

• Offer lower rates, I’m not sure 20-30% is possible as suggested above, but you have to be cheaper than the on airport suppliers.
• Offer a diverse fleet, I don’t think you can compete with the airport suppliers head on however offering prestige vehicles and American Muscle cars could be a way of enticing customers to your service.
• Offer amazing customer services, from the shuttle bus driver to the person at the car hire location, you must be at least 10% better than the on airport suppliers.
• The most important, be fast; queues at Orlando International Airport can sometimes keep you from the road for a good hour. Your shuttle buses must be regular, and the pick up process must be fast. The total process must be under 12 mins.

What do you think about off airport collections?

regards,

James

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With the British pound being so volatile at the moment and extremely sensitive to the Euro, I thought it might be a good idea to remind you all that usrentacar.co.uk were the first Car Hire USA supplier to offer customers the opportunity to secure their rental and price by means of a low deposit.

usrentacar.co.uk customers can book and confirm their vehicles with just a £50.00 deposit, the balance being due 8 weeks prior to departure and regardless of what happens to the pound, dollar or euro your price will not change.

To leave a deposit simply tick the box marked deposit where prompted on the payment page (shown below) our system will then only capture £50.00.

9 weeks prior to your departure we will send you an email reminding you that your balance is due and giving you the opportunity to alter your payment method, if you don’t want to alter your payment method then our system will automatically take payment from the card used at the time of booking.

As soon as your balance is paid we will then release your voucher.

So what are you waiting for bag a bargain today.

regards,

James

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Car hire insurance in the USA can be very confusing for even the most seasoned of travellers.

I thought now with the very busy Christmas period about to start, I’d knock up a quick post explaining what is included within our Inclusive and Gold rates, and hopefully point out the advantages of prepaying your USA car hire.

What’s Included

All our rates include the following (Inclusive & Gold).

• 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 traveling 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.

At present our Budget Rent A Car rates include 1 additional spouse driver within the Inclusive rate in all USA budget locations.

At present our Alamo and Dollar Rent A Car rates include additional drivers within the inclusive package in California only.

Petrol policies differ per company but most are moving to a purchase full return empty scenario.

What does the gold rate offer me?

The gold rate offers all of the advantages of the inclusive rate plus

• Multiple drivers over 25.
• Your first tank of fuel.

Where not included within the Inclusive rate, suppliers will charge approximately $10 per day plus tax to add a driver to your hire, so prepaying those extra drivers makes sense.

The advantage of prepaying your petrol is purely financial, being able to budget for your first tank of gas takes the currency fluxation and petrol price factor out of the equation.

Its no surprise to me that our customers generally take the gold rate over the inclusive.

I hope this little guide helps, remember terms for our suppliers can change without much notice so please check our terms and conditions for the latest inclusions.

regards,

James

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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

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Yesterday Nashville International Airport opened what has been described as one of its largest construction projects in its history.

The 1.2 Million square foot car rental consolidation facility is actually bigger than the airport terminal, is located across from the terminal in what was formerly part of one of the airport’s long-term parking lots.

The creation of the 3 level building increases Nashville’s USA Car Hire capacity to a  total of 2,400, an increase of 1400 vehicles. By moving the car rental companies to the consolidated facility frees up an additional 600 spaces in the short-term parking area, increasing its capacity by 30%.

Consolidation facilities

• On airport pick up.
• The additional of 9 available car hire companies.
• 2,400 ready/return stalls
• 10 car wash bays
• 21,000 square feet of covered walkways for customers walking straight from the terminal to the facility
• 900 linear feet of moving walkways

Timed with the opening Dollar Rent A Car have announced that Nashville International Airport has become the latest location to participate in the Dollar Choice Product.

About the Dollar Choice Product

At selected locations Dollar customers are given the chance to personally pick the model they would like from their category. So for example; if you are hiring a Convertible from Orlando Intentional Airport Dollar Rent A Car will point you to the Convertible bay where you can select the vehicle you like the look of.

A full list of Dollar Choice Locations can be found here.

Regards,

James

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Most USA car rental locations in the America are run as franchises, this gives the owner of the particular franchise the option to work with tour operators, like ourselves, or not.

This morning we have received word from Dollar Rent A Car stating a couple of locations that have opted out of the tour operator program and will no longer be bookable for any tour operators; basically they will only be accepting domestic bookings.

Dollar Locations

The Miami car hire location has never really been that popular to collect from but the Fisherman’s Wharf location is a bit of a shame, although Dollar do offer an office out of O’Farrell street approximately 2.5 miles away.

Any rentals booked to collect from these rental dates after the date the service stop’s will be honoured.

regards,

James

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Quite a few things happened yesterday but none that really warranted their own post so I thought I’d amalgamate them all in one bite size article.

Dollar Rent A Car

First off the bat is Dollar Rent A Car, who after receiving no bids within its 10th October deadline have decided to push ahead with its own stand alone plans.

Dollar’s plan of action is to begin its share repurchase program, in the next 4 quarters Dollar Thrifty plan to purchase $400 Million worth of their own stock and hope to repurchase stoke used in privately negotiated transactions.

Dollar also reiterated their expectations for 3rd quarter 2011 results. DTG still expects car rental revenue to increase by around 2% compared to the same time period in 2010. 3rd quarter revenues are expected to be around $110 to $120 million excluding expenses involving a possible takeover, compared to $93.7 million for 2010. The company noted that it expects gains from sales of risk vehicles to be approximately $18 million in the 3rd quarter of 2011, compared to approximately $10 million of gains in the 3rd quarter of 2010.

Alamo Rent A Car

Alamo’s Buffalo location seems to have been out bided, as 7 companies bid for the 6 available car rental slots at the airport.

usrentacar.co.uk understands that Alamo are unhappy with the way the biding has been handled and will be taking further actions.

Petrol

Strong statistic’s provided by Wexindex show although petrol has dropped slightly, lack of supply could see a  steady increase in USA petrol prices shortly.

Another good reason to consider our gold rate which includes your first tank of fuel.

regards,

James,

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Christmas is fast approaching, have you booked your USA car hire yet? I ask this as I have a feeling prices will soon be about to shoot up….

Why?

Like everybody car rental suppliers are feeling the pinch, the second hand car market is bottoming out and the actually amount of vehicles on the road is down due to the knock on effects of the Tsunami.

Suppliers know Christmas will be busy, they also know that the U.S. domestic market will hire a huge amount of vehicles, more than they actually have.

So… checking pricing today I came across some worrying pricing if you’re a U.S. citizen.

All these rates are for Orlando International Airport from 20/12/11 for 1 week taken from the supplier’s .com sites today.

Now as you can probably see, the price for an economy vehicle is about £400.00 per week and a minivan at around £675.00 per week!!!!!

Now granted this is for U.S. resident’s…. however with suppliers thinking they are going to perhaps sell totally out, which market would you prioritise your cars for? The U.S. market who will pay £400 per week or the UK market where an economy car can be rented for just £112.00?

I feel very soon suppliers will introduce to the UK market either a black out period or stop sale, meaning no cars will be available over this period or they will look to introduce a Christmas surcharge.

If I were you, I’d be looking to book as soon as possible to avoid the inevitable increase.

Remember you can book online at www.usrentacar.co.uk and secure most rentals with a £50 deposit.

Kind regards,

James

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