You can be forgiven for not having heard of the new social website on the block, as its still invite only however pinterest.com for me is going to be huge for the travel industry and here’s why…

As described on their website

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard. Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Traffic

In the last 6 months visits to Pinterest have risen 4000%, according to TNW in one week in December they received over 11 million unique visitors. Remember they have achieved all this despite being invitation only.

Some companies are reporting greater referral traffic from Pinterest than facebook.

SEO

Search Engine Land also points out that Pinterest is a great way to improve your search engine optimisation as it allows you to back link to your own site.

Viral

The buzz word of marketeers everywhere, viral marketing refers to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increased brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives. A good example of Viral marketing was the Cadbury’s Chocolate’s, Gorilla advert, which was popular on facebook and youtube.

Pinterest’s users are loyal but more importantly, active, which increases the chance for your campaign to go viral their recent additional of pinning to facebooks timeline also adds to the viral opportunities.

Engagement

Companies should take every opportunity they can to engage with their customers, Pinterest offers a unique and simple way to interact.

We interacted with more customers in the first week on Pinterest than we did compared to the first week on twitter or facebook.

Pinterest also allows users to re-pin or even comment on the information  you provide, users don’t have to be following you or “like” you.

Shop

Remember when there were tons of independent travel agents on the high street, windows full of holiday offers. Well Pinterest can be that shop window, pin a picture of your holiday, your tour or your car hire offer and add a price to it.

but most importantly…  

Visual

Selling travel is a very visual experience, hence the use of brochures and companies investing heavily on image based websites for example; four season’s recently spent $18 million on their new website.

Pinterest allows companies to create a board based on inspiring images, these images should promote your destination, tour or even car hire.

Do customers react more to an image or to text?

Can an image say more that words?

For me, facebook, google plus and twitter are the go to sites for companies committed to social media, however I think Pinterest is best suited to travel, I for one wont be surprised when a whole host of companies get on board.

You can visit the usrentacar Pinterest board here, for those of you who aren’t on Pinterest yet, but are interested, we still have some invitations left, see our previous post.

regards,

Gavin

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Here at usrentacar.co.uk we like to stay on the cutting edge of social media, so today we will begin to trial the use of Pinterest.

Pinterest is a new social website based around the “pinning” of images and items of interest to your own custom notice board.

Although Pinterest is still in beta (invitation only) it has already exceeded 6 Million users.

We will use our pinterest account to “pin” items we think will be of interest; including pictures of car’s collected by our customers, great theme park info or pic’s and anything we think is inspiring or just cool.

You can follow us on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/usrentacar/ (follow us and we’ll follow back).

If you haven’t got a pinterest account yet we will send invitation to the first 50 users to either post their booking reference number below or on our facebook account, or email me at jamest@usrentacar.co.uk.

regards,

James,

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Happy New Year… I hope 2012 brings you much joy and happiness. A few days off has me feeling refreshed and ready for what we hope is a busy 2012. 

Today’s post is about what you can expect from usrentacar.co.uk in 2012.

Re-design

It’s probably about half a year late, but we are in the process of coming up with new concepts for usrentacar.co.uk. The site is still fresh and relevant compared to other car hire USA sites however we like to be at the forefront and a new design will again do that.

We are hoping for a launch in quarter 2, we are also looking to replace some of the existing functionality and the key brief is truly less is more… I’m hoping I can convince the guys that the blog could also do with a little TLC.

Tickets

Last year we became the first car rental company to sign exclusive reseller deals with SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Universal Orlando and LEGOLAND Florida, in 2011 we tested the water slightly and learned as much as we could about this area of the industry. 2012 see’s the first year of our new start up, Orlando Attraction Tickets a site dedicated to the Orlando Theme Parks.

We are hoping for big things in 2012 for our new project and early signs have been very positive.

New Deals

I have to be slightly cryptic here I’m afraid as the pen has not been officaily put to paper, but I think we are about to offer something completely new to the car rental broker industry… Will be interesting to see if we can change a culture!

I’ll keep you updated on further developments and hopefully a few sneak peak screen shots of the new design.

If there are any features you’d like brought back or you have something you’d like to see added please let us know below.

regards,

James,

usrentacar.co.uk

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As I’m sure most of you are aware, this year we have introduced Florida Attraction Tickets to our site. These have been available during the car rental booking process or bookable over the phone via our reservations department on 0845 226 8523.

However we felt that this was limiting us to the amount of customers we could offer our services too and wasn’t the easiest experience for our customers.

If you “like” us on facebook, then you guys have known since Monday, if you’ve signed up to our newsletter then you found out Tuesday, however today we are officially happy to announce the unveiling of our new website www.orlandoattractiontickets.co.uk

As you can see and probably guess from the name, Orlando Attraction Tickets is a dedicated theme park ticket site aimed at offering customers the best tickets at the lowest prices.

What Orlando Attraction Tickets Offers

• We don’t charge Credit or Debit Card Fee’s.
• We offer a free delivery service.
• We have access to exclusive Tickets not available at the gate.
• We have incorporated a deposit scheme in to the site with the balance due 8 weeks prior to departure, which allows our customers to secure their tickets or reservations without the worry of paying large amounts upfront.
• Reviews supplied by actual customers who have visited the parks and used the tickets.

Feel free to take a look round the site, please let me know what you think of it.

regards,

James

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Don’t you just hate it when your have a url that’s just to long?…….. No!…. Well fine its not going to feature high on the list of people’s top 100 problems but here at usrentacar.co.uk its the kind of thing that keeps our nerds awake at night.

So today we are happy to announce the launch of  the usrentacar brand url shortener….. USR.AC. see what we’ve done there?

So if you’re browsing the web and come across a link starting USR.AC, you’ll instantly know its been posted by us.

Example: The url for this post is

http://blog.usrentacar.co.uk/index.php/2011/10/14/its-like-usrentacar-co-uk-but-only-smaller/

however by using the usrentacar.co.uk url shortener it will appear like this

http://usr.ac/ou7FAd

Arguably not the most exciting post I’ve enter written but perhaps a feature that will lead to something else in the future….

regards,

James,

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Pretty much as the title suggests, today usrentacar.co.uk have launched a product to allow our customers to prepay their airport car parking for most UK airports.

The  new product has been tied in to the natural booking process and is based on your personal car hire information.

Step 1

During the booking process you will be asked to enter the airport you are departing from.

Step 2

After you have completed the car hire booking process, you will be re-directed to our confirmation page, which shows your usrentacar.co.uk booking ref number and also will display your car parking quote. It is important to check the details to make sure it matches your requirements.

Step 3

If you see a parking deal that takes your fancy, simply click on the “book now” button and you will be prompted to enter your personal details.

Once booked your will receive further information regarding your purchase.

We also have a stand alone engine for those of you who have already booked your usa car hire or who are returning to take advantage. The stand alone airport parking engine can be found here – http://www.usrentacar.co.uk/AirportParkingBookingEngine.aspx

Kind regards,

James

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Yesterday we quietly launched the usrentacar.co.uk Android Voucher App, looking at the download statistics this morning we were pleasantly surprised at the high number of uptakes. More than our first day with the iPhone App!

Today I thought I run you through how to download our app via the Android Market

Stage 1

Visit the Android Market website at https://market.android.com/

Stage 2

Search for “usrentacar“.

Stage 3

Click on Install or the logo image.

Stage 4a

If you clicked on the logo you will see this description page, click install to continue.

Stage 4b

Click install, you may have to login to your Android account first.

And that’s it… all done. The next time you attach your phone to your computer the usrentacar.co.uk voucher app will be downloaded straight to your phone.

Alternatively you can download the app from your phone, by following the above stages on your phone’s market.

So what are you waiting for…. make your voucher mobile….

regards,

James

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Following on from the success of the popular usrentacar iPhone Voucher App we has today launch a dedicated Android Voucher App.

As with the iPhone App, the primary service of the Android Voucher App allows customers to present their phone to our suppliers instead of the traditional paper voucher to collect their hire. Our experiences so far have proved this new technology to be very popular and very easy to use.

Secondary functions include our unique Wait Time feature which allows our customers to view the average queue time at their pick up location and to add their own time. This feature has proved very popular and at present we currently have over 500 individual rate times, which helps give our customers a good sense of how busy their location is.

The review feature is also available on the Android App and allows our customers to share live reviews of their rentals, including the option to upload video’s and pictures of their rental vehicles.

Android Market Place Description

The usrentacar.co.uk android application is a free tool to help assist users with car rental bookings. The application’s primary function is to provide users with a mobile version of a car rental voucher which is used to collect their pre-reserved car rental.

The application is also an information resource for existing and new users. The application will also provide users with average ‘wait times’ for collecting their vehicle (they can also add their own wait time) The application also offers users a chance to ‘review’ their car rental experience. The application will also provide access to latest blogs on car hire in the USA.

How to get the Android Voucher App

To download the usrentacar.co.uk Andoid Voucher App simply visit the Android Market, and search for the term “usrentacar” .

regards

James

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THIS OFFER HAS NOW EXPIRED

As you all know we can never guarantee make or model of any of our suppliers vehicles….. until now….ish….

usrentacar.co.uk is offering a brand new service that will leave petrol heads beaming from ear to ear.

From selected locations in Florida and California, usrentacar.co.uk will offer customers the option to secure a 100% guaranteed Ford Mustang convertible.

How it works

You will note a new option at major locations including

Florida Car Hire

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

California Car Hire

• Los Angeles International Airport
• San Francisco International Airport

The option is called “Ford Mustang Guaranteed” and can be purchased with our inclusive and gold rates.

Once purchased, we then have 72 working hours to get confirmation from one of our suppliers (including  Alamo, Budget or Dollar) that they have secured and guaranteed the Mustang for you.  Our normal availability terms and conditions apply.

Once confirmed usrentacar.co.uk guarantee’s that the chosen supplier, negotiated by us will provide you with a Ford Mustang. This service is only available to new bookings and by booking this option you agree to use the major car hire supplier of our choice.

So what are you waiting for; get booking…

THIS OFFER HAS NOW EXPIRED

Regards,

James

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If you follow us on facebook then you’ll already know but today is the official launch of the usrentacar.co.uk Iphone App. Here at usrentacar.co.uk we never like to imitate but instead innovate and we believe with our brand new car hire app we are again innovating within the industry. The first thing the app had to be was free and it is, the usrentacar app is free to download straight from Itune’s. Secondly, it had to be informative, so we made sure our popular blog was featured. Thirdly it had to offer something other car hire apps aren’t and I think we’ve done that.

The primary feature of the iPhone, iTouch and iPad compatible app is that of a portable car hire voucher. As you maybe aware to collect your car hire, you must produce our voucher. This is printed from our website once the full balance is paid and confirms to our suppliers that you have pre-paid in the UK. Our new app allows the user to show their phone upon collection instead of the printed off voucher (Alamo and Dollar only), not only is this method easier and quicker it is also far more environmentally friendly.  We believe this to be another car hire first for usrentacar.co.uk following on from our facebook like integration and unique user reviews.

Speaking of reviews, our app will also allow our customers to review their hire immediately upon collection and also provide a picture of their rental which will be displayed within our search results.

Another feature which is definitely a first is our “wait time” feature, the app will show the user the average wait time and their pick up location and also allow our customers to add their own time.

iTunes usrentacar.co.uk App Description

The usrentacar.co.uk iPhone application is a free tool to help assist users with car rental bookings. The application’s primary function is to provide users with a mobile version of a car rental voucher which is used to collect their pre-reserved car rental. The application is also an information resource for existing and new users. The application will also provide users with average ‘wait times’ for collecting their vehicle (they can also add their own wait time) The application also offers users a chance to ‘review’ their car rental experience. The application will also provide access to latest blogs on car hire in the USA The usrentacar.co.uk iPhone Application is provided free of charge. To download the usrentacar app for free click here

regards,

James

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