usrentacar.co.uk ® Car Hire USA Blog

Hi all,

Here at U.S. Rent A Car we’re always looking at ways of making your USA car hire not only run more smoothly but also at ways of offering you the best deals around. Today we’re happy to announce the launch of a new product, we’re calling it Silver Plus.

Silver Plus at the moment is only available with our supplier Sixt Rent A Car the German based car rental company who are making a real inroads in the U.S. market. The consolidation of the American market recently which sees the majority of the major brands owed by just 3 companies does leave a great opportunity for someone to put the cat among the pigeons, Sixt are ideally placed to be that cat.

You’ll find the Silver Plus option within our search results for an of the Sixt locations;

What’s included in the Silver Plus

Silver Plus 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.
• All Additional Drivers

We feel this is a great addition to our expanding offerings and hope some of you can take advantage of this great offer.

Kind regards,

James

Hi all,

It’s a busy time of year here at U.S. Rent A Car, we’re in full negotiations mode with all our suppliers and a few new one’s. The feeling here is that 2014 is going to be a busy one and most of the suppliers are speaking about next year in very positive terms, which makes a nice change after the 7 or so years.

We’re working on a few new things ourselves, we’ve just signed off a new design for our specialist Florida Car Hire site which when completed will look pretty impressive, we’re talking about a redesign for usrentacar.co.uk which we may start work on in quarter 2 of 2014 and we may well open a few dedicated website for other global markets.

With car rental fully on our minds I thought I’d display a few positive reviews about the service being offered by our current suppliers. The reviews below are the last 5 100% reviews received by ourselves, they are all based on pick up’s in November 2013.

Mr A Hardie collected from Sixt Rent A Car out of  Orlando International Airport.

Quality vehicles at an economical price

Mr S Lydall collected with Alamo Rent A Car from their Disney Car Care location.

Picked up from Disney car care centre. Never any pressure selling from there, and they send a van to collect you. Dropped off at the Dolphin which took minutes and was handy for where we were going next. Car was a good size for two of us and was very clean.

Mr W Statham collected from Dollar Rent A Car our of Las Vegas International Airport.

Having shopped around this was the first time we used this website,it wasn’t until we collected our vehicles that we could see the quality of the cars we had booked,we had an excellent experience at the check in desk the staff were very helpful and friendly, Good value for money much cheaper than using travel agents for vehicle hire. Would use again and would certainly recommend to friends

Mr C Van Kleef collected with Dollar Rent A Car from their Kissimmee downtown location.

exellent!

Mr D Ward picked up with Thrifty Car Rental from Orlando International Airport.

Excellent staff at the arrivals desk. Paperwork completed very quickly, pre paid for the fuel which was as cheap if not cheaper than outside the airport. New model car with all the usual refinements on. On returning the car it was again quick completion of the paperwork by the friendly staff.Would certainly use usrentacar on our next visit to Florida.

I love reading 100% reviews, it makes me smile its exactly how we think every car rental should go.

Kind regards,

James

Hi all,

Apologies if you’ve heard me mention this several hundred times but here at  usrentacar.co.uk we contact every customer after rental via email to ask them to review the service our suppliers have given them.

Part of this review asks them to name the make and model of vehicle they’ve collected within the category they booked. Today I thought I’d go through the most recent reviews (last 3 months) and post the most common vehicles collected in each category.

As different vehicles may be available at different locations I’ll be basing these reviews on Orlando International Airport and including Alamo, Dollar and Sixt only.

*Please note the makes and models  listed are not guaranteed, the information above does not take in to consideration upgrades.

An interesting mix of vehicles, I’ll be keeping an ear to the ground regarding fleet for 2014 and will of course update you asap.

regards,

James

Hi all,

Yesterday’s post regarding photocopied driving licences proved to be extremely popular, for 2013 it was the most read article in one day. It got us thinking that perhaps we should focus on the typical questions our reservation staff get asked and one of the main questions is;

I don’t have a credit card, can I still Rent A Car?

For the majority of our suppliers, being the holder of a major credit card is crucial, it is used within the validation process when you collect the vehicle and is required at almost all locations.

If you are under 25 and you are looking to take advantage of our young driver packages, the lead driver will have to be the holder of a major credit.

If you are looking to collect with Sixt Rent A Car, Budget Rent A Car, Thrifty Car Rental or National Car Rental at any of their locations, the lead driver will need to be the holder of a major credit card.

Are there any exceptions?

If you are collecting from Orlando International Airport then our supplier Alamo Rent A Car will accept a VISA debit card for the security deposit, however if you are collecting with them at any other location you will require a credit card.

Dollar Rent A Car appear to be leading their rivals on this front, at present you can use a VISA debit card to collect your vehicle from almost all of their 260 location across the U.S.

How much will they block on the card?

Generally the security deposit is approx. $200 per week, this does vary per supplier and per location. See terms for more. This amount is taken on an imprint of your card, the imprint is destroyed upon return of the vehicle. Please note that the security deposit is not an excess. Funds may be deducted from your account for items purchased locally, for example child seat rental. Your card will also be debited for any traffic violations you may incur including toll violations which will also come with an administration fee generally $15.00.

What happens if I don’t have enough funds to cover the deposit?

Then unfortunately the supplier does hold the right to refuse you the rental. As a prepaid car hire usa company we pay the supplier in advance for your rental so in this situation we would not be able to refund you. Please note that U.S. Rent A Car cannot amend any details to a booking once the pick up date has passed.

With more and more people shunning credit cards we hope other companies will take a leaf out of Dollar Rent A Car’s book and accept VISA debit cards, I’m sure they will.

Please note: The information in this article were correct at the time of publishing, car rental suppliers terms and conditions are subject to change at anytime, please make sure you read our terms and conditions before making your purchase.

Kind regards,

James

Hi all,

There’s no doubt about who’s the fastest growing car hire USA supplier at the moment, Sixt Rent A Car have announced the opening of their 9th location in under 2 years and they’ve picked a real corker.

Tampa International Airport regularly appears in our top 10 locations to collect from and Sixt are brining their style of low cost, high quality rentals to the home of Busch Gardens.

As per most of its locations Sixt will be based off airport at Tampa but will be supplying its free shuttle bus service to and from W. Cyprus Street. The shuttle bus service which will run throughout the day will take approximately 6 minutes.

View Larger Map

Office details

Tampa Airport

5105 W Cypress St,

33607

Tampa,

FL, USA

Phone number  +1-813-6668608

Fax: +1-954-9034716

Hours: 07:00 – 23:00 hrs

Shuttle bus details: Upon arrival, please call +1 (813)666-8608 to arrange pick-up, then proceed to the blue or red Baggage Reclaim and follow the signs outside for off airport car rental.

Ryan Hammack has been appointed Manager of the new location which will hold the following fleet; Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet spark, Chrysler 200, Dodge Grand, Ford E350, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Elantra, Mercedes Benz, Mercedes-Benz GLK, Nissan Armada, Nissan Maxima, Nissan Pathfinder, Nissan rouge, Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla and the Volvo XC90.

Sixt Rent A Car from Tampa Airport are available to book via usrentacar.co.uk

regards,

James

Hi all,

If you’ve wondered about the lack of posts recently you can blame the Florida Senate, we felt it best to leave the IDP information top of our blog for at least a couple of weeks to allow customers ample time to read through it.

Today however is back to giving our customers a little look in to the World of USA car hire and Florida’s newest car rental supplier, Sixt Rent A Car. Last week we got a list of Sixt’s top 10 vehicles being rented out in the USA so we thought we’d share.

1. 2012 Hyundai Accent
2. 2012 Hyundai Elantra
3. 2012 Hyundai Sonata
4. 2012 Hyundai Tucson
5. 2012 Toyota Corolla
6. 2012 Volkswagen Jetta
7. 2012 Ford Mustang Convertible
8. Chrysler Town & Country MPV
9. 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe
10. 2012 Mercedes-Benz C250

A cracking insight in to which vehicles are being collected, which would you pick?

regards,

James

Hi all,

As I posted last year, in my opinion the next big USA car rental company could well be Sixt Rent A Car the German based car hire supplier is already well known within Europe and announced recently its plans to build a franchise network within the U.S. to help it build quickly.

Today I received an email confirming that the latest location to be opened by Sixt Rent A Car will service Seattle Airport and be managed by Monique Kennedy. As per most of Sixt’s locations their office will be located off airport and served by shuttle bus,  the bus drops you by the 5th floor, customer service lobby used by all the car rental companies.

The office will be a 24 hour location and can be found here;

SIXT station Seattle-Tacoma Int. Airport SEA

Hi all,

As I reported on back in December I felt the next major player in the U.S. market could very well be German, in the form of new car hire USA supplier Sixt Rent A Car.

Today I got hold of a promotional email doing the rounds targeted toward potential car rental franchises from Craig Olson, Vice President Franchise Development at Sixt. I thought I’d share its contents to show just how committed they are to developing a U.S. product to match their impress European arm.

Greetings,

Sixt recently announced its plans to add franchise partners in the United States. This presents a great opportunity for independent car rental operators to take their business to the next level, and for entrepreneurs to get in on the ground floor of our US expansion.

Sixt is one of the world’s largest car rental companies with Franchise locations in 85 countries and counting. We have been in the business for over 100 years, are family-run, and have a strong balance sheet.

Sixt franchisees will enjoy the benefits of our world-class brand, global customer base, visibility on all major online and offline reservation channels, and state-of-the-art rental software and rate management tools. Both airport and local market franchises are available. Join the Sixt network now!

Click the “Learn More” button above for more information. You can also visit sixt-franchise.com or inquire directly at 1 (888) – xxx- xxx xxxx or xxxxx@sixt.com!

Craig Olson
Vice President Franchise Development
Sixt Franchise USA, LLC
1489 SE 17th St. Suite 2E
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

So Sixt appear very motivated to build an alternative car rental supplier to compete against the big 3.

They are already getting positive reviews from usrentacar customers could 2013 be the year of Sixt?

regards,

James

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,

As I’m sure you all know by now almost 8 years ago we pioneered the first user  generated reviews within the car rental industry, many have copied our system since and I’m pretty sure companies will continue.

Our customer reviews are available on our website via the results section (where the prices are displayed) or via our stand alone reviews page found here Car Hire USA reviews and are used by our customer as a guide to the general service they will receive from a supplier.

However there is another side to our review service, that plays an important part for usrentacar.co.uk to champion your concerns.

In late September of this year we introduced a new supplier called Sixt Rent A Car, the German based car rental supplier is massive within Europe and North America is a natural next step for them. Sixt have an excellent reputation for customer services and providing a great range of makes and models.

Being new to the market Sixt rely upon our reviews to let them know where they are going right and more importantly where they maybe failing, which brings us to a great case.

I noted a few reviews from customers stating that the pick up service from Orlando International Airport was taking between 15-20 mins, for us this isn’t fast enough so we pointed out these reviews and asked for Sixt’s comments.

Sixt told me they would investigate and get back to me. A week and half later I received this very positive response.

Regarding the reviews about the shuttle bus service at Orlando, the branch manager takes this very seriously and has confirmed that they have added an additional bus to the circuit, this was implemented last week. This has reduced the average wait time to a much healthier 5-10 min, from collection to the vehicle.

Not only had they put a additional bus service but they also add this.

To help speed customers collection further we have put in to place the following -

Upon arrival to MCO please make you way to Level 1 (Ground Transportation). Please use the courtesy phone located in Baggage Claim and Ground Transportation and Dial extension 495 for a courtesy pick up. If arriving in Terminal A our pick up locations are bus stops A11-A13 and A33-A35. If arriving in Terminal B our pick up locations are bus stops B11-B13 and B35-B37.

I think you’ll agree this is excellent and speedy reaction to something our customers were unhappy about. So a round of applause for Sixt, please keep up the good work and as for you guys, keep the reviews coming our suppliers genuinely do react to them.

Remember: you can speed things up further by pre-registering your details.

regards,

James