usrentacar.co.uk ® Car Hire USA Blog

Hi all,

Here in the UK we are use to not being able to operate our phones while driving, however in the U.S. this is pretty much a new concept especially texting;  which is being met with some resistance.

A distraction motorist lobbying group point to studies, including one by researchers at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which show that talking on a mobile phone increases the risk of a crash or near-crash by 1.3 times over regular driving, while physically dialing a number increased the risk 2.8 times. A person is more than 20 times more likely to be in a crash or near crash while sending text messages.

Such data, which was gathered by monitoring hundreds of hours of drivers with cameras in day-to-day driving, has guided auto makers and the administration to the conclusion that “hands-free” activities are safe.

Car manufactures are looking in to ways of making connection from your motor safer and more assessable .

I mentioned in a previous post how the Chevy Cruze is integrating with facebook to allow status updates via voice controls and how other manufactures we’re looking too tap in to social media to not only embed the most up to date technology but to also help make sharing safer, below are a few examples of technology we can expect this year.

General Motors

This spring GM will release an 8-inch, touch-screen display for online applications, navigation and music that can be activated through voice, touch or steering wheel controls.

Ford Motors

Ford already allows drivers to receive Twitter feeds and stream online music through its Sync technology.

Mercedes Benz

New Mercedes-Benz cars this spring will tap into Facebook and perform Google searches. Mercedes drivers won’t be able to enter text while the car is in drive, but prewritten phrases can be selected with a click.

Are there any features you’d like to see added?

regards,

James

Hi all,

One of my more popular series of posts mentioned vehicles that our customers were actually collecting – SUV’s , Convertibles and Minivans.

I thought I’d revisit these posts and offer an idea of the car rentals being collected in March 2011

Sports Utility Vehicles

The Sports Utility Vehicle has been a big seller in 2011, with the intermediate SUV being the pick of the bunch.

Mrs K Horsefield collected an Intermediate SUV from Orlando International Airport with Dollar Rent A Car on the 11/03/11 and got a Ford Escape.

Mr J Hyde collected a Standard SUV from Las Vegas International Airport again with Dollar Rent A Car on the 15/03/11 and got a Grand Jeep Cherokee.

Mr M Ding collected a 7str SUV from Washington Dulles Airport with Alamo Rent A Car on the 14/03/11 and got a Ford Expedition.

Convertibles

Our customers love convertibles, especially the Ford Mustang So you’ll be happy to know that the first 3 customers I checked all received Ford Mustangs.

Mr I Prideaux collected a Ford Mustang from Kissimmee with Dollar Rent A Car on the 05/03/11.

Mr N Foxall collected a Ford Mustang from Orlando International Airport with Dollar Rent A Car on the 15/03/11.

Mr C Beckett completed his rental of a Ford Mustang at Miami International Airport with Budget Rent A Car on the 15/03/11

Minivans

Large families and groups take advantage of these larger vehicles.

Mr R Tooby collected a 12 str minivan from Fort Lauderdale with Dollar Rent A Car on the 06/03/11 and got a Ford E350.

Mr S Carver collected a 7 Seater Minivan from Sanford Airport with Budget Rent A Car on the 15/03/11 and got a Dodge Caravan.

Mrs L Young collected an 8 Seater minivan from Tampa International Airport with Alamo Rent A Car and got a Toyota Sienna.

I hope you find this usual. If there is a category of vehicle you would like me to check or a specific pick up location please let me know by commenting below.

Regards,

James

Hi all,

U.S. citizens are up in arms at present over the sudden increase in petrol prices, seemingly over night the pump prices have gone up on average by 72 cents. March 2011 is now the most expensive March for petrol ever.

California

California is the USA’s most expensive state to fill up, at present on average you will pay $3.91 per gallon.

Montana

Montana is the USA’s cheapest state at present, where on average drivers will pay $3.19 per gallon.

Florida

Florida boasts the most expensive fuelling station, located in Orlando the Sun Coast Energy Gas Station is one of the last fuelling depot’s before Orlando International Airport. At present fuel costs are $5.39 a gallon for regular and $5.49 for premium.

USA drivers are calling the price increases “daylight robbery”, what do you think?

You can check up to date fuel prices by visiting – http://usrentacar.co.uk/usa_petrol_prices.aspx

Remember if you purchase our gold rate, your inital tank of fuel is included meaning you can return the vehicle as close to empty as possible.

Regards,

James

Hi all,

I was looking through some of the reviews provided by our customers today when I came across this quote from Mr. D Flint

This was the first time we used USrentacar, but will not be the last the UK staff we extremely helpful and were only interested in getting us the best deal,not trying to push a more expensive option, like most ot the car hire companies do, I have already told many other friends to use you for their future trips…we were that well impressed…

Mr D Flint’s comments will bring smiles to the faces of our directors who made a conscious decision when they launched usrentacar.co.uk back in 2003 to buck the usual trend of sales patter and instead employ customer service consultants for traditional sales positions, they decided not to pay commission to agents but instead reward them for great service.

So when you call usrentacar.co.uk on 0845 226 8523, you can expect our staff to offer you the very best services and as Mr Flint buts is we are only “interested in getting you the best deal”.

Meet the staff (well some of them) –  Simon Palmer, James Thomas, Jane Hockey, Frank Williams and Kelly Morris.

regards,

James

Hi all,

Today I thought I ‘d share a few of the latest reviews that have been submitted for each supplier. Our reviews are all written and submitted by real customers who have used our services and replied to our car hire review request.

Alamo Rent  A Car

Mr T Kenna – “I am very pleased with your company and service provided.”

Mr I Lipsey – “best experience i have renting a car from the u.k.”

Mr R Brewster – “Alamo have moved to Tampa airport which speeds up the time to collect the car.The biggest positive that I have with Alamo is that they allow you to select which car you get from their pool of cars within the range that you order and also that the cars tend to be low mileage.”

Budget Rent A Car

Mr D Sawyer – “Could not fault budget on this occasion.”

Mr D Kirby – “Very speedy service – excellent car – only one of view companies that do an 8 seater 4×4. Made booking over the phone. Would definately rent from usrentacar.co.uk again.”

Mr B Limacher – “Fast efficient collection & return as usual. Car in very clean condition, 8000 miles previous use”

Dollar Rent A Car

Mr S O’Neil – “We have used usrentacar before so we thought we would use them again and as always you couldn”t fault them.We had our rental with dollar but unfortunatly we had our hire vehicle broken into we phoned dollar with the details and crime number we were covered with everything usrentacar said in its policy nothing was a problem we drove car back to airport and exchanged for another one.we will use usrentacar again”

Mr M Sutherland – “top class service, at a top class centre”

Mr J Wallace – “good service no problems at all with pick up, or drop off and the vehicle run perfectly”

Some great reviews here!

Our customer reviews can be seen within our search results and are organised specifically to you location and car category.

Are your experiences of hiring with these suppliers similar?

regards,

James

Hi all,

So we say a fond farewell to Florida, where Dollar Rent A Car reigned supreme. Its time to move over to the east coast, to sunny California.

Today’s location in the car hire reviews league is San Francisco. Our reviews are all supplied by customers who have rented and collected from San Francisco Airport.

The reviews included a  scoring system from 1-5 which include questions regarding speed of staff, queue times and vehicle satisfaction.

1. Alamo Rent A Car – 87%
2. Dollar Rent A Car – 86%
3. Budget Rent A Car – 85%

So Alamo take the first of the California locations, congratulations to them.

Does this result tally with your own experience of our suppliers?

What can car rental companies do to improve for 2011?

Regards,

James

Hi all,

Thought I’d let you know of a great little deal we have going on for California car hire at the moment with Alamo Rent A Car and Dollar Rent A Car.

Both these great suppliers have confirmed a FREE ADDITIONAL DRIVERS for any new bookings, on any vehicles, at any California location.

I think you’ll agree this is a great offer and one to be taken full advantage of.

Regards,

James,

Hi all,

Everyone has their favourite type of car to rent, however have you ever wondered what our suppliers favourite vehicle is? Course you have

Well auto rental news surveyed car hire suppliers, owners and managers, and asked them to determine their “favorite rental car of all time.” Survey respondents were asked to judge 35 model choices on price, functionality, reliability, safety, customer experience, maintenance, acquisition costs, resale value and overall return on investment.

I think you will agree that the results are definitely not the choice of you or I, but does show that reliability is the number one priority for suppliers.

The Winner  - Toyota Camry

Second – Ford Taurus (pre discontinuation)

Third – Ford Taurus (new design)

Fourth – Toyota Corolla

Fifth – Chevrolet Impala

Sixth – Hyundai Sonata

Seventh – Honda Accord

Eigth – Chrysler 300

Joint Ninth – Ford Focus

Joint Ninth – Nissan Altima

What would be your all time favourite Rental Car?

regards,

James

Here are the top five most viewed posts on usrentacar.co.uk® for the week commencing the 17th January.

• Dollar Car Hire Confirm Customer Choice For US Rent A Car Clients
• 3-Park Bonus Universal Ticket Sale 2011
• Special Offer: Dollar Rent A Car’s USA Car Hire Christmas Cracker
• Alamo Rent A Car’s 24 Hour Satisfaction Guarantee
• Budget Rent A Car Confirm 2011 Fleet Details

Here are the top five viewed blogs on usrentacar.co.uk® in the last 30 days.

• Universal Orlando and usrentacar Strike Up Partnership
• NEW!!! usrentacar.co.uk® Competition
• Dollar Rent A Car Move To Non-Smoking Car Hire USA Fleet
• USA Public Holidays 2011
• Alamo Car Hire Now Accepting Visa Debit For Security Deposit

Hi all,

When Dollar Rent A Car decided not to take the Hertz offer and enter in to advanced talks with Budget Rent A Car the stumbling block would always be proving to anti trust regulators that the consumer would be the winner, here is the latest joint statement from Avis/Budget and DTAG (Dollar /Thrifty)

As previously reported, following the termination of Dollar Thrifty’s merger agreement with Hertz Global Holdings Inc., Dollar Thrifty and Avis Budget have been cooperating to pursue antitrust regulatory clearance of a potential acquisition of Dollar Thrifty’s common stock by Avis Budget.

During this period, Avis Budget and Dollar Thrifty have presented to the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) a jointly held view that the potential transaction would not reduce competition in the rental car industry. Each believes that intense competition from Enterprise/Alamo/National and Hertz/Advantage, as well as numerous smaller brands, would continue after the proposed transaction. In addition, Avis Budget has expressed the view that a merger with Dollar Thrifty would result in significant cost savings and other operational efficiencies. These synergies and the increased ability of the combined company to compete against other competitors in the marketplace will benefit all rental car consumers, particularly Dollar Thrifty’s core leisure customers.

Avis Budget and Dollar Thrifty believe substantial progress has been made in the discussions with the FTC on these issues, but the FTC’s position with respect to the competitive issues remains uncertain. The two companies have produced millions of pages of documents and provided vast amounts of data to the FTC regarding the car rental industry and their respective businesses as part of a “Second Request” review process. Avis Budget and Dollar Thrifty each have notified the FTC of their intention to certify substantial compliance with the Second Requests on a timetable that would require an official decision from the FTC by the end of March or early April.

As the FTC review process continues, Avis Budget and Dollar Thrifty remain focused on building their individual businesses to drive continued growth and maximize value for shareholders. Dollar Thrifty and Avis Budget reiterate that they have no agreement with respect to any merger or other business combination, and that there can be no assurance that any such transaction (or the terms thereof) can be agreed upon.

Do you think this joint merger will benefit the consumer?

I will of course keep you updated as more information becomes available.

regards,

James