usrentacar.co.uk ® Car Hire USA Blog

Hi all,

It seemed only a matter of time that other suppliers would follow Alamo Rent A Car’s lead and introduce a one way rental fee for pick up’s from the San Francisco area. A one way rental is any rental where the vehicle is returned to a different location than the one its collected from.

What we understand here at U.S. Rent A Car is that all suppliers are having difficulties keeping up with the demand of hires taking place in the San Francisco area, and when vehicles are then dropped off at a different location those vehicles are removed from the San Francisco allocation.

We hope that this new surcharge will only affect peak season bookings going forward, however as you can see from the information below provided by Hertz Dollar Thrifty no end date is sighted. This new one way rental charge applies to all Dollar and Thrifty bookings regardless of where the booking is made and affects anyone who sells Dollar and Thrifty including booking directly.

Due to fleet restrictions and strong demand for one way rentals, we will introduce a new one way fee for rentals collecting from the San Francisco area and returning to Southern California and Las Vegas valid for rentals from 1^st August 2014.

This fee will be applicable on all rentals, all rate products and all vehicles from all source-markets. This fee will remain in place until further notice. Please see below the specific rental and return locations.

Dollar

Rentals collecting from SFO SFD SJC OAK and returning to LAX SAN LAS ONT SNA PSP BUR LGB will incur a one way fee of $450.00 payable locally and subject to taxes and fees.

Thrifty

Rentals collecting from SFOT SFDT SJCT OAKT and returning to LAXT SANT LAST ONTT SNAT PSPT BURT LGBT will incur a one way fee of $450.00 payable locally and subject to taxes and fees.

This new fee will not apply to bookings made before the 01/08/14 which is a relief. We hope that the charge will only apply over peak season but as you can see the information we have received doesn’t confirm when the charge will end.

We’ll keep you updated when we know more.

Kind regards,

James

Hi all,

Back in 2012 Dollar Rent  A Car were one of the only suppliers that required customers on our Silver rate to pre-purchase their fuel upon arrival. Customer’s rightly didn’t like this as airport petrol prices can be more expensive than from a station.

Therefore after a lot of badgering from ourselves, they amended their fuel policy and introduced a new ruling in August. This fuel policy required the customer to purchase the prepaid fuel from the supplier as usual however the customer could receive a full refund if they produced proof of a receipt from a petrol station within 10 miles of the airport showing the car to be refuelled fully.

Customers reacted warmly to this new policy and its been running successfully for just under half a year but both ourselves and Dollar weren’t totally satisfied. With 2014 approaching and Hertz very firmly in the driving seat (excuse pun) Dollar Rent A Car took another look at their petrol policy and have decided to revise it once again. This time I think they’ve got it spot on!

So as of the 01/01/2014, any customer collecting a Dollar Rent A Car vehicle booked with us, on our silver rate will not be required to pre-purchase their first tank of fuel on pick up. The vehicle will be collected with a full tank of petrol (or close to full) and the vehicle must then be returned at the same level. Failure to return the vehicle at the same level will result in a charge to your card for the fuel and a small service surcharge.

The prepaid fuel option locally will still be made available to customers and Dollar point out that the prepaid option does have its benefits;

• Saves time upon return
• All charges on one receipt
• No having to stop to purchase gas on return

Here at U.S. Rent A Car we’re just happy that Dollar have introduced a much easier and customer friendly way to petrol. We definitely believe this has been influenced by Hertz and hope this continues.

Kind regards,

James

Hi all,

Usually around this time of year I take a moment to check the U.S. domestic rates to see how they will impact on car hire USA over the christmas period but we’ve been so busy here that I haven’t had the time, then we got an email through from suppliers warning that this year could see Florida Car Hire especially, hit an all time high so I thought I better do a bit of snooping.

I visited 4 supplier sites and searched for a 7 Seater Minivan picking up on the 20/12/13 and returning 1 week later. These were the domestic prices (not prepaid prices);

Alamo Rent A Car

As you can see one weeks rental will cost $495.00 plus tax taking it above $600 per week!

Budget Rent A Car

With Budget we couldn’t even get a quote, they were fully sold out for the dates we required!

Dollar Rent A Car

Dollar Rent A Car at least have vehicles available however for the Christmas period you’ll be asked to pay $1400.49 per week!!!

Hertz

Just under a $1000.00 per week with Hertz… it does have unlimited mileage though

So as you can see Christmas pricing in October is already going through the roof and literally just at the time of writing this we’ve had confirmation that Dollar Rent A Car will be imposing a peak season surcharge of up to 108% for pick up’s between the 19/12/13 and the 31/12/13 in Florida.

So if you’re looking to get Christmas car hire USA, i’d advise getting a move on before all our suppliers following suit and raise their prices.

regards,

James

***THIS OFFER HAS EXPIRED***

Hi all,

It seems like a long time since I was able to write the words car hire USA “Special Offer”, throughout the year we continually negotiate deals with our suppliers for low rates which when applicable we simply slide them into our search results, we generally don’t make a big fuss about it, we think this is something you guys should expect from us.

However today I’m happy to announce a new Special Offer from our friends at Dollar Rent A Car, here’s the gist of it.

• Free Sat Nav Rental.
• Only applicable to New Dollar Rent A Car bookings.(amendments will not qualify)
• Pick up’s on and between 20/09/13 until the 18/12/13
• All locations except New York
• Must be booked on our Gold or Platinum rate.
• Cannot be added after a rental is made.
• Sat Nav’s are subject to availability, if the £0.00 option GPS unit does not appear in our optional extras section then unfortunately a unit isn’t available for your dates.

Here’s how to book it

Firstly enter your details into our search engine.

Remember to qualify your pick up must be on or between the 20/09/13 and the 18/12/13.

Once your results have been returned look for the car category you require. Remember you’re looking for Dollar Rent A Car. Once you’ve decided upon the category to qualify for free Sat Nav rental you need to select either our Gold or Platinum rate.

Once you’ve click on either the Gold or the Platinum rate click on the now button to head to the next stage.

The next page is our option extras page, where our customers can select any additional products they may require. You’ll notice the very top one is a Sat Nav unit, you’ll see that the price quoted is £0.00.

Simply click add to basket, to claim your free sat nav rental and complete the booking process. Remember this must be done at the time of booking and cannot be added after completion.

Confirmation of your free sat nav will be added to your car rental voucher. When you go to collect your car, Dollar Rent A Car will provide you with a Sat Nav unit for you to use during your hire duration at no extra cost.

We love this special offer and hope you guys will too.

Kind regards,

James

Hi all,

Since Hertz purchased Dollar Thrifty last year I’ve been keeping a close-ish eye on what Hertz have been up to and how it may affect Dollar Rent A Car.

As USA Car hire companies go, Hertz is one of the more forward thinking companies and so we were interested to see the redesign of their new rental offices at San Diego Airport.

From the outside Hertz have given their new building a fresh, modern look which is much more welcoming than the previous incarnation.

On top of this, they’ve refreshed their shuttle bus design to give the same fresh, clean design and added a friendly forward facing giraffe possibly from San Diego’s popular zoo.

However its inside the Hertz office that houses the really interesting parts, gone are the old style queuing system to be replaced by a row of  self service kiosks similar to the type used by Alamo Rent A Car in Orlando. The idea behind the kiosks is to speed up the customers collection time and overall user experience.

The part I love the most is Hertz’s new “Road Trip” offering, which include iPads and apps to help customers do a bit of trip planning even before they’re in their motor. Hertz will also supply charging stations for customers benefit and sell additional items such as sun cream, suit cases and treats, pretty much everything you’d require for a road trip.

Here at U.S. Rent A Car we think its great to see Hertz offering something a bit more than the tired old traditional collection offices. We hope that this type of office is rolled out in all Hertz owned locations including Dollar and Thrifty.

What do you think?

regards,

James

Hi all,

For over a year we’ve been asking, shouting and then finally praying that Dollar and Thrifty Rent A Car amend their fuel policy. At times it felt like we were banging our heads against a brick wall but today I’m happy to confirm that we’ve finally had a breakthrough.

U.S. Rent A Car customers booking our silver rate with Dollar Rent A Car will be offered the option to return the car the same way as they collected it and avoid a fuel charge.

Here’s the full statement we received moments ago;

NOTIFICATION

As you know, two of our rate packages (Silver and Silver GPS) do not include fuel and the renter must pre-purchase a tank of fuel a time of rental.

This policy has advantages for the renter:

• · Saves time when returning the vehicle
• · No need to re-fill the vehicle before return
• · The fuel is charged at the average local rate

However, we acknowledge that some renters may prefer to collect the vehicle with a full tank and return with a full tank and receive no fuel charges.

With this ‘full to full’ option, if is necessary for us to fill the fuel tank further, we will charge the renter at a premium fuel rate (a higher rate than the rate charged for pre-paid fuel option).

We have decided to offer this “full to full” fuel option for U.S. Rent A Car customers upon return of the vehicle.

The renter will continue to pre-purchase a tank of fuel at the beginning of the rental and then, at the time of return, if they choose to return the vehicle full, they can request that the pre-paid fuel charge be removed from their rental agreement.

The vehicle must be refueled within 10 miles of the return station and the renter must present the receipt from the petrol station (gas station).

If the vehicle is not completely full, the renter will be charged at a premium rate for us to fill the vehicle completely.

So in summary, your renter’s now have 3 fuel options:

1. Gold/Platinum or Gold/Platinum GPS rate – the tank of fuel is included in the rate so car is rented full and returned as empty as possible. No local fuel charge to the renter.

2. Silver or Silver GPS rate – renter must pre-purchase a tank of fuel at the beginning of the rental and should return as empty as possible. Tank of fuel charged locally to the renter.

3. Silver or Silver GPS rate – renter must pre-purchase a tank of fuel at the beginning of the rental. Before returning the vehicle, fill the tank within 10 miles of the rental station and at the time of return, request that the pre-paid fuel charge is removed from the rental agreement. Provide the fuel station receipt and the pre-paid fuel charge will be removed by the rental agent.

So basically, upon collection of your vehicle you will be asked to leave an imprint of your credit debit/card, the usual fuel charge will be made however upon return of the vehicle when you hand the keys over to the Dollar/Thrifty Rent A Car staff member if you produce your fuel receipt the initial fuel charge will be removed. The Dollar/Thrifty Rent A Car staff members all carry handheld computers which are linked to your rental agreement so the process is very quick and accurate.

We are delighted that Dollar/Thrifty Rent A Car have made this amendment for our customers. It  proves the reviews we ask you to leave for each supplier after you rental is complete are being read and taken on board.

Kind regards,

James

Hi all,

2012 was an interesting year for Hertz, they cemented their position as the second largest car rental supplier in the USA by finally completing the long drawn out process of purchasing Dollar Thrifty and sold off their value brand Advantage Rent A Car to FSNA but what effect did this have on their 2012 results?

Yearly Results

Car rental revenues for 2012 increased 7.8%  to $7.6 billion compared to 2011. Global revenue was also up to around $9 Billion (Hertz don’t just offer car rental you know) that’s growth of 8.7%.

For USA car hire, which is the part we’re most interested in Hertz reported a 9.6% increase to $4.9 billion compated to 2011. The company reports that this was driven by strong off-airport revenue and a double-digit increase in Advantage revenue and one-and-a-half months of Dollar Thrifty.

Fourth Quarter Results

Hertz’s fourth quarter results were again very positive with an increase of 15.1% for global revenue to $2.3 Billion.

Car hire USA revenues which included 43 days of Dollar Thrifty ownership increased 24.5% for the quarter.

One slight blip on the Hertz radar was the performance of European car hire which saw revenues declined by 9.8% in the fourth quarter.

2013

Mark Frissora, Hertz Chairman & CEO

We continue to make significant progress reducing fleet expenses, our largest operating cost, and we are encouraged that Dollar Thrifty synergies are likely to exceed our earlier forecasts. Additionally, we are off to a fast start this year with January 2013 car rental RPD at U.S. airports up 6% for Hertz and 2.6% for Dollar Thrifty.

As a colleague of mine quipped “Dollar thrifty synergies means redundancies” but obviosuly that is the nature of the beast, you don’t need 2 people to do 1 persons job.

What Hertz have planned for Dollar Thirfty is still anyone’s guess but you’ll be the first to know when we do.

regards,

James

Hi all,

We know that some of you, like us, want an America car for your USA car hire, however generally car rental suppliers have been taking less and less American cars in to their fleet, so we thought it was worth mentioning that Dollar Rent A Car have introduced the Dodge Avenger in to their Intermediate category for 2013.

Although not as big as the popular Dodge Charger, the Avenger does offer that muscle car type look and actually replaced the Charger as Dodge’s go to vehicle for NASCAR in 2007.

Speaking with Dollar representatives they have confirmed that the Dodge Avenger is available at most locations including Orlando International Airport but obviously cannot be guaranteed.

The Dodge Avenger falls in to the Intermediate category which Dollar state  is suitable for 5 people and 3 suitcases.

Is the Dodge Avenger a vehicle you’d be interested in hiring?

regards,

James

Hi all,

The Hertz buyout of Dollar Rent A Car was one of the major stories of 2012 and  finally reached a climax in November, one of the side stories was the FTC demanding Hertz sell of their value brand Advantage Rent A Car and additional locations.

The buyer’s of Advantage Rent A Car turned out to be the Franchise Services of North America (FSNA) who operate known brands such as U-Save and Rent A Wreck. Yesterday FSNA confirmed that they had completed the deal with the added advantage (excuse the pun) of picking up not the expected 16 Airport locations as originally agreed but also the other 13 locations that the FTC said would be up for grabs.

Thomas P. McDonnell, III,  CEO and chairman of FSNA said,

This is a great day for FSNA, our partner Macquarie Capital, and the more than 600 employees of Advantage Rent A Car. We are all excited to become North America’s fourth largest car rental company, and we look forward to continuing a legacy of great service to our customers, both new and old.

The transition will begin in early 2013 and places a heft full stop in the deal that has taken over 2 years to complete.

It does put an end to the rumours circulating the car rental industry regarding who was going to pick up the additional airport locations, with Sixt Rent A Car‘s name being banded around.

usrentacar.co.uk offers fully inclusive Car Hire USA via the newly created Hertz / Dtag brand from as little as £13.00 per day.

regards,

James

Hi all,

It’s official; finally Hertz have confirmed the purchase of Dtag (Dollar Thrifty) for  $87.50 per share in cash, Hertz have snapped up 99.6% of the shares.

Hertz Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mark P. Frissora said

In the 94-year history of Hertz, our employees and business partners have never been this excited. Over the past six years, we have competed successfully with only one global premium brand in place while our competitors have had multiple brands to work against us. Starting today, we now have two additional, popular brands to compete across multiple market segments, with plans to offer them to our many partners and customers. That’s why we are pleased to announce that the transaction is complete, and we look forward to working expeditiously with Dollar Thrifty to integrate the strengths of our two great companies.

Dollar Rent A Car tweeted

When we announced the deal had gone through on our facebook page within 15 min’s a facebooker raised concerns that they believed this would lead to a price increase.

So Hertz have a bit to prove to customers who are concerned that the deal could harm the consumer.

Here at usrentacar.co.uk we have been assured that this wont be the case but I guess only time will tell…

What are your thoughts?

regards,

James