usrentacar.co.uk ® Car Hire USA Blog

Hi all,

On the 4th May I wrote about how Dollar Rent A Car had closed some of its Las Vegas Locations well after a few weeks of rumours, I can now confirm that those locations have been picked up by Avis Budget in a multi year deal with MGM Resorts who own the hotels in question.

Bill Hornbuckle, MGM Resorts’ chief marketing officer, said,

“MGM Resorts is proud to partner with Avis Budget Group as we search for category-exclusive strategic alliances that equal the momentum of our own expansion. These travel industry partnerships are especially important to us in our efforts to create enhanced benefits and personalized rewards for our customers through M life.”

Tom Gartland, executive vice president of sales, marketing and customer care for Avis Budget Group, said,

“We are excited to expand our local market presence and showcase Avis’ renowned ‘We try harder’ service and traveler amenities such as our smoke-free fleet, where2 GPS navigation devices and eToll electronic toll collection solutions to MGM Resorts’ guests”

Our new relationship with MGM Resorts International also will enhance Avis and Budget’s online presence as the exclusive rental car providers on MGM Resorts’ corporate website and on each property’s website.”

Locations

MGM Resorts properties in Las Vegas including

• ARIA
• Bellagio
• Vdara
• MGM Grand
• The Signature at MGM Grand
• Mandalay Bay
• The hotel at Mandalay Bay
• The Mirage
• Monte Carlo
• New York-New York
• Luxor
• Excalibur
• Circus Circus

At present usrentacar.co.uk has not been informed if these locations will be available to UK tour operators like ourselves, but I would assume they will be at some point to allow maximum exposure.

I’ll keep you informed if anything changes.

regards,

James

Hi all,

We’ve received news today that unfortunately Dollar Rent A Car have been unable to reach a long term agreement with several hotels and casino’s in Las Vegas and as of the 1st June 2011 they will no longer be operational.

Dollar statement:

We have been unable to reach an agreement with the hotelier to continue the current arrangement and regrettably, we will be closing several of those hotel lobby rental counters in Las Vegas.

The locations effected are

LAS VEGAS LUXOR

LAS VEGAS CIRCUS CIRCUS

LAS VEGAS MIRAGE

LAS VEGAS EXCALIBUR

LAS VEGAS MGM GRAND

LAS VEGAS MONTE CARLO

LAS VEGAS BELLAGIO

LAS VEGAS NEW YORK/NEW YORK

LAS VEGAS MANDALAY BAY

LAS VEGAS ARIA RESORT AND CASINO

We have contacted all customers effected by these closures and Dollar Rent A Car have reacted quickly to prevent further inconvenience by setting up a shuttle service based from their Swenson Street location.

We are pleased to advise that all reservations you have booked for rental on or after June 1, 2011, will be handled by our full service location located at 4775 Swenson Street, Las Vegas, NV 89169.  This location is just off the Las Vegas Strip and within short distance of many major Las Vegas Hotels.  Your customer simply needs to contact our location 702-591-6565 and we will arrange to pick them up from their hotel and transport them to our rental location to complete the rental agreement. This number provides direct support between the hours of 5:30 am to 8:30 pm PST.

Its a real shame that these locations have had to close, perhaps in the future these locations may re-open however its great to see Dollar Rent A Car reacting positively to reduce the impact this could have on usrentacar.co.uk customers.

Remember Dollar Rent A Car still has some great locations available in Nevada, please see the list below.

Las Vegas Airport

Treasure Island

4775 Swenson Street

Mandarin Oriental

2600 West Harmon Avenue

Las Vegas Hilton

regards,

James

Hi all,

This post is as much for me as it is for you guys. I generally have to call different parts of the U.S. at least 10 times a day and I can never remember the time difference between the UK and varies parts of America. So this blog will list major locations and the time difference.

Pacific Zone

State                              City

Washington                  Seattle

Oregon                           Portland

Nevada                           Las Vegas

California                      San Francisco

Time Difference – GMT minus 8 hrs

Mountain Time Zone

State                              City

Montana                         Billings

Idaho                               Boise

Wyoming                        Jackson Hole

Utah                                  Salt Lake City

Colorado                         Denver

Arizona                            Phoenix

New Mexico                   Santa Fe

Time Difference – GMT minus 7 hrs

Central Time Zone

State                              City

North Dakota               Grand Forks

South Dakota                Sioux Falls

Minneapolis                  Minnesota

Wisconsin                      Milwaukee

Nebraska                        Grand Island

Iowa                                 Cedar Rapids

Illinois                             Chicago

Oklahoma                        Tulsa

Missouri                          St. Louis

Arkansas                         Little Rock

Tennessee                       Memphis

Texas                                Dallas

Louisiana                        New Orleans

Mississippi                      Jackson

Alabama                          Huntsville

Time Difference – GMT minus 6 hrs

Eastern Time Zone

State                              City

Michigan                        Detroit

Maine                               Portland

New Hampshire           Manchester

Vermont                         Burlington

Massachusetts              Boston

Rhode Island                 Providence

New York                        New York

Indiana                            Indianapolis

Ohio                                   Cleveland

Pennsylvania                 Philidephia

New Jersey                     Newark

Connecticut                    Hartford

Kentucky                          Cincinnati

West Virginia                  Lewisburg

Washington DC               Washington

Maryland                           Baltimore

Delaware                           Wilmington

Virginia                              Richmond

North Carolina                Charlotte

South Carolina                Myrtle Beach

Georgia                               Atlanta

Florida                                Orlando

Time Difference – GMT minus 5 hrs

Alaska is 9  hrs behind the UK and Hawaii 10 hrs behind.

I hope you find this useful.

Kind regards,

James

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Rockefeller Ice Rink, New York, USA

For romance with built-in glide, propose at the Rockefeller Ice Rink. If you buy the Engagement on Ice package the staff will clear the ice of everyone but yourself and your partner, play your song over the tannoy and supply champagne. Get down on one knee to cheers from the crowd. Then you can skate around for your victory lap. It’s best to go for this one if you’re really sure it’s going to be a yes.

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

The beauty of proposing in Las Vegas is that you won’t have to wait out a long engagement. Just grab yourself a cheap Las Vegas car hire and zip along the strip and find yourself down to a quick-fix chapel and you can get hitched there and then, following in star-studded footsteps – from Elvis and Priscilla Presley to Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. And fingers crossed, marriage will last longer than other Vegas lovebirds Pamela Anderson and Rick Soloman (six months) or Britney Spears and Jason Allen Alexander (55 hours).

Empire State Building, New York, USA

Where could be finer to propose than 320 metres above the rush and hustle of NYC? Follow in the footsteps of Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant, who met here annually in An Affair to Remember and Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle. It’s open until 2am, but unless you need a night out on the tiles to build up courage first, the best time to aim for is sunset, ideally on Valentine’s Day when the tower is lit up in red. Cheap New York Car Hire