usrentacar.co.uk ® Car Hire USA Blog

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

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

Hi all,

Petrol Policies vary from supplier to supplier and location to location, if you do not pre-pay your first tank of fuel by selecting our gold rate  you will be subject to the suppliers terms regarding petrol. Below is our guide to our suppliers petrol policies. Please note these terms can change at any time without notice.

Alamo Rent A Car offer’s one option which is pick up the vehicle full of fuel, you will then be expected to pay for this petrol at the suppliers local rate.

Budget Rent A Car offer two options, firstly, pick up the vehicle full of fuel, you will then be expected to pay for this petrol at the suppliers local rate. Secondly Budget will allow you to pick up the vehicle full of fuel and return it the same way.

Dollar Rent A Car offer’s one option which is pick up the vehicle full of fuel, you will then be expected to pay for this petrol at the suppliers local rate.

Remember once you sign the rental agreement locally you are subject to any fee’s stated upon it. This page also can help you with USA petrol prices.

Regards,

James

usrentacar.co.uk® terms and conditions can be found here – http://www.usrentacar.co.uk/terms.aspx

For all departures from 12^th Jan 2009 onwards, passport holders from the United Kingdom, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland will be required to have an ESTA – electronic system for travel authorisations – issued for their trip into the US.

ESTA will replace the paper visa forms currently issued whilst in-flight. To apply for the ESTA please visit to https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov at least 72 hours prior to your trip.