Rental car rental prices appear to be going through the roof. Especially for short-term rentals. Ironically, while most travelers are complaining about airfare and fees, rental car prices are taking off.
Here’s just a few examples, a ONE midsized rental day with Hertz in San Francisco, $124 plus taxes and fees, totaling $175. (And trying corporate discounts ranging from AAA to the client’s company discount to a United mileage plus number, finally to our travel agent consortium rate only brought it down to $105.00.)
And it’s not just Hertz, the other major companies in San Francisco are as high or higher. Only Dollar has a base rate under $100 — barely, at $87.
This isn’t an anomaly for one particular day either, while I was able to find another client a weekly rate for $244 plus tax also in San Francisco, a three day rate would be in that same range, $107 a day.
In Chicago, a four-day rental with a major company during the week this fall will be in the $400 range, again with Dollar and in this case Thrifty being somewhat lower.
Even weekend rates this fall are sky-high. In Cincinnati, weekend rental rates have routinely been in the $20 a day range plus tax, this fall, they start in the $40s and go up.
There are still a few deals out there, Labor Day weekend, for example, in Los Angeles is very inexpensive, but in general, clients are responding with sticker shock on rates. I don’t blame them.
Car rental companies have been suffering along with the rest of the industry, so I understand the need to make a profit. But while it hasn’t received as much notice as the airline mergers, the car rental business has also been consolidating.
Avis and Budget are now owned by the same company, as are Alamo National, and Dollar/Thrifty. And Hertz is trying to buy Dollar/Thrifty.
While the companies say this gives them economies of scale, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the other side of “economies” for rental car companies is less competition for consumers. Usually, this brings higher prices.
In some cases, a few smaller companies have cheaper rates, but many business travelers are loathe to risk renting with companies like Ace and Advantage. Partly because they don’t know the names, partly because there are few customer service options if things go wrong.
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Large rental companies at least usually have 24 hour phone numbers and plenty of locations to change a problem car. They also, quite frankly, seem to respond better to complaints. Plus, many corporations prefer to deal with rental companies they have contract rates with for insurance reasons.
It’s possible these new higher rates are the only way rental car companies can stay in business. But in any case, travelers planning to get “a cheap car” for a few days this fall are in for some sticker shock. Or, heaven forbid, using public transit.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
