Car rental consumer info

[BobH]

There is some very interesting information on car rental companies in a current report on Consumer Web Watch:

According to Abrams Travel Data Services, the largest airport car rental companies in the U.S. in 2002 were:
· Hertz (28.0% market share)
· Avis (21.4% market share)
· National (12.1% market share)
· Budget (10.5% market share)
· Alamo (10.5% market share)
· Dollar (8.5% market share)
· Enterprise (3.7% market share)
· Thrifty (3.7% market share)
· Others (1.6% market share)
Among the eight largest car rental companies, Consumer WebWatch selected four Web sites that were owned independently of each other. National was not tested because it is a sister company of Alamo, Budget was not tested because it is a sister company of Avis, and Thrifty was not tested because it is a sister company of Dollar. Although Enterprise is a major competitor in the overall car rental market (including insurance replacement rentals), it was not tested because currently it is not a major competitor in the airport market.

From:

http://www.consumerwebwatch.org

Dec 13 article on travel

The report also rates Orbitx, Travelocity etc in terms of rates vs going to the car rental company websites.

However it seemed to me that the report did not deal with discount rates some people may be able to get. For example AVis was not rated very well for price but I have found good rates using AARP codes.

The information is probably most useful to people who might not have discount codes available to them.

 

[seashoreCM]

Does market share (the point of this thread) make a difference in how you choose a car rental company?

For me, no.

Is market share related to price/rates?

Don't know, didn't get the answer after a cursory look at the link in the above post.

This is for sure. The lower the price you want, the more shopping (flitting to individual web sites and plugging in codes and checking back every week) you need to do.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[BobH]

I just found it interesting that so many of the car companies are linked like National and Alamo, Budget and Thrifty etc. You think you are shopping around when in fact lots of times you are dealing with the same parent company.

 

[Jestocost]

It's also interesting that even though Enterprise isn't a big player in the airport market, they actually now have higher revenues and a larger fleet than any of the others. They made their mark in the "hometown" rental market, primarily in replacement vehicles for people who have a car in the shop. They didn't even go into the airports until about 5-6 years ago and aren't even bothering to go after the dog-eat-dog "road warrior" segment.

 

[ncbyrne]

Interesting that Hertz should have the lion's share! I always shop for the best price (thanks to DIS info) and have yet to ever find the lowest rate at Hertz.

 

[BobH]

I too have never found Hertz to have a good rate - even with a discount code or coupon they are higher than everyone else. I can only assume they get most of their customers from buisnesses that enjoy better discounts than than the average consumer. For my rentals in Florida, Savannah and Phoenix I have found National, Avis and Alamo all in about the same price range - using AAA or AARP discount codes. In Chicago I found Budget cheaper than these but I have only rented there once.
Some rental companies seem to have certain airports where they give better prices. It almost seems you need to rent at the right time and also discover what rental car company has the best rates for a particular airport - just as certain airlines seem to control certain hubs and may therefore control the pricing of flights in those locations. For example Delta seems to have Atlanta locked up.

 

[CarolA]

I use Hertz quite often. They do stress business travel and my companies contract is normally much lower then what I can get on my own. I think their volume is business travelers not leisure.

 

[seashoreCM]

Originally posted by CarolA
I use Hertz quite often. They do stress business travel and my companies contract is normally much lower then what I can get on my own.

How often do families on vacation stay at a Marriott or Hyatt? I have attended conventions that use these hotels and the convention rate was sometimes as low as half the rack rate. And the convention gets free use of meeting rooms if enough conventioneers stay at the hotel. Does that mean people who book individually subsidize conventions?

Families tend to stay at more modest places like Holiday Inn or Days Inn if not Motel 6. Similarly families will tend to rent cars from less upscale agencies.