Car rental rates during the pandemic

[mhubert]

I mostly use Europcar, for the rates. That's been in Sydney, & well in advance, & they were cheaper & available compared to the others. Note - sometimes the rate is better when you check as a non-member than a member! And use Incognito in your browser. I've also happily used Economy Car Rentals in Aus & overseas. The different comparison & direct sites have different deals too - some unlimited km's, some without (usually remote locations where that gives them a huge profit). The other tip is to fiddle with the pickup & dropoff time combinations, as that can sometimes effect availability & rates. Last, with overpriced locations due to short supply, try renting a second hand car, or a commercial vehicle or a ute from a petrol station, or Bunnings!

 

[oz_mark]

Hopefully they don’t get used to these prices, get some new stock in, lower their rates and give us a decent choice

Herein lies the problem. Getting new stock in is difficult at the moment due to a shortage of new cars (due to the global shortage of semi conductors)

 

[vetrade]

new stock doesn't have to mean brand new cars.

Surely you're not seriously suggesting any of the national car rental companies in Australia would buy used cars to rent out are you?

 

[OZDUCK]

Earlier on in this thread I had wondered about the current rental prices in NZ. Following the recent remarks about used cars at rental companies I had a look at Apex Rentals in NZ - who I rented off in 2014.

I used exactly the same parameters as for that trip - 25 days rental of a 4 or 5 year old Corolla auto with 2 drivers. Pick up Auckland City and drop off Christchurch Airport. Plus one way Cook Strait ferry tickets for the car and 2 people. The excess is $3,000. The price quoted was $1,705 while in 2014 I paid $1,408 so around a $300 rise in 7 years and GPS was included this time. The current price is very reasonable to my mind.

Edit: All in NZ dollars.

 

[oz_mark]

new stock doesn't have to mean brand new cars.

The majors usually have fleet agreements with manufacturers. SO I can't see the Avis/Hertz/Thrifty of the world going down the not new path. It also cascades down, the second hand market is pretty tight at the moment....

 

[vetrade]

some buy or take over cars from other rental car companies. Noticed Hertz now have cheaper subsidiaries with older cars. They even share offices in places like Cairns city.

Got any specific details to back that up? Can you name a major which has taken over used stock from another in, say, the last 5 years (not including shifting of cars between branches of the same company)? Hertz's only listed subsidiary in Australia is Thrifty (Dollar defunct here). AFAIK Hertz has 2 offices in Cairns city but they don't share either with Thrifty or any other rental companies

 

[SYD]

It may have been mentioned earlier, but km limits (then ¢/km thereafter) are creeping in - particularly in leisure destinations (eg CNS, DRW) - even on corporate rates.

500kms doesn’t go far in the NT

 

[burmans]

Think Ace might also be owned by Hertz.

Correct. About Us | Ace Rental Cars Australia | Car Hire

 

[docjames]

u need to look harder. Just because one online booking site says nothing available, doesn't mean that's true.

Obviously, but as a marker of how busy it is, I’ve never seen a school holidays where you couldn’t find something easily enough with a basic search. Inventory online frequently can change too so it may have freed up Now (haven’t looked for a while).

I’m sure direct contact to hotels would yield something if someone was keen enough as you point out.

Mix of fleets being shed due to lockdowns / early stages of COVID protect the balance sheet, and now a boom in domestic travel it’s poor stock flow of new cars to Aus, and it’s no surprise the car rental companies are both struggling for fleet stock and charging “premium” prices.

 

[Happy Dude]

I suspect the hire companies know exactly what they are doing. They know what to do to protect themselves during a downturn, they would not have done too badly in selling cars they couldn’t rent out and they will rebuy at prices we cannot access. And they are doing very well with their current rental stock obviously if they are renting out at higher prices.

That's fine but if the public decide that being reemed for hire cars (or accommodation) is something that might prevent them holidaying then they can't put their hand out for gov asssitance.

 

[Flashback]

Firefly is Europcar isn't it?

some buy or take over cars from other rental car companies. Noticed Hertz now have cheaper subsidiaries with older cars. They even share offices in places like Cairns city.

The last car I hired from Thrifty had 5 miles on the clock. Brand spanking.

 

[hachoo]

Seeing some deals for Alamo in Hobart in August- having never used them before, how are they in general for car quality and service? Only used Avis and Europcar before and been pretty satisfied with both.

 

[DC3]

just looking at vehicles out of Cairns for around 5 days mid July & late Sept & seems to be plenty around $60 to $80 mark per day. Plenty as in 6 choices of vehicles.

Rent a Wreck?

 

[Scarlett]

Firefly is Europcar isn't it?



The last car I hired from Thrifty had 5 miles on the clock. Brand spanking.

I thought Keddie was the Europcar LCC? I think I collected a firefly car from the Hertz counter once, but that's just a vague recollection.

And same with my last car, from Hertz PER: 30Km on the clock of a hybrid Corolla.

 

[Scarlett]

It may have been mentioned earlier, but km limits (then ¢/km thereafter) are creeping in - particularly in leisure destinations (eg CNS, DRW) - even on corporate rates.

500kms doesn’t go far in the NT

Is this a case of vote with your wallet to disincentivise (is that a double negative? can you just centivise them???) that practice?

 

[Flashback]

I thought Keddie was the Europcar LCC? I think I collected a firefly car from the Hertz counter once, but that's just a vague recollection.

And same with my last car, from Hertz PER: 30Km on the clock of a hybrid Corolla.

Ah yes, possibly - tiredness is confusing me!

 

[Yipchoi]

I thought Keddie was the Europcar LCC? I think I collected a firefly car from the Hertz counter once, but that's just a vague recollection.

And same with my last car, from Hertz PER: 30Km on the clock of a hybrid Corolla.

Yes Keddie is Low Cost product for E'Car, they designed that product so they can turn it on when utilisation is low and then turn it off when high.
They also use Keddie when pitching to Car Rental Brokers or Travel Agents, their other actual Low Cost Brand with physical branches is Inter Rent which was launched in Europe and NZ

 

[suze2000]

It may have been mentioned earlier, but km limits (then ¢/km thereafter) are creeping in - particularly in leisure destinations (eg CNS, DRW) - even on corporate rates.

500kms doesn’t go far in the NT

We had that on our honeymoon out of DRW 13 years ago. It's nothing new. If you don't rent in a Southern capital, you will always get slugged with 100km/day limit. Infuriating.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Who do people use for CDW insurance in Australia?

 

[SYD]

Who do people use for CDW insurance in Australia?

It’s normally included in local rentals but subject to an excess payable if there is claim. You can pay the rental company additional fees to reduce or remove the excess. Travel insurance might cover the excess and/or some credit card insurances. It pays to look closely at the rental agreements and insurance policies to avoid not being covered or paying twice/three times for redundant cover.