US airport car rental jumps 50 per cent

A quick survey done on Monday by Abrams Consulting Group (ACG) showed that the average price of car rental at US airports had shot up by more than 50 per cent in one year to $298.14. This is just for a standard mini compact car and with it being booked a week in advance. The president of ACG, Neil Abrams, said that it could actually be worse, as only in August the exact same car was costing around $430 for just the week.

ACG, who track rates daily, said the reasoning behind the huge hike is that the top guys in the rental business have fewer cars for rent and are still aiming at making their targets this year. Money was not made available for rental firms to buy as many new cars this year, as in past years. This was evident in the Detroit car industry as they cut back production and like most businesses struggled their way through this past year. One example of what happened is that car hire firms started by cutting their fleet of cars compared to the previous year and then the customer would have ended up paying slightly more for an older, higher mileage car.

If travelling to an airport this summer and looking for a rental car it may ideal to use a comparison site to check for the best deals. Often on these websites you can get better discounts than going into the branch yourself and booking direct with them. Shop around on locations a little more and see if the car you want is cheaper away from the airports and consider taking a bus to collect the car, if you have the time.