Prices have rocketed?!

[lissybubs]

We've been holding off booking our car hire until we felt more comfortable that there was a good chance of actually being out to fly out to Tampa this August.

We had a quick look a few months back and the prices seemed OK - little more than previous years but nothing major (we've been using US Car Hire for 10+ years now and love them so wouldn't bother shopping around)

However, we got another quote tonight and the price has completely rocketed by over $500

Have I maybe peaked too early and their prices reflect the fact that no-one is currently hiring or have they seen a major surge in bookings hence the hike?

Would be good to know if others have any knowledge or Roger can add his wisdom? Thanks.

[roger]

All the car rental companies sold off a lot of cars during the worst part of the pandemic. Now that the domestic market is travelling more than ever, and wanting to hire cars more than ever, there is more demand than vehicles.

The car rental companies are struggling to get more cars due to a shortage of new cars, and the car manufacturers are preferring to sell / lease those they have to retail consumers rather than car rental companies.

This means there is a major shortage of cars which in turn pushes the prices up.

The rental companies are trying to move cars from locations with lower demand to locations with higher demand, but they are still running out of cars. In places like Hawaii there are no rental cars left so vacationers are having to rent trucks from the likes of U-Haul.

I'd strongly recommend booking as soon as possible even with the high prices as they are likely to go up a lot higher, and also run out. You can always cancel for a full refund, or if prices do drop again you can cancel and rebook at the lower price.

[lissybubs]

Yikes Thanks for the quick response & info Roger.

All the car rental companies sold off a lot of cars during the worst part of the pandemic. Now that the domestic market is travelling more than ever, and wanting to hire cars more than ever, there is more demand than vehicles.

The car rental companies are struggling to get more cars due to a shortage of new cars, and the car manufacturers are preferring to sell / lease those they have to retail consumers rather than car rental companies.

This means there is a major shortage of cars which in turn pushes the prices up.

The rental companies are trying to move cars from locations with lower demand to locations with higher demand, but they are still running out of cars. In places like Hawaii there are no rental cars left so vacationers are having to rent trucks from the likes of U-Haul.

I'd strongly recommend booking as soon as possible even with the high prices as they are likely to go up a lot higher, and also run out. You can always cancel for a full refund, or if prices do drop again you can cancel and rebook at the lower price.

[corvettenicky]

Roger is the best, it’s really interesting about the rental car market, I’d never of realised about car shortages ��

[Lesley S]

We had a SUV booked and wanted to upgrade to a 7 seater, price was horrendous, but kept looking and then saw a better deal, so booked this one and cancelled the old one. So it is worth it to keep looking. No hazzle cancelling one and rebooking another one.

[Dads_Taxi]

With HUGE apologies for linking to the Mail On-line (I'm not a fan) but this won't have helped:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...hire-cars.html

[Katys Grandad]

Both new and used car prices in the US are seeing pretty dramatic rises over recent times to the extent that they have actually impacted the Federal Reserve's current and projected overall inflation figures. I was surprised to learn that the rental firms are such major operators in the used car market to the extent that Hertz (who own Dollar) are now the 3rd biggest used car dealer in the whole country.

As Roger points out, it will probably get worse before it gets better but it is predicted that in the long term the market will settle back down to levels we're more accustomed to. It's likely to be quite a while though.

[drino]

Can you confirm as i do have a booking through US car hire and have paid for Enhanced assistance with fast track going straight to car.Is my car going to be there when i arrive?
Cus if it isnt im in a real mess thx

[roger]

Dollar and Alamo are being careful not to overbook. The busiest weekend of the year so far was last weekend (busier than previous July 4th holidays due to the huge surge in people travelling). We had one complaint from a customer where the car rental company had a problem providing their car, so they had to wait an unusual amount of time - they had several customers with cars on rent that returned late which affected the next customer.

So although I can't make any guarantees (since we are an agent, not the actual supplier of the cars), I'm confident you should not have a problem. The car rental companies are in the process of adding more cars to their inventory so things should get better over time, and they are being stricter in not taking bookings where car stock is low.

Can you confirm as i do have a booking through US car hire and have paid for Enhanced assistance with fast track going straight to car.Is my car going to be there when i arrive?
Cus if it isnt im in a real mess thx