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Transportation Are Rental Car prices higher than usual?

Pauline

Forums Admin
I’ve read a few articles saying that car rentals will be much more expensive than usual this summer because car rental companies sold off much of their fleets last year when travel stopped. @artnbarb also mentioned this in a post. I put in a request with AutoEurope for two weeks in July and the prices are high! $1100 for 2 weeks for a compact manual, $78/day, €1000 deductible and includes 17% airport surcharge. $1581 for an automatic transmission.

Prices are significantly less for September. $862 for 2 weeks from Avis.

Have any of you run into this when booking trips? We have our Europe trip booked for August/September but luckily we can drive there from the UK, so no car rental.

Screenshot from July.

4CFAA9B7-A792-4342-80C7-FD7CC4814EE9.png


Screenshot for September.

3EC2607D-4837-47A7-BFD2-7A1989E7CA15.png
 
Pretty logical.
They sold off most of their fleets to keep above the waters of the pandemic, while parts-supply chains have also not returned to pre-Covid levels. Even new bicycles are hard to come by. In addition, rental companies are probably more than happy to charge these prices, as they have losses to recover. For tourists, maybe this additional expense will be balanced by slightly lower accommodation prices, as in this area supply might exceed demand.
 
For tourists, maybe this additional expense will be balanced by slightly lower accommodation prices, as in this area supply might exceed demand.
Not in the UK. Brits are traveling in Britain this year instead of going abroad and seaside areas are fully booked and prices are high. I wonder if this is happening in other countries?
 
When we go to Europe we always lease from one of the French companies. This spring they were offering exceptional deals, much cheaper than I have ever paid. Unfortunately it was just too soon for us to take advantage.

I'm guessing with my luck when we are ready to travel in 2022, prices will be way up. :(
 
Yes, it's been in the news; this Washington Post article is mostly about U.S. rentals:


but I see it in a search for Europe; note the mention that manufacturers worldwide are slowing production because of a shortage of computer chips. For a trip to Italy, when there was an offer to waive delivery fees for the short-term leases from French companies, I felt it was too early to book; now I search and find it impossible to have cars available at the time we're planning: a few models starting Sept. 15, and others starting November.
 
...............(We usually insure through our credit card... we also usually call and talk to someone.)
Is this in France? I seem to remember reading that our U.S credit cards would NOT cover our rental car in Italy. Does anyone else remember reading that? I think the length of the rental was also an issue for the credit card - I think the longest a rental is covered is for 30 days.
 
I can't speak to all credit cards, but for many (at least the ones I have) their coverage is secondary. This means you have to go through your home car insurance company first and then the card company kicks in if there is any balance.

In the summer of 2019 we were in Italy for only 2 weeks so I had to rent, plus I had to get a 9 passenger van. I paid for the insurance because I didn't want any potential claim on my home car insurance. Of course, everything went accident free.
 

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