Holidaymakers hiring cars in Europe this season are often getting a nasty shock. Often the prospective hirer will have hired cars abroad in previous years. In those years gone by they would have found that the various car rental companies had plenty of stock, and were competing savagely with each other on price.Some firms were even hiring out vehicles at a loss to try and secure market share.
This year over the Easter holiday period people needing to pick up hire cars were slammed with increases in fees of up to a whopping 65%. While not happening in all European destinations by any means, it has certainly been pervasive. So what exactly is behind this jump in price, coming as it does when many are finding it harder to get the money together for holidays at all?
The simple answer as to the increase in hire car prices is that many companies have been massively reducing their fleets. The short sightedness of this is clear. Without the cars to hire, demand has been running at much greater levels than supply. The consequences of this are higher prices. Along with raised prices there are other negative effects of a situation in the car hire market.
There are still good deals to be had, and there are steps that the consumer can take to avoid being ripped off when booking international car hire. The first and most important thing is to focus on value for money rather than just the headline price. Looking into what extras are not being included is sure to pay dividends when choosing you provider. Don”t forget service either, do some research to find the companies that treat their customers the best. Some car firms can treat their customers absolutely shamefully, where as others are quite good. Another very useful tactic that the smart traveller can employ is to use a broker to book their car hire. Brokerage companies like these are a good way to ensure that you can get a vehicle, as they usually have arrangements with several of the big players in the location and can help you get to the front of the queue.
