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http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,10295-2177168,00.html
The Sunday Times has learnt that up to 20 per cent of British travellers are being overcharged when renting a car.

The rental companies say that such incidents are rare, while travel companies, which enjoy close relationships with car-hire firms, have tended to keep quiet on the subject. But now one tour operator has broken ranks to support our campaign, claiming that overcharging is rife within the industry, and that one in five of its clients is being overcharged.

The company’s managing director, who has asked to remain anonymous, says:


“We have had an explosion of complaints where clients have been wrongly charged for refuelling, late deliveries and damage claims. In every case, my clients have been proved innocent.” The travel operator, who works mostly in Spain, says that until recently about one in 10 of his clients complained about extra charges for car hire. “But we have received a spate (of complaints) taking that to about 20%,” he says. “In all cases, we successfully claim the money back for the client, but it’s a real pain for us, and I do wonder about the poor people who book direct and do not have the contacts to get refunds.” The MD finally lost his patience when he was himself overcharged after a recent visit to Spain.

Holidaymakers who book hire cars through tour operators can take their complaints back to the operator, but the tens of thousands who book direct are on their own when it comes to trying to extract refunds.

Fortunately, individuals can get results. Our postbag reveals that many Sunday Times readers are using advice published in the Travel section to lodge successful complaints with customer-services departments in the UK (dealing with offices abroad appears to be a fruitless exercise).

Stuart Simpson of Devon rented a car to get from Stansted to Newquay after Ryanair cancelled his flight home. He returned the vehicle, as arranged, to an unmanned National office at Newquay airport. The company later billed him £260, claiming he had left the car with a scratch and a dent. Incensed, Simpson complained to National, citing the Sunday Times campaign. Customer services agreed that the damage was “pre-existing” and offered him a full refund.

David Solomon of St Albans returned a car to Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris, and asked Budget staff to inspect it to confirm that it was undamaged. They declined to do this, but he was subsequently presented with a bill for £306. The company said he had damaged the rear bumper.

After complaining to customer services, Solomon received a full refund and the offer of a £35 voucher. He returned the voucher and demanded compensation for his time and personal distress. Budget at first refused, but eventually paid £120 as a “goodwill gesture”.

http://news.cheapflights.co.uk/flights/2006/06/ryanair_offers_.html
Ryanair has teamed up with Hertz to offer discounts on car hire for those wanting to visit Germany after the World Cup fever has died down.

Travellers booking at least 45 days in advance can take advantage of a 15 per cent discount on hire cars by making a reservation through the Ryanair website.

The offer applies to Hertz rental outlets at all German airports that the airline serves – Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Eindhoven, Weeze, Leipzig, Karlsruhe Baden and Friedrichshafen.

Meanwhile, the low-cost airline has reiterated its refusal to introduce fuel surcharges by issuing Polish airline LOT with another challenge.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary offered to walk down a busy Warsaw street naked if LOT scrapped its fuel surcharges before the end of May. Noting that it didn't do so, Ryanair is now offering to send a stripogram to LOT's head offices if it removes the charges by June 16.

Ryanair, the number one no-frills airline in Europe, stressed that refusing to introduce fuel surcharging was a key factor in its recent better-than-expected results.

easyCar is urging holidaymakers to book their summer car rentals early this year to avoid disappointment. A easyCar spokesperson said today: “Our car rental broker business has grown rapidly over the last two years and this means we’re in a better position than ever to offer even more competitive rates. But with offers this good we are likely to sell out fast over summer, which means you have to book early if you don’t want to miss out.”

http://www.fairinvestment.co.uk/insurance-news-Holidaymakers-urged-to-check-car-insurance-17195494.html

Holidaymakers urged to check car insurance
20/06/2006
People from the UK who are planning to drive to another country for their summer holidays have been advised to check that they have adequate insurance cover.

Research conducted by independent finance site MoneyExpert found that 25 per cent of fully comprehensive car insurance policies will only cover vehicles taken to other countries if drivers have paid extra.

Seeing as 6.3 million people are getting ready for a motoring holiday over the coming year, it is a good idea to ensure that the car is covered.

Tim Berry of MoneyExpert warned: "Taking your own car overseas makes sense for millions who want to avoid queuing at airports or driving an unfamiliar hire car when you're already struggling to adapt to driving on the wrong side of the road.

"However, insurers have strict rules on what you can and cannot do when it comes to taking our cars out of the country."

Holidaymakers could benefit from taking the time to shop around for a policy that offers overseas cover at either low or no extra cost.

http://www.easier.com/view/News/Motoring/article-56842.html
Ensure you are covered before taking your car abroad
19 June 2006

More than 6.3 million people will be driving their cars overseas as the holiday season takes off, new research from independent financial research website MoneyExpert.com shows. But many of them could be heading for disaster unless they check their motor insurance.

Analysis shows around 25 per cent of comprehensive motor insurance policies will not offer full cover for your car when you drive abroad unless you pay extra. And most insurers insist you tell them before you take your car overseas and receive written agreement from them.

Research shows 6.32 million people or their partners intend to drive their cars overseas in the next 12 months – around 13 per cent of all adults aged 17 or more. People aged between 45 and 54 are the most likely to drive overseas while those aged 65-plus are the least likely.

http://www.btnmag.com/businesstravelnews/global/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002690197

JUNE 19, 2006 -- The cost of corporate car rental looks set to rise in Europe after a lengthy period of flat pricing sustained by intense competition. That competition remains as fierce as ever but the wider dynamics of the car market have changed. Manufacturers have both restricted their supply to rental companies and ceased buying back vehicles at special prices, as trade in nearly new vehicles is damaging the sales of new ones. In the United Kingdom, sales of new cars fell 13 percent last year.

Avis is First Rental Car Company to Offer Mobility Scooters With Car Rentals

PARSIPPANY, N.J., -- Avis Rent A Car System, LLC today announced a new pilot program that will give customers the ability to rent a mobility scooter and have it waiting in the trunk of their next rental vehicle or delivered to the customer's location. Mobility scooters are four-wheeled, lightweight, battery-operated transportable units that are well suited for travelers up to 250lbs. The program rolls out at two of the nation's most frequented leisure and convention destinations -- Las Vegas and Orlando. Avis is the first rental car company to offer mobility scooters combined with vehicle rentals.

http://www.itp.net/business/news/details.php?id=22120&category=

Online car hire sales hit new heights


UAE-based car rental companies witnessed a sharp increase in online bookings this summer.

Both Holiday Autos Middle East and Hertz UAE told ATN web sales for the peak June to August period showed hikes of 40% and 30% respectively, compared to the same period in 2005.

Holiday Autos said 68% of all transactions (both consumer and trade), over this period, peaked at 68%, while more than 50% of all agent bookings were made online.

“We have made the online booking process for customers and agents much quicker and simpler,” said Nazar Musa, managing director, Holiday Autos Middle East.

“With good rates this year and trade incentives working well, we were able to build our business online, moving it towards the model we see in the UK where 80% of bookings are made online, and in Scandanavia where the figure is 90%.”

Musa said outbound bookings to Europe were strong this summer, with key markets including Germany, Ireland, Austria and Croatia.

Bob Farrow, general manager, Hertz UAE, said the 30% increase in online bookings he had witnessed this summer were those recorded on the main Hertz web site, to which UAE bookings currently divert.

“However, when we get our own UAE web site up-and-running, it will be easy to extrapolate more detailed information on where those bookings are coming from,” he said.

Farrow believed the trade still relied on the Hertz Bahrain call centre to make bookings, but said consumers were now “more confident booking online” and found it the most convenient method.

“The demographic of the [UAE] population is changing and people are used to booking online. They find it convenient and it’s far easier than phoning a call centre where language barriers are an issue,” he added.

The Hertz UAE web site should be online by the end of the year, according to Farrow, while the Holiday Autos Middle East web site, said Musa, now allowed customers to “choose and book their selected car in just three clicks”.

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0500business/businessnews/tm_objectid=17813481&method=full&siteid=50081&headline=car-hire-firm-on-sales-drive-name_page.html

Car hire firm on sales drive

The Journal


A vehicle hire company launched by a former director of market leader Northgate has doubled its growth forecasts to sales of up to £50m in the next three years.

And Stockton-based Reflex Vehicle Solutions is spending £100m on thousands of new vans and cars and increasing profits as it chases Darlington's Northgate.

In just two years the company has built up a fleet of nearly 3,000 vehicles, which it plans to increase to 10,000 by 2009 as it pushes turnover up from £12m now to £40-50m.

John Collins, Reflex managing director and former sales and marketing director of Northgate, said: "We want to position ourselves as number two in the market place after Northgate. If we could hang on to their coat tails it would be fantastic."

He said his company was in part benefiting from a market which has grown from 2.8 million rental vehicles in 1999 to 3.2 million vehicles now.

But it was also gaining market share because of increasing consolidation in the industry, including Northgate's purchase of Sunderland-based Arriva's rental arm for £140m in February.

"Clients may love Northgate but they don't want to put all their eggs in one basket, so perversely we are finding gaps in the market place that they are creating," said Mr Collins.

Reflex currently has offices in south London, Middlesbrough and Glasgow and plans to open a north London branch and one in the Midlands in the coming 12 months.

But it only has 30 staff and Mr Collins' strategy is to keep costs down by outsourcing servicing to 1,300-plus centres nationwide and 300 mobile technicians rather than opening a big network of offices.

Despite the huge investment in its expansion the company also has huge assets in the form of its vans and after a £380,000 loss in its first year it made £30,000 profit last year which it expects to better this year.

And Reflex has already began to capitalise on these assets with the launch a fortnight ago of its van sales website.

Mr Collins doubtless would find a special satisfaction in carving anywhere near as big a slice of the market as Northgate, which after the Arriva deal is the biggest in the sector in Europe.

"It would be good. But I would never say anything against Northgate. I had 16 extremely happy years there. But I had an itch to do something new," said the 45-year-old.

"My own beliefs are in being customer facing and dealing with customers and when you work in a plc it can be a bit inward looking. I wanted to see if I could do it on my own and I wanted to get back to basics."

The business's client base has doubled in size with the recent completion of several major contracts in the rail industry, retail distribution and UK-wide local authorities. Reflex now provides flexible rental deals on cars and commercial vehicles to over 175 businesses across the UK, such as TNT, DHL, Curry's and Dixons.

From Times Online
July 6, 2007
Car hire for under 25s
The Sunday Times opens its travel clinic on a daily basis to answer your holiday queries. Today: car hire in the US
Richard Green

I'm planning a trip to Florida with some friends, and we are looking for a car hire company that doesn't penalise us for being under 25. I have been driving for almost seven years and will be just five months shy of my 25th birthday at the time of the trip. Any thoughts? Robert Cunningham, Huddersfield

Sunday Times travel expert, Richard Green, responds: The dreaded "Young Driver's Surcharge" is an irritating bugbear for under-25s wanting to hit the open road on holiday. It's charged by all of the big car hire companies, usually at $25 per day, if the person hiring and driving the car is aged between 21 and 25 ­ that's £87 a week extra.

However US Rent A Car (0845 226 8523) is a UK based brokering firm that can help. It offers a week's inclusive hire in Florida, picking up from any of the international airports, without any young driver surcharge. Weekly rates start at £129, good for a driver aged between 21 and 24. Equally unusual is that there isn't an additional driver fee either, so you can share the driving with your friends, providing you let the company know when you book, at no extra charge, even if they are also under 25.

If there are a group of you, an eight, 12, or 15-seater minivan might work out cheaper. US rent a car does charge an additional $19.95 per day if you are under 25, and if someone in the group is either 19 or 20 years old, they can hire a car with a surcharge of about $20 per day.
Related Links

* How to beat the car-hire scammers

* Cross-border car hire

* How to make the most of of USA road trip

Incidentally, the company offers rentals on the same basis throughout the USA, though at higher rates, with Budget Rent A Car, but for anyone heading to Canada, you'll have to budget for the young person's surcharge.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2007/07/18/nosplit/et-usa-118.xml

With the dollar now worth less than 50p, an American trip may never be better value, says Nick Trend.

# New York travel guide

Yesterday, the collapsing US dollar dipped to its lowest level for 26 years. A pound sterling now buys more than $2.04 and, this summer, virtually everything in the States - from iPods to hotel rooms - looks excellent value. If you have yet to book your summer holiday, it is not too late to find some good deals.

Shopping in New York:
Visitors from the UK can enjoy hundreds of holiday bargains, including some of the USA's biggest brand names.

Obviously, it will cost you more to get there than the short hop to Spain, France or Italy, but once you arrive, prices are dramatically lower. According to tour operators, many mainstream motels are working out at just £19 per room per night. You would have to pay three or four times as much for a similar standard hotel in Britain or Europe, and you would almost certainly get a smaller room.

Holiday houses and villas can also be significantly cheaper. A house sleeping six in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, for example, costs about £650 for a week at the end of August, while properties near the beach or on a lake start at about £900 a week - less than half what a similar villa in the South of France or Tuscany might cost.

New England Country Homes (0870 192 1764; www.newengland-countryhomes.co.uk) has several lets available in this price range, and a good selection of discounts and late deals. Try also Interhome (020 8891 1294, www.interhome.co.uk), which has a broader range of destinations throughout the US.

Car hire, too, is good value, with the cost now well below that in several European holiday destinations. According to the car hire broker, Holidayautos (0870 400 0010, www.holidayautos.co.uk) the best value states are California, where a "Group B" car currently costs around £89 a week, and Florida (about £95). Elsewhere, you may have to pay nearer to £130.
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A similar car would cost £135 in France, and £124 in Italy, though only £79 in Spain. Our best buys list highlights other bargains to be found in the major shopping destinations of the US.

Getting there

Flight specialist Trailfinders (0845 050 5871, www.trailfinders.com), which books all the major scheduled airlines, says that there is still reasonably good availability - as long as you can be flexible by a day or two - to the main "gateway" airports throughout August.

Return fares from London start at about £620 for direct flights to New York, or about £670 to Boston. Los Angeles is more expensive, with non-stop flights from £930, but travel after August 10 and this drops to £709; San Francisco costs £950, or £800 after August 10, while you can fly to Miami for £800, or Chicago for £775. All these fares are with major airlines such as BA, United and Virgin.

Pick your dates carefully and you can still get a return from Gatwick to New York on the low cost airline Zoom (www.flyzoom.com) for under £400 during August - though you'll have to book quickly to get the best deals.

Charter flights still have some availability, and the vast majority go to Florida. If you like the heat (daytime temperatures are often above 90°F at this time of year) and want to take the children to Disney World, Thomson (0870 165 0079, www.thomson.co.uk) has August availability from Gatwick to Orlando from £469 return. Seven-night packages at the Best Western Plaza on I-Drive cost from £664 (room only), based on four sharing.

According to Alan Wilson, the managing director of Bon Voyage (0800 316 0194; www.bon-voyage.co.uk) one of the leading specialist tour operators to the USA, California is proving the most popular family destination for families this summer; and there is good availability throughout the school holidays. Wilson says he is pricing holidays at $2.03 to the pound - the most favourable rate since he started the business, in 1981.

Bon Voyage can put together a two-week, three-centre touring holiday for a family of four from £3,800. This includes accommodation in three- to four-star standard hotels in San Francisco, LA and San Diego, international flights and car hire, for departures this August.

A similar 14-night fly-drive around New England and Cape Cod, flying into Boston with BA next month, costs from £3,900 with Trailfinders, including three- to four- star accommodation and a standard size hire car.

For a complete guide to booking holidays in the US go to www.telegraph.co.uk/traveldirectory and click on "Holiday booking guides".

Best buys

With the dollar being so weak, visitors from the UK can enjoy hundreds of holiday bargains in US cities from LA to Orlando, New York to Dallas - including some of the USA's biggest brand names and entertainments. We've picked the best.

Beauty

• Kiehl's rich body lotion, Creme de Corps, costs $42 (£20.52) at the brand's LA Santa Monica outpost; UK stockists such as Space NK charge £36.50. Saving: £15.98

• Philosophy's best-selling moisturiser, Hope in a Jar, retails at £35 at UK department stores: it is almost half price, at $35 (£17.10), in major US department stores. Saving: £17.90

• Ralph Lauren's Romance Eau de Parfum retails for £40 in the UK; at Bloomingdales stores across the US it's just $49.50 (£24.59). Saving: £25.41

• The famous Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Facial by Elemis costs £115 at London spas but just $150 (£74.51) at spas in Miami. Saving: £40.49

• Bliss's Love Handler massage will set you back £120 at their Chelsea spa, while at Bliss spas in Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco, it costs $130 (£64.58). Saving: £55.42

Fashion

• Urban Outfitters's two-tone "Sophie" swing jacket retails at £60 in the UK; it costs $78 (£38.18) at the company's San Francisco outpost. Saving: £21.82

• Brooks Brothers satin stripe pyjamas sell for £99 in London; in US branches they cost $138 (£68.55). Saving: £30.45

• American Apparel's London flagship sells plain black jersey leggings for £18; in the company's LA branch they cost $26 (£12.60). Saving: £5.40

• Men's Nike Air Max 360 II SL trainers cost $150 (£74) in US stores and £100 at Nike Town in London. Saving: £26

• A Marc Jacobs chain-handled patchwork Stam bag sells for $1,550 (£769) at Barneys, New York, and £895 at Selfridges in the UK. Saving: £126

Entertainment

(All prices are the cheapest tickets available for two adults and two children aged 10 or over)

• Broadway show: Stalls tickets for Mamma Mia at the Winter Garden Theatre, Broadway, NY, from $322 (£159.95); at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London, it costs from £216. Saving: £56.05

• Football match: LA Galaxy home fixture, from $160 (£79.48); a Manchester United home fixture, by comparison, would cost from £136. Saving: £56.52

• Rock concert: The Police, Madison Square Garden, NY, from $216 (£107.30); to see the band at Twickenham Stadium, Middlesex, would cost from £360. Saving: £252.70

• Theme park: Single day entry to one Disney park, Orlando, Florida (Walt Disney World, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, MGM Studios or Epcot) costs from $268 (£133.13).

Gadgets

• Apple iPhone (4GB model): Currently available in US only, from $499 (£247.88) plus AT&T contract, and roaming rate charges for UK users. Saving: £87.12 on anticipated UK price.

• Nintendo Wii: Currys stores, UK, £179.99; Walmart stores, US, $249.99 (£123.69). Saving: £56.30

• Sony DCR-DVD106 camcorder: Tesco stores, UK, £298.97; Radio Shack stores, US, $400 (£198.70). Saving: £100.27

• PlayStation 3 (60GB model): PC World stores, UK, £399.99; Walmart stores, US, recently reduced to $499 (£247.88). Saving: £152.11

• MacBook, 13in (2.16GHz Intel Core2 Duo, 1GB RAM):UK Apple store, £829; US Apple store, $1,299 (£645.27). Saving: £183.73

• Nintendo DS console:Amazon.co.uk, £99.99; Radio Shack stores, US, $155 (£77). Saving: £22.99