Triangle Trip

Let me preface this post by telling everyone that I really despise Avis for its poor customer service. I have not rented from Avis in over 10 years due to a really horrible experience at Newark Liberty International (EWR). Ironically this post is about renting from Avis’s Newark facility. I won’t get into the details on my horrible experience; I will save it for another post… Given the latest Avis offer, I may actually consider going back to them to give it a go.

As one of the options to go from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to NYC, I used to recommend National Car Rental with their one-way rental program. However, National Car Rental has ended its one-way car rental offer between Newark and NYC for $25 a day – which was an awesome deal. Avis has recently picked up the one-way car rental promotion. This means you can rent an Avis car from Newark Liberty International (EWR) and drop it off in New York City for $25 plus taxes or rent the car from an Avis location in NYC and return it to EWR. Here’s the link to reserve at Avis. You can also call Avis and mention AWD #K462601.

The Avis offer only works if you’re going from EWR to NYC on Thursday or Friday and from NYC to EWR on Sunday or Monday. The reason for this offer is Avis needs to get its cars from EWR to NYC for the weekend rentals. As a renter, you’re essentially doing the driving for Avis.

You should also be aware of the following restrictions:

• One-way rental from EWR to NYC can only be picked up from Thursday after 1PM to Friday 10PM and it must be dropped off by Friday.
• One-way rental from NYC to EWR can only be picked up from Sunday after 3PM to Monday 10PM. The car must be dropped off by mid-night on Monday.

Also read the fine prints from the link.

It has been awhile since we have written about rental cars. Similar to hotel reservation rules (see previous post), rental car companies do not penalize you if you do not show up for your car reservation. Since some rental car companies are using the Yield Management model to price their cars, we highly recommend you make your rental car reservations weeks in advanced to avoid higher fees. Unlike hotels, you don’t even have to cancel your reservation. Most rental car companies will just void your reservation without penalty if you don’t show up.

There are however exceptions to this rule. On major holidays like Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc., some rental car companies will make you pre-pay for a day or the entire reservation. Check with your rental car company before confirming your reservation.

Over the President’s Day long weekend (and a week school break in some major US cities), I noticed a major spike in rental car prices. Cars are going for $125 to $150 per day in the Great LA area for National Car Rental vs. $55 per day for Emerald Club Members and Corporate rates. I called National and asked why the price was so high and the representative didn’t have an answer.

At the same time, I tried to get a car on Hertz and Budget and noticed they were just completely sold out. Hertz and Budget did not apply any price gauging tactics like National. The bigger question here is:  Are car rental companies implementing yield management models like airlines? If so, this will have an impact on the industry. National is probably ahead of its time on this one strategy.

In summary:  Just book your cars in advance as 99% of the car rental companies do not charge you for a no show.