Car Rental Rates Continue To Drop

Car rental rates dropped again this month after initial optimism for the traditionally busy fall business travel season, according to Abrams Travel Data Services' new Car Rental Market Scan released today.

After a summer that delivered lower-than-expected demand and a fall season delayed until mid-September due to Sept. 11 anniversary concerns, Market Scan author Jon LeSage said a rise in advance bookings in the past month promises to assist the industry, though rates actually dropped in the first week of October by an average $1.50 per day in airport markets.

Car rental fleets still are down 10 percent from last year's levels in response to airline passenger traffic levels, but Avis Rent-A-Car and Enterprise, as well as lower-cost car rental firms, are faring better with help from the corporate market, according to LeSage.

Specifically, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group has benefited from increased price shopping and corporate travelers' increased use of such alternative car rental companies as Dollar and Enterprise, LeSage said. Enterprise recently gained extra airport space at Minneapolis, Panama City and Knoxville airports after Alamo Rent A Car vacated the space to combine desks with National Car Rental.