- Young whippersnappers may not remember that you don’t always have to take out a loan to rent a car for the weekend. Thankfully, after the year of the plague, prices have come down, and there are even deals to be made.
- Signs that the rental car industry is turning around can be found in recent expansion announcements, both of new cars being added to the fleet and more rental counters in more locations.
- We found some deals from Sixt, Hertz and Avis if you’re looking for temporary tires soon.
The rental car world is back to normal, sort of. The last few years have introduced us to various oddities affected by the pandemic and very high prices. Remember when it cost $200 a day to rent a car or that incredible U-Haul life hack? But now rental car prices are coming down again, and some companies are back offering deals on your temporary wheels.
EV, Luxury Cars Entering the Fleet
One way to see how things are progressing is the latest news about increasing capacity. Hertz, for example, announced this week that it will add 2100 electric vehicles to its Houston fleet, nearly tripling the number of EVs available in the area. Hertz is also building a new fast charging hub at Houston Hobby Airport. So far this year, Sixt has announced several new locations in North America, including Washington, DC, Pittsburgh, and Toronto, and has said it will announce further expansion plans later this year. In February, peer-to-peer car-sharing service Turo said it was adjusting its map of where it expects to see growing demand for vacation rentals for its vehicles, with the Carolina coast predicted to be one such hot spot in 2023.
The revival is also happening around the world, with Dubai’s luxury car rentals “on the rise,” for example. Vietnamese conglomerate VinGroup, which owns new EV brand VinFast, announced earlier this month that it has established a new joint-stock company called GSM (which stands for Green Smart Mobility) that will focus on renting VinFast EVs as well as renting VinFast scooters and operating taxi services. As you can probably guess, with all this resurgent activity, there are now deals if you need to rent a car soon. Here are some options that might fit your plan.
Some Offers
Sixt is offering midweek and regional deals, as well as discounts on luxury vehicles at all its locations until the end of June. The midweek deal—up to 30 percent off—is for anyone who starts their rental on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday and ends on Thursday. Or you can choose to get up to 25 percent of the rental cost of a premium or luxury vehicle or one from the “extraordinary” category. Some regional Sixt offices also offer offers of up to 25 percent off. None of these Sixt deals are available between April 2 and 22, also known as prime Spring Break travel week.
Avis doesn’t have as many deals as Sixt right now, but if you spend $175 or more on a rental that lasts three days or more, you can get $15 off.
If you need a car for a week or more, Hertz offers a free day if you rent for five days. The company also offers up to 30 percent off your rental if you choose to drive an EV. That should be included, maybe.
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Contributing editor
Sebastian Blanco has been writing about electric vehicles, hybrids and hydrogen cars since 2006. His articles and car reviews have appeared in New York Times, Automotive News, Reuters, SAE, Autoblog, InsideEVs, Trucks.com, Car Talk and other outlets. His first green car media event was the launch of the Tesla Roadster, and since then he has been tracking the transition away from gasoline-powered vehicles and discovering the importance of the new technology not just for the auto industry, but for the world as a whole. . Throw in the recent shift to autonomous vehicles, and there are more exciting changes happening right now than most people can wrap their heads around. You can find him on Twitter or, on good days, behind the wheel of a new EV.