9/20/11, Holiday 2011 Rental Car Report

Despite largely holding at 2010 levels through August of this year, rental car prices for many popular Thanksgiving and Christmas destinations are significantly higher than in the same period of 2010. Rental Car Magic examined 10 identical holiday itineraries priced in September of 2010 and again in September of 2011. The Thanksgiving destinations included Fort Meyers, San Francisco, Phoenix, Maui and Portland, Oregon. Christmas destinations included Seattle, Jackson Hole, Orlando, Tampa and New York City. With the exception of Phoenix, all of the itineraries were priced higher this year than last. The Seattle and Portland, Oregon rates were almost double last year's rates. Fort Meyers, Maui and San Francisco showed slight to moderate increases, while the remaining cities had rate increases of several hundred dollars. Thanksgiving prices did not increase as much as Christmas prices.

Itinerary                       2010 Low Price     2011 Low Price      % Difference

PDX 12/23-12-28            Alamo $291             Dollar $383               +32%
Fullsize Vehicle                                             (Alamo $583)

SEA 12/28-1/1               Thrifty $447             Thrifty $704               +57%
Premium Vehicle                       
           
TPA 12/26-1/2                Alamo $687            Alamo $858              +25%           
Fullsize Vehicle           

MCO 12/23-1/4               Dollar $1055           Budget $1256            +19%           
Compact Vehicle                                           (Dollar $1307)           

LGA 12/23-12/28            National $738          Avis $779                  +5%          
Fullsize                                                         (National $936)      
    
JAC 12/25-1/1                Thrifty $501             Thrifty $643               +13%
Midsize Vehicle

SFO 11/24-11/29            Alamo $440            Budget $463              +5%
Fullsize Vehicle                                             (Alamo $493)

OGG 11/17-11/30           Thrifty $828             Thrifty $982               +19%
Minivan

RSW 11/20-11/28           Alamo $438            Alamo $456               +4%
Midsize Vehicle

PHX 11/20-11/28             Alamo $514            Alamo $376               -27%
Fullsize Vehicle


NOTES: Prices include all taxes, fees and surcharges. Prices quoted for 2010 were obtained on September 15, 2010. Prices quoted for 2011 were obtained on September 15, 2011.

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9/13/11, Holiday Rental Car Prices: Search Site Comparison

Rental Car Magic completed its third annual survey of travel search sites for popular holiday itineraries. The survey, conducted in mid-September, looked at four web based search company's rate quotes for identical U.S. airport rentals during the upcoming holiday period. The search sites surveyed included Travelocity, Orbitz, Rental Car Magic and AutoSlash. Each company's website was queried for the same ten holiday itineraries in Orlando and Fort Meyers, Florida; Honolulu, Hawaii; Denver, Colorado; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts, and New York City. With the exception of the New York City search result, the study revealed a dramatic range of results for all of the holiday itineraries.

Of the ten itineraries examined, Rental Car Magic found the lowest price for eight of them, often beating the second lowest search service by hundreds of dollars. For example, the survey searched all of the sites for a fullsize vehicle rental at Fort Myers, Florida from 12/17/2011 to 12/24/2011. Rental Car Magic found a total price (including all fees, taxes, etc) from Dollar of $260.64. None of the other search services quoted anything less than $917.

In another example, the survey looked at a midsize SUV rental in Denver over the Thanksgiving period (11/22-11/27). Rental Car Magic found an Avis total price of $212.08. Travelocity found the second lowest price at Thrifty for $1,138. The remaining surveyed itineraries showed similar results, with the exception of the New York City search. In that case, all four search services found very similar rates.