Car rental rates during the pandemic

And to confirm that it's not just hire car companies, I've been monitoring a Luxury Escapes yacht holiday for a while now and the price has increased by $900 since it was last offered in February. No additional inclusions. Hard to conclude that it's not gouging but also can't ignore the increased demand from trapped locals.
 
These rates are crazy!!! I am trying to hire a car for CNS in July and the best rate is 843 via qeeq.com. I think that I will need a part time job in addition to my full time job.
 
From the looks of it, I'm going to save more then my union membership fees on car hire fees alone, given we get access to a nice corporate rate.
 
These rates are crazy!!! I am trying to hire a car for CNS in July and the best rate is 843 via qeeq.com. I think that I will need a part time job in addition to my full time job.
That is crazy! I booked one from QEEQ/Alamo in January for early July for 6 days, $288. :(
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

That is crazy! I booked one from QEEQ/Alamo in January for early July for 6 days, $288. :(
Yes, i just had a 5 day rental in Cairns, booked through Economy car rentals / Alamo. Small SUV was $262 total, booked 6 months ago. Timing is everything at the moment.
 
Had a $150 ish charge added to small car through Thrifty in Victoria for a three day car hire. Avis nor Hertz not available. It is a big difference. I have also tried to hire Avis cars for two different periods in Orange and website keeps on saying not available.....may have to phone them as not sure if they are still there although the website states they are operational.
 
I've found one cheap way to get a hire car in CNS... commence the rental in MCY. 😲

Just did some comparisons:
- 1 day compact in CNS $196
- 7 day one way hire MCY-CNS $209

I'm going to make a road trip of it and see a bit of inland QLD. Not even going to have a car in CNS now as will be returning it on the day I arrive. My holiday has gone from being a N.Qld one, to being a much broader 'lots' of Qld one. Golf sticks going in the boot!
 
I rented in CNS in early March 2021 - my first trip anywhere in over 12 months. Maybe I'd forgotten what prices should be but I was reasonably "happy" with what I got.

I paid total of $476 with Thrifty for a Pajero 4WD for 4 days (Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon) with unlimited KM.

That included $108 for the Collision/Damage Insurance - which I took because I don't have my regular annual global travel insurance policy active ATM.

The vehicle hire itself was $72/day
+ $71 total for Premium Location CNS AP.

I just booked a couple of trips to NZ on the weekend with the QF DSC promo. Have not booked any NZ hire cars yet... I'm afraid to look now :D
 
On a note for Perth car rental, I booked a small/medium SUV from Fremantle for 11 days (100kms p/d), return to Perth Airport for next Feb 2022.
2 car seats, no insurance for tick under $600.

I was very shocked, bargain, even though well in advance thru local non-franachise rental store.
All major franchises I searched were big $$ as posted above.
 
Sponsored Post

Struggling to use your Frequent Flyer Points?

Frequent Flyer Concierge takes the hard work out of finding award availability and redeeming your frequent flyer or credit card points for flights.

Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, the Frequent Flyer Concierge team at Frequent Flyer Concierge will help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

It's the surcharge required to cover the very high excess that applies to vehicle damage now that turns me away
 
How short sighted are these car rental companies? Very, it seems! They probably sold off their rental stock at giveaway prices (low demand due to covid lockdowns along with oversupply). Now they have to re-stock their fleets at full price for new cars which, in the short - medium term will significantly increase their inventory carrying cost. Obviously they had never put any thought into a disaster management plan in anticipation of a very real possibility such as a pandemic.

Last year we had our QF flights cancelled and were locked out of Qld but I still had to pay cancellation fees for Avis bookings in CNS and OOL. Now 12 months on they want 2 - 3 times the money for equivalent bookings.

Airlines and hotels know that raising prices is no way to get people back travelling but the car hire companies seem oblivious to that fact. Apart from being a disincentive to travel generally, hefty hire fees will just encourage many people to find alternate means of getting around rather than be price gouged with charges of $150 - 200 /day or more for a small hatch. We like the convenience of having a car at our disposal even if we don't use it a lot but we'll be re-thinking that now.
I suspect the hire companies know exactly what they are doing. They know what to do to protect themselves during a downturn, they would not have done too badly in selling cars they couldn’t rent out and they will rebuy at prices we cannot access. And they are doing very well with their current rental stock obviously if they are renting out at higher prices.
 
Yeah but when I rent, I want to try something newer than my own car, and a different model to boot. It helps when I'm choosing my next purchase to look at it as a very long test drive.
 
I‘m not surprised there’s cheap rates for transporting rentals to CNS before end of June. Bookings are steeply priced, and accommodation in eg. Port Douglas is virtually nonexistent during school holidays (at one stage only option left in PD was the backpackers)..
 
I’ve found Sydney, Launceston and Hobart all tricky to find reasonable prices of late. Mind you I generally book everything last minute, but since everyone sold most of their stock during the pandemic (no point paying reg and ins for idle cars) I’ve strayed from the main rental companies and used eg: Bargain Car Rentals, and played with the pickup drop off times to bring the price down. Dropping the car off after hours and getting an Uber to the airport the next morning saved me over $100 a couple of times.

Hopefully they don’t get used to these prices, get some new stock in, lower their rates and give us a decent choice
 

Enhance your AFF viewing experience!!

From just $6 we'll remove all advertisements so that you can enjoy a cleaner and uninterupted viewing experience.

And you'll be supporting us so that we can continue to provide this valuable resource :)


Sample AFF with no advertisements? More..

Recent Posts

Back
Top