Airfares and hotel room prices have fallen markedly in response to the global economic meltdown, but rental car rates are as high as ever, prompting the penny-pinchers over at Budget Travel to offer up a few tips on keeping the costs down on your next trip. In an AP item, the magazine's editor-in-chief said that car rental companies are unique in that they can trim their supply of cars very easily, maintaining a tight market for rentals. Thus, your best bet for a bargain is to book in advance, look for a discount code on a site like best-car-rental-tips.com, or use a bidding site like Priceline. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-11-07T16:48:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/25/02240/595

Alright, so we might be winging our way to St. Lucia right now Jetblue, but we swear they didn't tell us to tell you about this contest; that's just what we do—pass on news about free travel stuff to you. And you might want to consider entering the airline's new "Jet & Drive Giveaway," if you like the idea of possibly winning free travel.

The contest, which just barely began and runs through January 31, 2010, is the fruit of a partnership between Jetblue and Hertz, and Marriott and Starwood to a lesser extent. The deal is: you enter your info on their contest page and the page keeps a running tally on how many have entered. Each day, Jetblue will give away a $100 Hertz certificate, but if the day's tally manages to pass 2,500 or even 5,000, then they'll tack on giveaways of a $2500 Hertz certificate and a $500 Jetblue gift card, respectively. But the prizes just get sweeter from there... ]]> JetSetCD 2009-10-26T11:04:16-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/21/81423/743

Time is running out if you’re dreaming to get a Sebring convertible or other Chrysler rental car on your next trip. Dollar and Thrifty announced that they’ve canceled their orders for loads of cars from the American carmaker. In the past, the two rental car companies have ordered almost three quarters of their fleet from Chrysler, but in 2010, only about a third will be coming from the pentastar. The company had an agreement with Chrysler that required a certain amount of order per year, but after Chrysler hit the bankruptcy courts, Dollar and Thrifty were free to go elsewhere.

They will be looking to Ford, General Motors, Nissan, and Kia to fill the parking spaces at airports around the country. For 2010, Dollar and Thrifty will be purchasing about 90,000 vehicles, but only 27,000 of these cars will be coming from Chrysler. In the good old days there would have been a much larger check being written over to Chrysler. ]]> kjb 2009-10-21T09:38:41-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/9/688/37069

United Airlines is all about being in the news lately. Earlier in the week they got our attention with their unlimited baggage fee—too bad we’re still not totally sure if it’s worth it. If you are a diehard United fan then you’ve probably accumulated your share of frequent flyer miles with the airline, and with availability getting more and more limited everyday, you probably need a way to burn some. If that award ticket to Tahiti just isn’t happening, you might want to consider using them for a car or hotel.

United’s Mileage Plus members can now use their hard earned miles to book a rental car or a hotel stay. They’ve launched a new booking engine for each service, so you can easily find out how much damage that “free” hotel stay will do to your account. If you’re looking to relax in New York City next weekend you can crash at the Hilton New York on Saturday night for 48,250 miles. Unfortunately, you could get yourself to Hawaii with that many miles, so we say it’s totally not worth it. However, it’s an option, and we do appreciate a choice. ]]> kjb 2009-10-09T08:40:08-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/9/28/73039/9961

Anytime we have rented a car in recent memory, we were reminded early and often not to smoke in the car—even if it was just a PT Cruiser. We’re pretty sure that we had to sign something, and there was always that no smoking sticker right by the lighter where we plugged in our iPod. Apparently, smoking in your rental car is a vacation luxury that we missed out on, and now our time is severely limited.

On October 1, Budget and Avis will become the first two rental car companies to ban smoking in their rental fleet in North America. If you’re caught puffing away, you’ll get nailed with a cleaning fee of up to $250. Too bad they won’t ban fast food in their cars, as we are sick of soda stains in the seats and fries in every nook and cranny of the center console. ]]> kjb 2009-09-28T10:28:50-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/9/15/7493/64089

We’ve all received rental cars that had a less than stellar appearance, especially when it comes to the car’s interior. Besides the many lovely odors, stains are the rule rather than the exception. Above all, our favorite is when former drivers have decided to install some type of foodstuff into the upholstery. Thankfully, despite all our rental car troubles, we’ve never received a car with a living critter inside. However, that’s exactly what a Florida woman found when she rented a car from Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Last week a college student hopped into her rental ride, and immediately hopped right back out. There was a red rat snake just hanging out on the dashboard of the car, and at over a yard in length, it was not a welcome surprise. Luckily, the snake wasn’t poisonous, and the rental car company sent out an animal trapper to capture the stowaway. ]]> kjb 2009-09-15T12:23:53-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/25/74329/6237

Last week was the Aloha State’s birthday as the islands officially commemorated its fiftieth anniversary of statehood. State leaders usually downplay celebrations as some Hawaii residents aren’t too thrilled about how the island chain was admitting into the union. We don’t want to get into the debate, but there are still some who demand independence from the United States.

Although not an official birthday present—they couldn’t find that much wrapping paper—Enterprise Rent-A-Car is gifting the island with some new hybrid rental cars. The chain teamed up with Governor Linda Lingle to announce that four locations are becoming hybrid branches. There will be three on Oahu and one on Maui to answer your green car dreams during your vacation. ]]> kjb 2009-08-25T08:59:40-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/