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Forget Snakes In Planes; They're In Our Rental Cars Now
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.
Tags: Rental Cars / Enterprise / Hawaii Travel / Oahu Travel / Maui Travel / Green Travel / Hybrids / → All Tags
Happy Anniversary Hawaii: Here's Some New Hybrid Rental Cars
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.
Tags: Rental Cars / Green Travel / Alamo / Enterprise / TerraPass / Cars / Carbon Offsets / → All Tags
Thanks To TerraPass Even The Worst Rental Car Can Be Green
Some rental car companies are feeling all warm and fuzzy inside lately. A year after starting a carbon offset program through the help of their green buddy TerraPass, they’re reporting that over 175,000 customers have chipped in a couple extra bucks per rental to save the earth. We can’t remember ever being offered this service in any of our rental car adventures over the last year, but we also just may have told the person at the counter that we weren’t interested in any more fees.
Tags: Rental Cars / Chicago / Enterprise / Lawsuits / → All Tags
Enterprise Sues Chicago Over Rental Car Fees In the Burbs
Renting a car can be the highlight of your trip, or it can be something truly different. However, one thing is certain, you’ll be charged all kinds of fees no matter what company you use, what insurance you decline, and whether or not you pop for the GPS thing.
That’s why we’re happy to hear that Enterprise is looking to fight the fees. Yes, they are looking to reduce fees, but it’s also kind of in their best interest, so don't give them an award just yet.
Tags: Rental Cars / Hertz / Enterprise / Dollar-Thrifty / → All Tags
Rental Round-Up: Losses, Crashes and a Freebie
While the Big Three groan, here's what's hurting the rental-car industry this week besides the humiliating PT Cruiser:
The economy, stupid. Dollar-Thrifty announced it lost $72.2 million in its fourth quarter last year, more than double its losses from the same time frame in 2007. CEO Scott Thompson blamed a slowdown in leisure travel and -- curiously -- a lack of credit preventing people from buying their retired cars at auctions.
Human frailty. Enterprise hasn't announced their quarterly results yet, but they're down at least one vehicle: A Long Island man rented a car while drunk to avoid the anti-DWI device installed in his own car, then -- duh -- crashed the car. Turns out that GPS can't steer you around everything, like your own stupidity.
A good deal! Now that you're saddened by the state of humanity, here's a deal for this weekend for Hertz: Use code 127595 to get a free day! Use it again in March (limit one redemption per month). We can't figure out if you can redeem it for just one day and no others, but we suspect not.
Related Stories:
· Dollar Thrifty Q4 loss wider than expected [Reuters]
· Enterprise Adding 5000 Hybrids, But Would You Rent One? [Jaunted]
· Cops: New York Man With Anti-DWI Device Crashes Rental Car While Intoxicated [Fox News]
· Free Hertz Weekend Day Car Rental [Walletpop]
· Hertz Offers Hourly Displeasure in Manhattan [Jaunted]
[Photo of humiliating rental cars in Hawaii: kanuck]
Tags: Rental Cars / Enterprise / Green Travel / → All Tags
Enterprise Adding 5000 Hybrids, But Would You Rent?
Is going green good business? Amid an industry-wide slowdown on car rentals, Enterprise announced it was adding 5000 vehicles to its fleet -- specifically, hybrids.
The company also announced they would create 80 "hybrid locations" or rental desks with a better than usual selection of hybrid cars in highly-trafficked areas. They're not the only company buying (Dollar just announced it signed a deal with troubled manufacturer Ford), but Enterprise is effectively betting that gas prices will rise again -- and their fleet will be uniquely protected from those potential fluctuations.
We think some hybrids like the Prius, above, are pretty cute. But choosing to rent a hybrid drastically limits the pool of cars you could get at any given location -- and what if you get an ugly one? Still, the gas savings could make your trip a much more cost-effective one. Have you rented a hybrid on a trip?
Related Stories:
· Rental car slowdown hurts automakers [AP via San-Jose Mercury News]
· Enterprise Adds 5000 Hybrids To Its Fleet Of Fuel-Efficient Cars[Sustainablog]
· Five Humiliating Rental Cars To Ruin Your Vacation [Jaunted]
· Enterprise's Sweet Weekend Rental Deal [Jaunted]
· Rental Cars coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: geognerd]
Tags: Rental Cars / Enterprise / Travel Deals / → All Tags
Enterprise's Sweet Weekend Rental Deal
Cabin fever got you down? Take a miniature road trip with Enterprise Rent-a-Car's Weekend Special, which is offering 50 percent off rentals between Friday and Monday.
Granted, these prices are only available at "neighborhood locations," which excludes any airport rental desk. But having taken advantage of this deal ourselves, including the offer to be picked up en route to our rental, it's still a pretty good sale if you find an eligible office.
We'd be prepared to chalk this up to a recession special, but we remember a similar sale going on last year around this time. Maybe January is just low tide for rental cars? We certainly don't want to drive anywhere in the Northeast given today's freezing rain.
Related Stories:
· Futuristic Travel: Road Trips Made Easy with Folding Car [Jaunted]
· RIP West Coast-East Coast Car Rental Feud [Jaunted]
· Car Rentals coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: The Consumerist]
Tags: Rental Cars / Rental Car Hell / Enterprise / → All Tags
Rental Car Hell: A Broken Window on a Rainy Day in Pennsylvania
Every travel story we have is usually a long complicated story and this one is no different. But for your sake we are going to make it short.
The past week we've been hanging on the East Coast, reviewing hotels, attending weddings and catching up with family. Our "travel buddy"/husband was along for the trip when at the last-minute he found out he needed to be in Pennsylvania for work on Monday. And thus he needed to rent a car.
By this point, we had left NYC and were chilling in the rain-soaked 'burbs of NJ. Noticing an Enterprise Rent-A-Car nearby, we headed inside to see what they had to offer.
