Jaunted

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ZipCar Zips on into Airport Locations

It looks like that Avis acquisition might be rubbing off on Zipcar, as the car sharing company is starting to make more of an appearance at the airport.

It’s no longer just random parking lots and city locations for ZipCar, as they’re moving into the airport rental car lot as well. They've been doing their thing at the New York City airports for quite some time, but now they’re heading into other airport location as well. Some of the first cities that will see the ZipCar brand up close and personal during this second wave of airport arrivals will be Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Jose, Austin, Philadelphia, Atlanta, West Palm Beach, and Toronto.

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RelayRides / Rental Cars / Cars / Road Trips / Car Shares / Car Sharing / Driving / → All Tags

How 'RelayRides' Uses Facebook to Get You Into a Rental Car

We’ve mentioned various bits and pieces of car sharing programs in the past, but if there’s one that’s leading the pack it might just be RelayRides. The basic premise behind these programs is that you can offer up your car to someone else when you’re not using it. Feel free to take the neighbor’s car for a spin if you’ve been eyeing it in the driveway, and he or she can do the same with your car when you’re away for the weekend. RelayRides takes care of insurance and all the other boring details, so you just put the pedal to the metal and go.

So far RelayRides has cars in almost 1,500 different cities across all 50 states, but they’re eager to expand even further. Now they’re bringing their car sharing idea to social media, as they’re getting ready to do the Facebook integration thing.

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Rental Cars / Hertz / Europe Travel / Cars / Driving / → All Tags

Where to Find 'Hertz Supercars': the Most Exotic of the Rental Exotics

Once again we’re a little bit jealous when it comes to rental car options outside of the nifty fifty. Sure we’ve got some decent options and the PT Cruiser is thankfully no longer one of them, but putting the pedal to the metal just isn’t the same when you’re stuck inside a Chevy Impala.

Over in Europe it’s quite a different story, as the continent seem to get all the good cars—as long as you’re willing to pay extra for them. Hertz is the latest company to add some exotic and fancy pants options to their Euro rental car lots.

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Rental Cars / Hertz / Road Trips / Cars / Driving / Florida Travel / Arizona Travel / → All Tags

The Return of the Cheapie One-Way Rental Car Deal

We’ve seen some pretty good rental car deals in the past, and that’s especially been the case during the spring and the fall. Rental car lots are filled with cars that need to get out of the warm weather states—or heads toward them—so they’re usually pretty good with giving away one-way rental cars for little more than the cost of gas and taxes. Hertz has always been at the forefront of these road trip sales, but it looks like things aren’t quite is fun this year.

In the past Hertz has offered one-way rental cars for as little as $5 per day, but this year they must be in need of a little more spending cash. They’re still ready to run their Florida Drive Out and Arizona Drive Out sales, but this year the deals start at around $18 per day.

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Rental Cars / Cars / Road Trips / Driving / → All Tags

The PT Cruiser Has Ended Its Rental Car Run, May It Rest in Peace

If you’re renting a car anytime soon consider yourself lucky. Sure you might not get a Camaro or a Corvette to zoom around in during your weekend away; however, it’s the car that you’re not going to get that’s the most enjoyable. We’ve known for a while that the iconic—in a bad way—PT Cruiser was well on its way to being history, but now it sounds like things are pretty much official.

Travelers are now safe to approach the rental counter free from fear, as the PT Cruiser is no longer an option at most of the major rental car companies. The big boys like Hertz, National, and Avis have long gotten these off the rental car lots, as the last of the PT Cruisers rolled off the assembly line back in 2010. Bloomberg Businessweek wrote an obituary dedicated to the car, but they do note that with those new car sharing schemes that it might be a while before it truly ever disappears.

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Rental Cars / Cars / DFW / Bill Diffenderffer / Silvercar / Skybus / → All Tags

Why the Early Adopters Will Be Driving Silver Audi A4s at SxSW 2013

Silvercar is still very much the new kid on the block when it comes to rental cars, but they’re already trying to connect with the cool kids who flock to Austin. Unfortunately they’re not quite ready to open up at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport just yet, but they are heading into town in advance of this year’s edition of SxSW.

In case you need a quick refresher, the deal with Silvercar is that everyone gets the same car—a silver Audi A4—and the whole process is pretty much completed from the comfort of your mobile phone. Right now they’re just doing their thing in and out of Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, but like we said they’re on the move down to a temporary home in Austin.

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FlightCar / Rental Cars / Cars / Road Trips / Car Shares / Car Sharing / Driving / → All Tags

Skip Long-term Parking to Rent Out Your Ride via FlightCar

It’s been a few months since we introduced you to the newest idea in airport parking and rental cars—FlightCar. Just in case you need a brief refresher, basically FlightCar offers the opportunity for those parking at the airport to rent out their cars while they’re not using them. Seems like a clever idea if you ask us, and now it looks like the first cars are available to rent.

Up first is San Francisco International Airport, and they’ve got room for those looking to rent out their cars and for those looking to rent cars. Rates are supposed to be competitive with what’s offered from the big boys, though FlightCar is so far claiming they'll have 50% cheaper rates than the usual rental car companies. Free insurance, free GPS, and pick-up right from the terminal look to set FlightCar apart from the usual suspects in the rental car garage.

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Hertz / Rental Cars / Cars / Tech Travel / Travel Tech / Mobile Apps / → All Tags

Swap Your Auto Before Starting Up with Hertz's New Mobile Functions

They might not rely on mobile apps and technology like the new kids on the block over at Silvercar, but Hertz does know a thing or two about the rental car experience. They’re leveraging their mobile capabilities to reward some of their best customers, and they’re introducing a nifty little feature that might brighten your day as your approach the rental car garage.

Hertz Gold Plus Rewards members now have the ability to switch up their rental car selection right from their phone. That means changing your mind before buckling up, as Hertz will let you choose and switch to a different car with a few clicks, swipes, and gestures.

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Rental Cars / Cars / Avis / Zip Car / Car Sharing / → All Tags

Zipcar and Avis are Shacking Up but Not Shaking Down

At this point you probably have heard about Zipcar. They’re the car sharing business where you can get a car where and when you need it, charged by the hour, and they take care of all the tricky stuff like insurance, parking, and maintenance. In recent years Zipcar has enjoyed plenty of positive attention from travelers and those just looking to skip town for the weekend, and apparently the big rental car giants were listening.

Once such rental car company is Avis, as they just threw done almost $500 million to gobble up Zipcar along with its cars, ideas, and image. The changes and integration will probably be slow to start, so no need to be nervous that your beloved Zipcar will be changing for the worse.

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Rental Cars / Cars / DFW / Bill Diffenderffer / Silvercar / Skybus / → All Tags

What Defunct Airline SkyBus Has in Common with a Rental Car Start-up

A couple months ago we mentioned this little start-up called Silvercar. In case you forgot they’re basically the latest entry into the crowded rental car market. However, they’re hoping to be successful by offering up only one kind of car—silver Audi A4s. It also doesn’t hurt that they’ve got former Skybus head honcho Bill Diffenderffer on the books as well.

Right before Christmas they flipped the switch on their website, and now Silvercar is open for your booking pleasure. Everything is a little limited to start—as in very limited—because it’s only in Dallas-Ft. Worth thus far. They’ve got to start somewhere, and the rental cars start flowing out of the airport as soon as January 14.

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Jaunted Awards 2012 / Travel Awards 2012 / The Jauntys / Rental Cars / Bad Ideas / → All Tags

The Craziest Travel Story of 2012 is...

It's that time of the year again, the time when the year just plain ends. Alas, we can't just let 2012 go that easily, especially since travelers spent it both up in the air and up in arms over a crazy range of topics. Needless to say, we're ready for 2013, but first we're taking a brief look back at the best of 2012 with the Jaunted Travel Awards,—or as we fondly refer to them—The Jauntys.

Each and every year we see—and experience—our fair share of crazy travel stories. It seems like a year can’t pass without at least a few passengers behaving badly, as people just can’t remain seated, follow the rules, and keep their hands to themselves. However, the craziest travel story of 2012 didn’t occur up in the skies. It took place right on the highway, and that scares us even more.

Let’s take a trip in the Jaunted way-back-machine to January of 2012, where we could only describe one woman’s car rental adventures as a true WTF moment. You can read the original details, but we’ll quickly recap what happened.

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Hertz / Rental Cars / Cars / Tech Travel / Travel Tech / Italy Travel / WiFi / → All Tags

Rental Cars as WiFi Hotspots. It's Happening in Italy.

Italy has a lot of good stuff we don’t have here at home, but the thing we’re missing most here—besides an abundance of gelato—is WiFi in our rental cars.

All the car connection magic comes from the folks over at Hertz and their rental car empire. It’s called Hertz Mobile WiFi, and it’s a little pocket-sized thing that’s offered up to rental car customers in collaboration with Wind Mobile. Basically it sounds like a mobile hotspot that goes right in your car and gives you all-the-time access to the internet no matter how many wrong turns you take or exits you miss.

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