Posts Tagged ‘car hire’
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
A woman is facing a possible prison sentence of fifteen years for failing to return her hire car. The woman, from West Palm Beach in Florida, didn’t return the vehicle to Detroit Metropolitan Airport as at the agreed time.
It was first reported to police that Ashley Marie Martin had disappeared with her car hire when OnStar, who manufacture the cars’ on-board navigation system, called St. Clair County Central Dispatch to inform them that they were tracing a car that had been reported as stolen.
The vehicle, a 2010 GMC Acadia, was tracked using satellite technology to an address provided by OnStar and police moved quickly to arrest the woman. As they approached, OnStar was able to automatically disable the car’s engine so that the alleged suspect couldn’t make a quick getaway. OnStar were also able to remotely activate the cars horn so that police would be in no doubt as to which car was the stolen vehicle. Police found the car in Ms. Martin’s garage.
OnStar later enabled the car once they were absolutely sure it was safe and the police were able to take it away. Ms. Martin was charged with not returning rental property of a value of over $20,000. Her trial will begin on 13th October.
Tags: car hire, car rental, crime, Florida, police, theft
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Monday, October 5th, 2009
A travel company based in Hanoi, Vietnam has just launched its new car rental site aimed at providing up to the minute information for travelers to the country. Lotussia Travel has set up Vietnamcarhire.com to provide people who wish to hire a car in Vietnam with a range of services including their very own English speaking driver.
Lotussia has been providing travelers to the country with easy access to a range of tours and services since it was set up in 2005. It already provides visitors with the opportunity to take advantage of trekking, white water rafting and cycling trips along with hotel bookings and now car rental facilities. Vietnamcarhire.com will give tourists all the information that is necessary to make the most of renting a car in Vietnam. It aims to cover all of the major cities throughout the country and will provide services such as airport pick-ups through to providing customers with a professional driver if they are not overly confident about tackling the Vietnamese roads.
A full range of vehicles is available when booking through the website, from compact run-arounds through a comprehensive mid-size range and on up to sports cars and luxury vehicles. The site also provides up to date travel information and additional useful news about everything to do with traveling overland within Vietnam.
Tags: car hire, car rental, Lotussia Travel, luxury, sports cars, travel company, Vietnam, Vietnamcarhire.com
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Friday, October 2nd, 2009
Car rental company Zipcar has launched a new iPhone feature that allows customers of the car-sharing company to book/reserve a vehicle using their mobile device, even start the engine and open the doors with the smartphone.
Zipcar is a unique car sharing programme, which allows clients to use a shared car for a membership fee of $50 per year, with a per hour fee of $7. The car hire firm operates in 35 US cities with cars available at campuses of 120 of the nation’s universities.
To book Zipcar vehicles, customers simply go to their website with their iPhone, choose a car, and depending on availability, make a reservation. A map showing the detailed location of the car will be sent to the device, and once the customer is in the vicinity of the vehicles, a feature will make the car honk its horn. Once at the car, the customer swipes their membership card over the front of the vehicle to activate the vehicle, and uses their iPhone device to open the car doors and even start the engine.
Although the system has been available for a number of months now through Zipcar’s website, the new application for the Apple iPhone would allow customers to benefit from the technology on the move.
Luke Schneider, chief technology officer for Zipcar, said that the new iPhone application was developed to suit to customer demand. If customers lose their phone or the battery dies, he told customers to simply contact Zipcar and the company would take care of the problems.
Tags: application, car hire, car sharing, iphone, us, Zipcar
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Friday, October 2nd, 2009
Experts in the travel industry have just named ArgusRentals.com the best car rental site for 2009 at an awards ceremony in London. The company picked up its gong at the Dorchester Hotel in the capital this week and fought off strong competition from other sites like carrentals.co.uk, usrentacar.co.uk, budget.co.uk and auto-europe.co.uk.
Judges at the Travolution awards ceremony were looking for outstanding strategy and excellence in innovation. The independent panel said that it was ArgusRentals.com’s solid design along with details of car hire that were clearly laid out that put the site ahead of its rivals. The functionality of the booking process was also praised and judges were particularly impressed by the speed of the site.
Argus brand manager, Barry Malone said that winning the award was a fantastic achievement and reflected the importance the company placed in making sure its customers found the best deals possible in an extremely competitive market. He went on to say that ArgusRentals.com was a site that was dedicated to providing all of its customers with a unique service that set it aside from its competitors.
ArgusRentals.com was also celebrating the success of its sister company CarTrawler which picked up an award. The company is responsible for providing the technology that Argus uses to run its award winning site and has now been named best technology provider.
Tags: ArgusRentals.com, car hire, car rental, CarTrawler, Travolution
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Thursday, October 1st, 2009
Car hire firm Europcar has just launched its autumn sale across the U.K. Throughout the autumn customers will be able to take advantage of 20% discounts on car rental across a range of vehicles. There is also the added bonus of free delivery and collection of vehicles through Europcar’s weDeliver programme. The weDeliver service is available from 152 offices throughout the U.K. but excludes London and the U.K. airports because car collection is easier for customers at these locations.
Europcar claims that it offers its customers the widest range of rental vehicles in the U.K. from compact, economical city cars to saloons, MPVs and tail lift trucks. To take advantage of the autumn offers customers can book vehicles online at the Europcar website or by phone. The car hire firm also offers an on the go mobile service where the whole booking process can be done via a web enabled mobile phone.
Europcar U.K. Group marketing director, Catriona Lougher says that the autumn sale will allow customers to take advantage of low car rental prices and get away at a time when most of the summer attractions are still open for business but most of the summer crowds have gone. She goes on to point out that because the 20% off deals extend across a range of vehicles in the Europcar fleet it is the perfect time to hire a larger van to get some DIY done. Europcar also prides itself on offering its customers the greenest available vehicles on the market. Europcar recently picked up the World Travel Award for the World’s Leading Green Transport Solution Company.
Tags: car hire, car rental, deal, Europcar, free delivery, weDeliver
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Thursday, October 1st, 2009
The popular travel price comparison website Asap.co.uk has re launched promising to give its customers a better choice of deals on car hire, air fares and accommodation from market-leaders in the travel industry. It says it will now supply visitors to the site the best choices and the cheapest deals because it realizes that value for money is what people are looking for in the present economic climate.
Asap.co.uk says that the new service will now provide its customers with a one-stop shop for all the very latest deals at the very lowest prices from airline companies like British Airways to car rental firms like Alamo.
Marketing director of Asap.co.uk, Gareth Robinson explains that the new service is different to other price comparison sites because instead of using pay-per-click technology it uses the cost per acquisition model. This means that because the site earns revenue only when a customer makes a reservation it is in its best interest to supply information on the widest possible range of services available. The approach means that Asap.co.uk is in contact with a huge number of car rental companies, airlines and hotels all of whom supply their very latest deals and their very lowest prices. Robinson said that he was well aware that the company already had a large loyal following and the new ability to offer a wider range of services was quite simply to give those customers in the leisure and business sectors a greater range of up to the minute price deals.
Tags: air fares, Alamo, Asap.co.uk, British Airways, car hire, car rental, cheapest deals, travel industry
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Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Lindsay Lohan is back in the news and once again it is not about her latest movie role. The wild child has found herself in trouble for running up huge car rental bills with porn mogul Dennis DeSantis. Lohan has reportedly been borrowing cars from Specialty Car Craft, a Californian car rental company owned by DeSantis, but not paying her bills.
No stranger to car hire troubles the actress found herself in hot water with DeSantis earlier this year when she lent a Maserati she had borrowed from him to her assistant. Her assistant promptly slammed the Maserati into another car causing a reported $10,000 worth of damage to the sports car alone. The car was worth $115,000 and was later put up for sale through eBay.
DeSantis now claims that Lindsay Lohan owes Specialty Car Craft an outstanding bill of $12,310 for the use of six Bentleys, three Rolls Royce’s and a Ferrari. The actress’s bill includes a $2,050 charge just for vehicle towing and cleaning. All of the vehicles were apparently rented by the troubled actress late at night or in the early hours of the morning.
Lohan’s car hire bill was accumulated in May this year over the period of sixteen days and DeSantis is considering taking the matter to court as a way of recouping the outstanding debt. At present neither Lindsay Lohan nor her representatives have commented on the situation.
Tags: Bentley, car hire, car rental, Dennis DeSantis, Ferrari, Lindsay Lohan, Maserati, Specialty Car Craft
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Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
Blue Valley Car Hire is now offering its customers car rental in Alicante, Spain. The U.K. based company has decided that its new operation will capitalize on the success of its rental services in Malaga and Faro. The company’s director, Matt May says that he wants to extend Blue Valley’s reach into Europe by increasing partnerships with other car hire firms on the continent.
For a year now, the company has been successfully operating an Internet booking service in both Malaga airport in Spain and Faro airport in Portugal. It now wants to increase its reach in both countries. The online service will allow customers to book their car hire in the English language and collect their car from Alicante airport when they arrive.
Operations manager for Blue Valley Car Hire, Rute Oliviera, explains that the company offers customers the opportunity to discuss their needs before deciding on the car that would be most appropriate for them. Oliviera goes on to say that customers are welcome to talk to them about any of the issues that may affect their decision, such as whether they can add an extra driver to the agreement, how much the insurance will cost and whether or not child seats are available in the vehicle. The websites have been designed by Blue Car Valley Hire and allow customers to get a comprehensive quote before proceeding to the booking page. Blue Valley Car Hire says that they will not take any payment from a customer prior to the rental car being collected from one of the airports.
Tags: Blue Valley Car Hire, car hire, car rental, Faro airport, Malaga airport, rental car
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Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
Leading car hire company Europcar are offering yet more great deals for customers who like to get away for short breaks or longer holidays. Europcar have got together with long time partner Accor to offer customers a customized online reservation tool.
Accor is one of Europe’s most popular hotel groups and currently owns some 4,000 hotels around the world. The new customized car rental reservation service that has been launched by Europcar and Accor will help customers to make their travel and lodging plans quickly and simply.
Customers who reserve accommodation in one of Accor’s hotels through their website will automatically be offered a selection of three vehicles, which are available for rental from Europcar. The selection will be based on the customer’s destination, hotel and even the length of time they intend to spend at the hotel.
Accor is the first hotel group to try out this efficient online reservation system, which has been specially developed by Europcar. Accor customers who reserve a Europcar vehicle through this system will automatically qualify for exclusive discounts of up to 20% on the cost of their rental. Members of the Accor A|Club loyalty program can also earn points and benefit from exclusive terms on their vehicle rental.
Tags: Accor, car hire, Europcar, hotels, travel
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Monday, September 28th, 2009
Hiring a car rental on the Australian continent is often a bit different to car hire in other countries because of Australia’s sheer size. A common method of rental is to pick up a car in one location and then to drive it to another location, sometimes in a different state, for the drop off. Because the car is not being taken back to the place where it was hired it means that many companies will add on an extra charge for the relocation of the vehicle to its original office.
One-way car rental is not unusual but it is always a good idea to invest a bit of time comparing the hire costs of different car hire companies before deciding on what deal to go for. Large companies like Avis, Europcar, Hertz and Thrifty all offer competitive deals but it is worth taking note of any additional mileage costs and relocation charges.
With many young people now taking advantage of car rentals to get around Australia it is also worth checking how much additional insurance may be required for car rental to people in their early 20s. If you are in the 21 to 24 year-old age group then some companies may add an additional surcharge and limit the size of the car they are prepared to rent out.
As always if you are planning to hire a vehicle to get around Australia it is worth planning the trip as far in advance as possible in order take advantage of special deals and lower prices.
Tags: Avis, car hire, car rental, Europcar, Hertz, lower prices, special deals, Thrifty
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