AVIS Takes On Uber? Is It A Good Deal For You?
I generally keep an eye on the Boarding Area Twitter feed throughout the day. It may be too much for folks who aren’t travel nerds like me. But, I love seeing what everyone is writing about. I saw a handful of posts today about AVIS and Uber. After I had a chance to read through them, I wanted to write something quick about the issue at hand.
AVIS Takes On Uber
AVIS appears to be taking a swing at Uber (even though their ad says “taxis”). Charlie from Running with Miles details the new AVIS offer that lets you rent a car one-way for $9.99 plus free gas. That’s an unbelievable deal considering what car rental companies sometimes charge for one-way rentals. But, Brian from The Gate has a bone to pick with Charlie. He lays out some thoughtful reasons why this might not be a great deal for you.
Brian makes some good points but my first inclination was to side with Charlie. Then, Charlie published this pretty nifty idea to save some serious coin with the Avis offer. Pretty convincing for me if you’re looking to save some cash.
The Final Two Pennies
According to this recent report, Uber appears to be losing some ground to competitors but is still doing a ton of business. That’s a real threat to the car rental companies.
The real winners here? Consumers, IMO. Competition introduces the possibility of these different services competing on price. That might be bad for Uber drivers, especially if Uber decides to try to cut pricing further.
The post AVIS Takes On Uber? Is It A Good Deal For You? was published first on Pizza in Motion
I always did a one way rental for extended flights or remote airports. Not any more, I also used to pay high fees to park at the airport, not any more. I use Uber, using Uber from EWR to the Philadelphia Suburbs is not only less expensive, I don’t need to find my way to the car rental, I don’t need to return the car and have someone pick me up and I don’t have to purchase fuel before I return the car. Plus I don’t have to take a shuttle bus or train to get to the car.
I would consider renting if I landed at JFK, the Uber cost is much higher from there although I could sleep during the ride home if I took Uber.
Leonard, good commentary. Thx for sharing. I’m going to be putting up a poll on this shortly.
The rental car system is much too inefficient, few are going to stand in line for 30+ minutes, then spend a good bit of time well the agent types into the computer unless they really need that 12 hour rental. It might work if you have status and can use some sort of fast pass pickup.
PS thanks for including Public Transportation in the voting, as leisure travelers we always use Public Transportation unless its just not an option or its very inefficient. Usually the timing is similar and lower cost plus you get to get acclimatized to the destination seeing the local public on the trip..
I can’t vote in your poll, because it lacks the “It depends” option.