Travel demand is far outpacing rental car supply and inventory, according travel site Hopper.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — If you didn’t book a rental car ahead of your spring break travels, you might be out of luck.
Travel demand is far outpacing rental car supply and inventory, according travel site Hopper.
“As a result, suppliers tend to have very limited inventory available, which is resulting in really high rental car daily rates,” said Adit Damodaran, an economist at Hopper. “Currently, with rental cars, we’re seeing really high prices even compared to last year, kind of continuing the main trend from 2021, which is that rental prices are super high.”
Damodaran says rentals are about 90-dollars a day on average, a 43% jump than what the industry saw last year.
Hopper suggests cutting costs by being flexible with the type of vehicle you ae booking.
Also, book when you buy an airline ticket so your vehicle will be there when you arrive at your destination.
“The earlier you can book typically the better. if you arrive and there is no rental car available, I think you’re probably just going to have to rely on public transit or rideshare services like Turo or Uber or Lyft.”
A recent study from tourism market research group Destination Analysts says 70% of Americans daydreamed or planned on traveling in the next year. Of those surveyed, 20% have trips already planned in April and May
With car supplies not really improving, expect even higher prices as we head into summer, says Damodaran.
Local News: Recent Coverage ⬇️