Everyone is ga-ga for the urban car-sharing services that have crossed into the mainstream. Now Hertz is fighting back with shorter rental terms at its European locations.
It will now be possible to hire a car for three or six hours for short day trips, or nine hours for overnight trips.
A Hertz survey revealed that 61 per cent of travellers would be more likely to hire a car if they did not have to rent it for a full 24 hours.
The new service – Hertz 369 – is available at over 1,200 city and airport locations across Europe, including Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.
Why am I reminded of that unfortunate motel experience in 1998, when the front desk clerk asked, “You gonna need the room the whole night?” Why yes, yes we did. But I digress.
This isn’t Hertz’s descent into the equivalent of a seedy motel. This is a good thing.
You might be surprised that a full 61% of travelers don’t want to rent a car a full day. But consider parking expenses and hassle in center-city European cities, and it becomes more plausible. Consider, too, that you could use a short-term rental car to shuttle yourself to the airport, and it makes even more sense.
Of course, it all comes down to rates. But this is a welcome option.
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May 8th, 2008 at 12:36 am
I’d *love* to see those part-of-a-day rentals here in the US. Why? Your suggestion about shuttling yourself to the airport is the reason. I often rent a car from a nearby Hertz Local Edition and drive myself to the airport. It’s insignificantly more expensive than a cab, and I have had more than my share of late/non-arriving cabs and airport shuttles to not want to ever rely on them again.
May 12th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
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July 4th, 2008 at 6:15 am
Hi,
I would love to see you introduce part day hire also. I often rent cars and really do not need for as long as i pay for, so would be a great customer attraction!
July 10th, 2008 at 2:18 am
It will be a great way to hire, as said above for Airport transfers, as often this is all you require it for.
December 8th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
[...] Half-day rentals, where available This is not very widespread yet, but Hertz and others are rolling out half-day car rentals in some European locations. Otherwise, similar to #2 [...]