As part of the team at Avis London City I am proud to announce that we are now the premier car rental company for London City Airport, and will be for the next 7 years.

This means that Avis now are the only car rental company with access to the main front car park and our customers do not have to take the lengthy walk to the long stay car park to collect their rental car.

We are also excited as we have had a brand new office, which is situated just next to the terminal building and has a Traffic Master and Flight Information Screen to help get your journey off to the best possible start.

Also to help improve the service at Avis London City we’ve extended the opening times at the weekends, by recommendation from our local customers.

If you are picking up your Avis rental car from our London City location, myself and the team look forward to meeting you and to find out what you think about our new office.

You might have heard by now that British Airways has announced a 12 day strike between the 22nd December and the 2nd January. This is expected to affect around a million people.

If you were planning to fly on an internal flight with British Airways within the UK over this period you may want to consider renting a car to get to your final destination. We strongly advise you to book as soon as possible to avoid disappointment, since the car rental industry tends to sell out of cars over the Christmas and New Year period. Avis still has availability at most key airports at the time of writing, but we expect to sell out over the next few days.

If you were flying on BA and had car hire booked with Avis please let us know in advance if your plans have changed as a result of the strike. We will do our best to accommodate your new plans. If you need to cancel or change your booking, telling us in advance will ensure you are not charged a no show fee.

If you would like to book a car or find out about our availability over this period please visit our website www.avis.co.uk or call us on 08445 818181.

We hope that your plans are not disrupted by this strike and that you enjoy a very happy Christmas whenever, and however, you reach your destination.

There is always lots of talk around the office about what cars we might potentially get on fleet, which cars we would like to see and what we think our customers would like to drive. Following on from Robert’s blog post on the Frankfurt Motor Show and news of our exclusivity on the Porsche Panamera in Germany, I was inspired to take a look at some of the other desirable cars available with Avis.

The focus of my attention starts in the US where they have a range of cars, similar to our own Select Series fleet – Cool Cars. Immediately, the selection of cars available in the range had me dreaming of picking up a Chevrolet Camaro (my personal favourite from the range!) at Los Angeles and cruising along the highways to the Grand Canyon to admire the awesome views.

Although, as the Cool Cars range is available throughout the States, from California, to Florida to Texas to Chicago, to name just a few, I could happily spend a few months travelling across the country taking in all the US has to offer, picking up a different car every week!

Alongside the Camaro (which is exclusive to Avis), you could also choose from the Ford Mustang or Chevy Corvette, both modern versions of the traditional ‘muscle cars’ I’ve admired and longed to drive since my youth. The Cool Cars fleet also boasts a handful of urban cruisers in the Cadillac CTS & STS, convertibles (Pontiac Solstice, Nissan 350Z convertible) for the poseurs amongst you and the inevitable ‘gas-guzzling’ SUVs such as the Hummer H3.

But fear not, there is also the Eco-Ride selection for those renters conscious about their carbon footprint. The Eco-Ride cars are either hybrids or have been SmartWay certified by the US Environment Protection Agency as being environmentally cleaner and more fuel efficient vehicles.

Whilst I try to convince my wife that taking the kids stateside to cruise the highways in a muscle car is a great idea for next years holiday, why not share what your ideal Cool Car fleet would look like!

After seeing Christmas decorations in the shops this weekend it hit me that there are only 10 weeks left until Christmas. If you need to hire a car over the Christmas period then I would highly recommend booking one as soon as possible. It is one of the busiest times of year and the cars generally sell out very quickly. Also, not only does it help make sure you get a car, but it also helps to ensure you get the best price!

You may have read recently in a number of newspaper and internet articles about an increase in the cost of renting a car over the summer period, so I thought I would take this chance to explain some of the reasons behind this and provide some tips to find the best rate in the future.

Many of you will have read about why the price of car rental has increased over summer – the recession, lack of finance to buy new fleet, unexpected demand meant a reduction in fleet sizes.

A change in the UK weather and a reduction in prices for overseas holidays added to a surge in last minute bookings in some popular destinations, largely Spain, that had not been forecast by a number of business. This resulted in excess demand and disappointment for a number of customers who had waited till they arrive at there destination to hire a car.

Even though the summer peak period may be over, we will still have a number of peak periods coming up till the end of the year including October half term for schools and the Christmas season. So how can you avoid disappointment in over paying or not being able to find a car? I have listed below my three tips that I hope will help you get the best value car rental:

1) Reserve the car in advance. Cars generally go up in price the closer to the date of pickup so you may find yourself paying a higher price or, worst still, unable to book a car at all.
2) Take advantage of special offers and promotions. We often have a number of promotions available where you could save money. For example we are currently offering 15% off rentals in Ireland, car hire in Spain from £22 per day and UK weekend rates from £14 per day based on a 3 day rental. You can sign up to the Avis newsletter to receive updates on offers to your inbox.
3) When booking your car at Avis.co.uk or by our call centre, choose the Pay Now option for the best price. Pre Pay rentals receive a discount versus Pay later ones. Some times they are as high as 50% on certain locations depending on when you are picking up the car.

I hope you found this post interesting and helpful.

Darren

Following on from blog post last week, today I’ll cover the “Demand vs Supply” component of my explanation on pricing. Like airlines, the number of people who want to rent a car (or get on a flight) versus the availability of cars (or seats on a flight) drives the price of that car (or the price of that flight!). So, when there becomes less supply (normally closer to the date of pick-up), the price will increase for the remaining demand. This means booking close to pick up is likely to be more expensive than booking further in advance.

Booking in advance allows for Avis – like airlines – manage their business more efficiently (e.g. having the cars in the right places and people there to support) thus makes the costs of the car less for the business and for the customer.

As we know that price is a key driver for all our customers, we aim to provide various options to ensure our customers get the best prices. I have highlighted some below:

> Email subscribed customers – we send out special offers or exclusive deals to our most loyal customers. This helps customers plan in advance or find out about hot deals.

> Latest Offers page (available at http://www.avis.co.uk/LatestOffers) – we offer a full list of our latest deals worldwide. It’s a good place to check first!

> £42 weekend rate – As we know UK customers are more likely to travel domestically in 2009, we wanted to provide a good rate for weekend getaways. There is some exclusions and I recommend that you book in advance to avoid disappointment, but it’s a great rate (up to 40% off previous levels).

> Sales – in periods of low customer demand, we often run sales for worldwide destinations. Again, it helps to book in advance and some exclusions apply. But it does give customers the option to reduce their costs if they plan in advance.

We do know that in these trying economic times price is a key driver for customers and we need to do our best to provide a good product at a competitive rate. On a daily bases we review our prices to ensure that they are motivating whilst enabling us to sustain our business.

I hope this provides a bit more background and information to our custmers. As always, any thoughts or questions are welcome!

Thank you,

Josi

As a result of several questions from customers and growing commentary on the blog, I thought it would be useful to explain the basis of car rental pricing. And Avis pricing.

Much like any other product or service, the price our customer pays is largely dependent on:
- The cost of providing this service
- Demand vs Supply

These two areas are a lot to cover in just one blog post so I’ll cover them in two parts, starting today with the cost of providing this service.

Due to current economic climate, many of our costs have increased. The biggest example of this is the cost of acquiring our fleet. It is well documented that the recession has had a significant impact on car manufacturers. With the retail car market in decline, they are producing less. So, getting the same volume of cars at the same cost this year has been very difficult. In fact many manufacturers are looking to increase prices to the car hire industry in a bid to recuperate some of their losses, so we often have to pay more.

Its worth noting that the costs of most forms of travel has increased consistently since 2001 – in the UK, the London Underground prices have increased by 166%, network rail increased by 37%⁽¹⁾ and taxis are up 26%⁽²⁾. In the same period the average price of car hire has decreased 7%⁽³⁾. While car hire has represented increasingly good value for money versus other alternatives forms of transport, the prices have become too low given the costs of servicing car hire in the current climate.

But it’s not all bad news! In part 2 I’ll explain how supply and demand effects our prices and give my tips on how you can get the best price.

(1) Network rail price based on office of rail regulation average fare index. (2) Taxi based on 3 mile journey in Central London at 8PM. (3) Car rental price based on average Avis price per day

Have you ever wished that you could book your holiday needs together? We asked the question and over 50% of our surveyed customers said that they would be very interested in being able to shop for hotels at the same time as booking their Avis car rental.

If you’re a regular to the Avis website, you may have noticed a recent addition to the homepage. I am of course referring to our new partnership with Hotels.com. Planning your trip shouldn’t be stressful and tiring, so you can now conveniently book accommodation from our website.

Hotels.com, part of Expedia, gives travellers one of the widest selections of accommodation on the net, including both independent and major chain hotels as well as self-catering in over 80,000 properties worldwide.

Whether you’re looking for the perfect weekend break in the Mediterranean or for a business trip to Northern Europe, with a choice of over 80,000 hotels worldwide, Avis and hotels.com are your perfect travel companions. We can save you time when looking for great cars and a wide choice of fantastic hotels! And with Hotels.com Best Price Guarantee, you can also be confident that you’re getting the best possible prices.

What do you think to our new partnership? Is there anything else you’d like to see available to reserve on our website to make your travel planning easier?

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts!

With St David’s Day coming up on the 1st March, I thought I would provide you with information on some of the great places to visit in Wales.

If you are heading to South Wales, make sure you visit Cardiff and take a tour of the Millennium stadium, the home of the Welsh Rugby team. In Cardiff bay, you can take a tour or see a show at the Welsh Millennium Centre. There are also loads of great bars and restaurants to choose from, including the Norwegian Sailors Church, the café and art gallery famous for being the church where Roald Dahl was christened.

If you want great nightlife and restaurants to suit all tastes, Swansea is for you. However, there is more to this town than just partying, shopping or spending a day on the beach. It’s the birth place of Dylan Thomas and was the muse for many of his poems. Also, make sure you take a short drive to Gower, take in the beautiful views and beaches and see the home of King Arthur’s Stone, Giants Grave burial chamber and Pennard Castle.

For the ramblers among you, South Wales offers the beautiful Pembrokeshire Coast. So pack your car up with your hiking gear and don’t forget a camera to capture the stunning views.

If you are visiting the North or Central Wales, head to Snowdonia or the Brecon Beacons National Park.

Snowdonia is heaven for those that love the outdoors. Take the challenge of climbing the mountain, feel the adrenaline from mountain biking, whitewater rafting and horse riding, or slow the pace a bit with walking, fishing and golf. Whatever you fancy, it is here.

There is more to the Brecon Beacons than just stunning views and a great place to walk. Make sure you visit the traditional market towns and historic sites it has to offer, such as Carreg Cennen, where you can see the remains of a medieval castle. There are also plenty of activities and attractions for all the family to take part in.

If you need to hire a car, Avis has four offices in Wales: Cardiff, Cardiff Airport, Swansea and Llandudno.

What will you be doing on Valentine’s Day? Instead of the usual meal out, or a weekend in a hotel, why not hire a car with Avis and do something different?

If you’re in London, explore London Zoo or take a stroll in Regents Park Rose Garden? You could also re-enact your favourite film clips at the places where romantic films like Love Actually and Bridget Jones’ Diary were filmed. Why not take a drive out to Hampton Court Palace where you can uncover the romances of Henry VIII and his many wives, some of whom are said to still haunt the palace. Play hide-and-seek in the maze and stroll through tranquil gardens down to the River Thames.

Romantic drives are a great way to explore the countryside – who knows what adventures you might have? Why not take a route through the Cotswolds taking you back in time through sleepy village scenery and spend a cosy night at The Amberley Inn near Minchinhampton.

If you’re out and about, why not have a picnic? You can take a hamper with all your favourite treats along on your very own treasure hunt. These trails are available up and down the country, cost just £5 and it’s a really fun way to spice up a walk in the country!

If laid-back love isn’t your thing, there are some adrenaline-fuelled activities designed especially for couples. You can take the big leap together in every sense of the word with a tandem bungee jump. Put your faith in that rope (and each other) by taking the plunge!

Why not share with us what you have got planned this Valentine’s day??