Car Rental Agencies Have Trouble Upgrading Customers
I happened to be reading AutoBlogGreen today and came across this article that didn’t surprise me. Rental car agencies here in the US are having a tough time getting customers to upgrade to larger model cars. I was recently in California for work and had to rent a car. I rented a Prius, but my flight was late - guess what? No Prius. I was too late. I got stuck in some “like model.” That “like model” was a Dodge Caliber - a crossover.
What normally would happen is that you rent a car. You get to the airport to pick up the car and they try to upgrade you into Car X for only $10 more/day. The allure of that SUV over the standard Sebring is typically attractive to the American consumer. Now that gas prices are rising, the rental car agencies are having a problem.
Maybe the rental car agencies should have more hybrids…everywhere in the country. I’ve been wanting to rent a Prius for a long time, but haven’t had the opportunity yet.
I don’t think the car rental industry is prepared for green living. Only the rising fuel prices has made everyone stand up and look at the environment (by that I mean look for cheaper alternatives to driving petrol/diesel cars) and with a limited choice and massive deals with big car companies like Ford and GM, they can’t react quick enough.