Post-Pandemic Travel Planning: Tracking Rental Car Prices In response to seemingly real-time (“dynamic”) pricing by the airlines the last few years, I now routinely shop for flights using tracking software. I’m sure there are others, but Google Flights lets you set up multiple searches for upcoming travel destinations and dates, then notifies you when there...Read More
First Rental Cars, Now Hotels Consolidate It’s been awhile since I studied Anti-Trust in law school, but it sure looks to me like a couple consumer-oriented industries are getting awfully concentrated. And I’m not just talking about airlines and cable companies. The latest example of “the urge to merge”: Marriott Hotels gobbling up competitor Starwood...Read More
“Nice Try” Department Dummy: Can’t we skip the rental car line like at Hertz? Ventriloquist: Not exactly. Dummy: Is there a covered canopy like at Hertz? Ventriloquist: Not exactly. Dummy (getting soaked in the rain): So, you still think I’m the dummy? Ventriloquist: Uhhh . . . not exactly. –Hertz commercial (1996) The dialogue (above) from...Read More
Four Two for the Price of One Checking online for a rental car in the Bay Area this summer, I’ve been shocked at what appears to be the going rate for a minivan for a week: anywhere from $850 to more than $1,200(!). Really. Which inspired Plan B. Namely, rent two economy cars instead. The...Read More
