Cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages are a great way to start planning a trip. However often travelers are impatient when it comes to picking up car rentals.
Car renters overall experiences improved for the second year in a row, coming in at 758 on a 1,000 point scale vs. 750 in 2010, according to J.D. Power and Associates 2011 North American Rental Car Satisfaction Study.
In 2010 rental car companies started to bounce back from lower satisfaction levels reported in 2008 and 2009.
The J.D. Power study was based on over 12,500 evaluations from U.S. and Canadian travelers who rented a car within the previous 30 days between January and September. Six categories were rated: cost and fees, the car itself, shuttle bus/van service and the processes for pick up, return, and booking.
ACE Rent A Car was the highest scoring company, achieving 793 points. Included in the rankings for the first time, ACE scored impressively in the shuttle bus/van and cost and fee categories.
The following four companies scored about the 758 point average:
ACE: 793
Enterprise: 787
National: 768
Hertz: 761
Seven companies scored below average:
Alamo: 757
Budget: 749
Dollar: 744
Avis: 742
Advantage: 727
Thrifty: 726
Fox: 716
The average wait time to pick up a rental car was 17 minutes, an improvement from 20.5 minutes in 2010. Customers remain impatient waiting for cars. The overall satisfaction with the pick up process was 825 points for customers waiting one to five minutes vs. 809 for customers waiting six to ten minutes. www.cheapfares.com