Car hire remains strong for Thanksgiving holidays

Industry officials believe that air travel is expected to decline over the Thanksgiving weekend in the US due to the economy, but car hire activity still remains strong for quick holiday getaways and Black Friday shopping.

Vice president of Enterprise Rent A Car, Steve Short said families were still making traditional road trips to be with relatives and friends on Thanksgiving.  He went on to say that with the economy beginning to recover, they were also heading to local and regional shopping malls to take advantage of the early-bird bargains on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Car hire executives said that this year people were renting cars to combine Thanksgiving ‘short-burst’ vacations with day after shopping, getting the trunk space they need for shopping without putting miles on the family vehicle.

Enterprise spokesman Nick Maniscalco said that compared with last year, reservations at their neighbourhood rental outlets were up by a little over 12 per cent through Sunday for cars picked up on Tuesday through to Friday.

Enterprise, which will have many outlets open on Friday, and some other car hire companies will be offering discounts for weekend rentals, with Enterprise offering up to 50 percent discount on daily rates for cars picked up on Friday and returned on Monday.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, those travelling by car are expected to total 33.2 million, a 2.1 per cent increase on last year, with those flying estimated to be 2.33 million, a drop of 6.8 per cent.