Avis Budget In Preparation To Charge No-Show Fees

Car hirers should take note as distribution systems operators around the globe are preparing to take credit card information with bookings for Avis Budget Group in the event of the car hire firm looking to apply a new policy on no-shows.

Avis Budget has not yet said when or where the new restrictions in the traditionally carefree booking of cars will take place, however according to a letter sent to the GDS firms in August, the company stated that it would like the ability to turn on fees uniformly across all booking channels and all partners. The new capability would align the car hire company with similar approaches utilised by airlines, hotels and cruise lines.

According to the car hire firm, for circumstances where a no-show fee is applied is when the renter’s plans change, the reservation is cancelled within 24 hours of booking, and when a car hire fails to show up, the credit card would be used to take the no-show payment.

Travellers have become used to committed to travel plans when they book non-refundable airline tickets and providing credit card numbers to hotels in order to guarantee reservations, in such cases they are typically liable for at least one night’s rate or a penalty fee, if they don’t cancel far enough in advance, however currently with car rentals, if a customer fails to pick up their rental car, there are generally no consequences.

Neil Abrams from car rental specialist Abrams Consulting Group cites no-show rates in the car hire industry as being as high as 30 percent, saying that car hire companies planning their fleet around peak periods run the risk of renting out all the cars that they have, and many companies are forced to overbook and ultimately leave customers stranded.

The fee would be indicated at the time of reservation, according to company documentation, and if a flight is cancelled or delayed, the customer would not be otherwise charged the no-show fee as long as the flight had been input into the reservation.