We were checking rates earlier for a client needing an economy car at Malaga airport in mid-August. For 09 days most rates were over, sometimes well over, £300. We also checked our sister site, www.aCarintheSun.com, and there was a rate of just under £206 for a Fiesta with air-conditioning!! But be quick, availability at all rates is very poor and any delays in booking may mean not only missing this bargain, but missing the next best rates as well.

Remember www.aCarintheSun.com

One of the largest Spanish rental companies has announced that they are increasing their rates and that higher rates will apply to all cars booked on or after 26 June. Today is the 24th June so there isn’t much time, especially as other Spanish rental companies may follow this lead and raise their rates as well. On top of this availability of all cars on the Spanish Costas and on the Spanish islands is incredibly poor and many cars are sold out now until dates in August - in some cases late August! Book quickly and securely on-line at www.carhirewarehouse.com or www.acarinSpain.com

Checking rates for clients going to France in early July and there are some tremedous bargains by booking on-line at www.carhirewarehouse.com. Just £173 for an economy car for a week - and it has air-conditioning. Book on-line - but be quick, we have no idea how long these rates will last!

Following on from the last post more clients have had problems by not booking immediately. In one case the cheapest 9-seater in Portugal for July was sold out whilst a decision was being made and the next cheapest is over £100 more! Also in Portugal a rate for a Peugeot 307 was very good but by the time a decision was made it was also sold out and other companies are £50 more. The supply and demand situation is very different this year. There are a lot less cars. Delaying making a decision, even for a couple of days, can be expensive.

Ourselves and many others in the car rental industry have been advising for some time that drastic reductions in the numbers of cars on rental fleets would mean major availability problems. And we are now being proved correct. This wasn’t, and isn’t, a sales pitch. There were shortages at Easter and more problems during the school holiday at the end of May. And now for huge problems during the peak summer season. One regular client asked for a Ford Ka for a week at Alicante later this month. None of the largest Spanish rental companies had any. The smallest car available? - the much-larger and more expensive Citroen Berlingo, and only one company had any of those. Another client wants a car at Bergerac 30 June and one major company there is advising that it is sold out of ALL cars for that period. And there are many more examples. This pattern is repeated right across Europe. If you need a hire car this summer you must book it now - ‘I book late and always get a car’ may already be ‘I can’t get a car anywhere’!
www.carhirewarehouse.com
www.aCarintheSun.com

As well as the new web-site for www.aCarintheSun.com, a new site for our parent company, Endless Leisure Ltd., has also been published in the past few days - www.Endless-Leisure.com

The much-anticipated new web-site for our sister brand has at last been published. www.aCarintheSun.com went live a couple of days ago. As well as continuing to offer great all-inclusive rates on rental cars at 1,000s of locations throughout Europe, the USA and worldwide, the new site also offers an increased range of travel related products and services - and they are much easier to find.

Car parking, hotels and lounges at most UK airports.

Excess Refund insurance for that extra peace of mind.

Sat. Nav. rental - no more getting lost!

Theme park and attraction tickets, including Disney, Universal, Port Aventura, etc, plus experiences such as helicopter and balloon flights, city tours, dining, culture, animals, and much, much more to help you make the most of your holidays and travel.

Coming very soon - hotel booking worldwide.

All these products and services are quickly and simply booked on-line.

Also on the new site - sales and rentals of overseas properties.

Back in October we added a post about our MDs other business, Academy Cars which provides airport transfer services, and their new luxury people-carrier. The vehicle, a Hyundai i800 with dual-zone air-conditioning, privacy glass, leather-trimmed seats, and generous space for 6 passengers and their luggage, is not only a big hit for the airport but also for cruise terminals, social events and business and executive travel. We weren’t able to post a photo at back in October but here it is above. More details on Academy Cars new web-site at www.academycars.net

A regular client phoned this morning. We had sent a quote for a rental car a few weeks ago and the booking is about to be confirmed. On re-checking the quote we found that the rates had risen fairly sharply and one rental company had sold out for the dates required. However this is not the first time that this has happened this year. Fluctuating exchange rates are having a dramatic effect on rate stability and a lot less cars on rental fleets for this year has changed the supply and demand dynamic. The result is that if you wait to book your for this summer you may find that you may pay more than originally quoted or that a car may not even be available.

The good news is that we did find a rate similar to the original quote on-line at our sister site www.aCarintheSun.com

Our friends at La Porta Verde (www.laportaverde.com) , a  real estate agency in Umbria, are holding a special event to raise funds for research into Alzheimers disease. They are holding a Mini Mille Miglia. The Mille Miglia is a famous 1,000 mile road race around Italy. These days it is still run using the old cars, you may have seen the BBC programme when celebrity chef and car fan James Martin entered last years event in a vintage Maserati. Unfortunately he was a bit too enthusiatic and terminally damaged the engine on the first stage. Anyway the Mini Mille Miglia is a lot cheaper to enter - it is for slot cars. Sir Stirling Moss, famous for his exploits in the real race in the Fifties, is Patron of this event and Scalextric are amongst the major sponsors. For more information including how to enter, sponsorhip details and donations, please go to www.mini-mille-miglia.com. Remember it is in a very good cause - research into the distresing Alzheimers disease.