Where is everyone going this summer?…
They are going to all sorts of places judging by our bookings. In some cases to more than one place as there were several one-way routings. In Italy from Florence to both Pisa and Rome – on the Rome booking our clients got a free up-grade from a Golf to a VW Passat. Plus Angers in the Loire Valley to Paris in a Renault Scenic, Alicante to Murcia and, in the UK, Leeds Bradford to Stansted. And just confirmed this afternoon, Amarillo in Texas to Los Angeles in an SUV 4×4.
France remains very popular with demand for compact cars (estates and hatchbacks) at Bordeaux, Marseilles and Dinard, economy cars at Limoges, Poitiers and Angouleme rail station and a Scenic/Picasso at Angouleme airport. At Nice we were unable to find a 9-seater at short notice but have confirmed a 7-seater and an automatic Focus or Mercedes A-class instead – the cost of both cars was no more than that for the 9-seater! On the Spanish Costas Alicante, Murcia, Almeria, Malaga and Gerona are all busy as are Arrecife (Lanzarote), Tenerife and Majorca. Elsewhere we confirmed a late booking for a 9-seater at Rome Ciampino airport, a Fiesta at East Midlands and a Focus and a Zafira at Stansted. And in Florida a 7-seater SUV and an intermediate SUV, both at MCO.
But that is only part of our story. New enquiries continue to pour in, especially for the popular summer destinations. Family cars for Menorca, Sardinia, Tuscany, Poitou-Charente, Lisbon, the Spanish Costas, south of France, Italy and so on. People-carriers for the Costa Calida, Almeria and Marseilles. Convertibles at Rome and either Brescia or Verona to be returned at Lamezia Terme or Palermo. Demand increased for the USA, especially from young drivers. They enquired about an 8-seater or two smaller cars at Orlando, an economy car for seven weeks at LAX and an intermediate car for Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles. Other US enquiries are for a Minivan at Orlando Amtrak station, a full-size car or 7-seater Dodge Durango SUV at MCO and a Minivan for Chicago to San Diego. And another SUV, this time for Vancouver in Canada. An unusual question was could we arrange a one-way from London to Barcelona. Yes we can, but the one-way charge was £1,000 + VAT. A cheaper option would be to catch a ferry to France and collect the car there – one-way charge from Calais to Barcelona only 335 euros plus tax.