Cheap, "chain-free" car rental   A new website features little rental car companies with big deals   by Adam Hunter ARTHUR FROMMER'S BUDGET TRAVEL June 24 — The world of rental cars, both domestically and worldwide, is a sphere dominated by a few large firms, which set market prices and snatch up the best airport and city locations. As a result, it often seems as if there’s simply no one else to rent a car from.
UNTIL RECENTLY, there hasn’t been any online engine available to search independent, locally owned firms. Booking giants like Expedia.com and Travelocity.com only look at the prices available from the big companies like Hertz, National, Alamo, Enterprise, Dollar, Payless and Budget. (Orbitz.com is the exception, and actually does search smaller, lesser known car rental agencies.) Even opaque bidding sites such as Hotwire.com and Priceline.com only play ball with the big boys. You may not know what you’re getting when you book, but you can be sure it will be Avis, Hertz, Alamo or similar.        Enter Car Rental Express which just may revolutionize the way people book rental cars online. It offers the only place on the web (that we’ve been able to find) where you can rent cars from the mom and pop operations, the local, smaller independent rental organizations. Why do you want to rent from those companies? Their rates often beat those of the big guys.         WELCOME TO THE INDEPENDENTS        Car Rental Express, based in British Columbia, Canada, was founded in 1999 with the goal of bringing independent rental companies together into one easily searchable site. Its newly refurbished site (March 2003) includes over 100 companies with over 800 locations. The search results list all independent agencies in a destination area, along with different types of cars and mileage. While the site focuses primarily on the United States and Canada, it also provides rental agencies in the UK and Barbados, with plans to expand throughout Europe by the end of the year.        It has some very consumer friendly features. For example, pricing listed on the site includes taxes and all fees, so there are no surprises upon picking up your car (such as hidden security and insurance costs).        One other feature of interest to the budget traveler is a coupon section with additional discounts for agencies in 16 States and two Canadian provinces. Coupons garner from five percent to 25 percent off and include promotions for free days and weekends. Unfortunately, only a handful of these deals are for rentals at airport locations.        All agencies included on the site are in constant contact with Car Rental Express and undergo a background check, according the company’s president and co-founder, Stan Levy. Levy does his best to insure the quality of the rental agencies listed, promising that 99 percent of the agencies upgrade their fleets often, providing only new cars.         COMPARING PRICES
We searched the prices listed for the major car rental agencies and then compared them with the rates we found on Car Rental Express, using an economy car in all cases. What we found proved that bigger isn’t always necessarily better. For a one day weekday rental at Newark Airport:         National Rent-A-Car: Base rate $34 ($43.45 after taxes and fees.) EconoCar Rent-A-Car (through Car Rental Express): Base rate, $28.99 ($35.43 after taxes and fees). Plus, a coupon for a 10 percent discount off my rental. For a two day weekend rental at Los Angeles Airport: Enterprise Rent-A-Car: $52 base price ($56.18 including taxes and fees) U-Save Auto Rental (through Car Rental Express): $31.80 base price ($36.34 after taxes and fees). We also found coupons for five percent off those rates. For a three day weekday rental at Miami International Airport: Payless Rent-A-Car: $57 base price ($71.23 after taxes and fees) Miami Rent-A-Car (through Car Rental Express): $59.97 base price ($70.32 after taxes and fees)                The last example is particularly interesting; as you see, sometimes even when the majors may have a lower base rate, the additional fees they require often can negate the savings.         THE ADVANTAGES OF INDEPENDENT RENTING	'With local merchants, their livelihood depends on your rental, and they’ll do what they can to make the rental happen' — STAN LEVY President and Co-Founder, Car Rental Express
Because the smaller rental companies don’t get the attention of the major players, they need to provide incentive for people to rent from them. “With local merchants, their livelihood depends on your rental, and they’ll do what they can to make the rental happen,” Levy said. This means several things: Smaller companies are often willing to negotiate. This doesn’t mean the rate will always be lower, but many times prices can drop through the floor with special deals and discounts. Their rules and restrictions on who can rent are flexible. Rental agencies follow insurance statistics when deciding age limitations on renting. And those statistics label certain ages as “liabilities.” While the major companies will charge you an arm and a leg (or not let you rent at all) if you are between 18 and 25, or over the age of 65 in certain European countries, the age penalty at smaller companies is often much less or waived altogether. Also, if you don’t have a credit card or just prefer other payment methods, a smaller agency is much more likely to accept cash. The overhead is lower, and that savings is passed on to you. Avis, Hertz and the other national companies make it a point to have counter service at all of the major airports. But those located in the airport terminal and surrounding area pay large fees for their location, and that usually gets charged to the renter in the form of “airport location fees” and (since 9/11)”security charges.” Because the smaller companies have been muscled out of these high rent areas, they can operate at a lower cost and the consumer can avoid those tacked on charges. And while they are a trek from the terminal, all the rental agencies on Car Rental Express provide shuttle service to and from the airport at no charge when you call in advance (Non-airport locations usually provide pick-up and drop-off at no charge within a certain mile radius). The service is often friendlier and you receive more personal attention. When the person who rents you your car also owns the company, you can often be made to feel like you are the only customer they have. Some of the independents, like FOX Rent-A-Car in California and Arizona, offer frequent renter programs which offer even better discounts and service.
THE CAVEATS        Obviously, there are also some disadvantages to renting with an little-known firm. Fewer locations: meaning one-way rentals are usually out of the question. Also, if something happens to your car far from where you originally rented it, chances are there isn’t another branch nearby to help you out. No extras: They often lack the helpful amenities of the larger rental outfits, such as roadside assistance, express drop off, and reservation/information desks in the airport terminal. You take what they got: The independents have a smaller selection of vehicles, meaning you may not be able to get the car you want. Better in the short run: A final drawback—and it’s a major one— is that while the daily rate of the smaller firms may be better or comparative with the major firms, their weekly rate is often not as good. Smaller companies have little incentive to rent out cars for more than a week because they have fewer cars available to rent and want to make the most out of their daily rate.         THE BOTTOM LINE
So next time you need to rent a car, going to Car Rental Express may save you money and give you some satisfaction in escaping the hold of the corporate giants. Remember to compare prices especially if renting for a week or more. Visit http://www.carrentalexpress.com/ to start looking up rates. For more information about the company or for customer feedback, call 888/557-8188.        Copyright © 2003 Newsweek Budget Travel, Inc.