Renting a car is a necessity for most business fliers. When you think about it, it's one of the better bargains of any trip.
People in the car-rental business like to note that it often costs about the same to rent a $500 piece of garden equipment for 24 hours as it does to hire a $20,000 car for a day on weekends.And the car might be a lot cheaper if you're renting it in a highly competitive, leisure-oriented market such as Florida in the off-season -- even less than renting a garden tiller in the suburbs of a big city in April.
Last fall, most of the major car-rental companies matched a $3-a-day rate increase that Hertz Corp. initiated, and more increases may be on the way in 2000.
Industry executives this month, responding to an informal survey by Auto Rental News, a trade magazine, said they hoped to see rates go up an additional 3 percent to 7 percent this year.
The number of cars available for rent is likely to increase as well. Several executives interviewed by Auto Rental News said they expect their fleets to grow by about 10 percent as the robust economy keeps people traveling, especially by air and thus fuels growing demand.
Car-rental costs normally work like airfares and hotel prices. When demand from business travelers is low, so are rental rates. On a Friday night at a major airport, when the rental lots are packed with cars, the daily rate can be less than $30. On a Tuesday morning, the same car can cost $50 or $60.
Travelers who work for large or midsized companies, and particularly those who are on the road a lot, usually don't think much about rates. Their employers have negotiated contract rates for them, and the rates often include membership in one of the frequent-customer programs operated by the largest rental companies.
These programs can be a godsend for the business traveler in a hurry. You're usually dropped off by a bus or van right next to a line of cars that have keys in the ignition or in the trunk lock. There are no lines to wait in or paperwork to fill out.
You drive to a booth at the rental-car lot's exit, show your driver's license and membership card, and you're on your way.
For business travelers paying their own way, or those who work for small companies, there are alternatives to Hertz, Avis, National and Budget, the companies you're most likely to find with rental lots on airport property.
Alamo, Dollar and Thrifty round out what those in the business call "the airport seven." Increasingly, you'll find all seven with counters in airport terminals.
Over the last year or so, Enterprise, which says it has the world's largest fleet of rental cars, has made a push to join the airport ranks.
Enterprise specializes in local rentals for drivers whose cars are being repaired and does most of its business out of neighborhood, storefront locations.
But at the end of 1999, Enterprise had rental counters on or near 98 of the 100 largest U.S. airports.
At 44 airports, it has counters in terminals, and at some of those, its rental lot is on the airport grounds.