Scenes like that are being played out this summer across the country. In some places, no rental cars are available at any price. In others, an economy-size rental may cost more than the airline ticket that got you across the country.
While some people want no part of the craziness and have postponed their travel plans, others find creative ways to secure wheels or at least get to their destination.
The best tip of all: Book your rental car before you do anything else.
The rental car drought
There’s a shortage of rental cars because there’s a shortage of new cars because there’s a shortage of the microchips used to control everything from entertainment systems to safety equipment.
That domino effect is slowly reversing, allowing rental car companies to rebuild their fleets to meet an ongoing travel surge. For example, as travel ground to a halt in 2020, HertzHTZZ sought bankruptcy protection and sold off hundreds of thousands of cars. It emerged from bankruptcy in June and is adding cars to its inventory to cope with the boom, according to a company spokesperson.
Mismatches between supply and demand are still common. Need a minivan for a Labor Day weekend getaway? Using the search engine Kayak.com to assess availability, that four-day rental in Las Vegas would cost at least $441; in Portland, Oregon, $1,029; and in Anchorage, Alaska, you would be out of luck at any price.
Think outside the airport rental counter
Here’s a look at other ways to get where you need to go — some of which might show up in online travel booking sites alongside Dollar, BudgetCAR,-1.58% and Enterprise, some that rely on others to do the driving. Consider these rental car alternatives:
More: $259 a day for a rental car? Here’s how to rent one this summer without blowing your budget
If you must rent a car
If you do decide to go the rental car route, here are a few ways to keep the price down.
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Philip Reed writes for NerdWallet. Email: articles@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @AutoReed.
