What’s the situation with Summer Car Hire?
As we approach the busy period for the travel sector with schools due to break up this month and temperatures soaring across Europe, you may be wondering what the outlook is for the car hire market over the next few months.
It’s fair to say car hire prices have risen significantly compared to pre-pandemic times and they have even increased from last year. We have listened to many of our customers commenting on this and wondering where exactly this rise in prices have come from.
Well, it is primarily due to a shortage of vehicles that are available to car hire companies. This is because of production being slowed down by a lack of car microchips. These are essential when it comes to manufacturing vehicles and without them, car companies have had no choice but to decrease the number of cars they are making. This has in turn meant that the car dealerships have been keener to sell what vehicles they do have to domestic consumers instead of car hire companies, as they can often sell them for a higher rate to customers such as you or I.
This has all resulted in car hire firms simply not being able to get enough vehicles in their forecourts to meet the demand from renters. To conclude all of the above in a short phrase, prices have shot up. This is a simple case of the demand for vehicles being way above the amount that can be supplied.
Our biggest tip for this summer is to book as early as you possibly can. We have been encouraging this for months and the simple reason for doing this is because as we get nearer to pick up dates, the demand for vehicles is increasing as people realise last minute that they need a car or remember they haven’t booked one yet or simply that they have left it late. This surge in demand close to pick up dates is increasing prices even further.
By booking early, when car hire firms have still got cars to hire out, you are likely to secure the best available price. And remember, with Clarify Car Hire you have the added bonus of free cancellation so should the price fall after you have booked, you can always rebook at the new, lower price and cancel your original booking. We would suggest going with a free cancellation supplier like ourselves so that you can make use of this should prices go down!
We don’t predict that the supply of vehicles will drastically increase over summer, so do make sure you heed the above advice and book as soon as you possibly can and do let us know if you have any questions.
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