Rent-a-Wreck is not a wreck

"Rent-A-Wreck Files for Bankruptcy, Cites Litigation Costs"... when we first saw this story on July 27th, we gasped, thinking the headline meant the demise of the overall Rent-a-Wreck brand.

It's the kind of challenge many franchisors have, when operators of master franchise agreements (such as for a province, state, country or region) use the brand's name in their legal name.

Suffice it to say that the demise of "Rent-A-Wreck of America Inc." does not equate to the end of the Rent-a-Wreck brand or its parent company, International Franchise Systems (IFS), which licences franchise locations in the USA, Scandinavia, and Saint Maarten. .

Rent-A-Wreck of America Inc., which filed for bankruptcy in Delaware, had been headed to trouble for awhile. Between lawsuits involving the owner, stalled growth during the economic downturn, other litigation and more, it's a bit of a sad story. You can read the news story here, if you want the sordid details.

We just hope it doesn't hurt the rest of the brand.

In the broader context of the sharing economy (the emergence of carsharing services such as Uber and Lyft), micro-rentals (such as Zipcar), the plethora of online car rental booking engines (like ours) and an increasing demand for green technology, Rent-a-Wreck deserves kudos for staying relevant and upping their game.

Meanwhile, in other Rent-a-Wreck news:

Michael DeLorenzo Wins Auto Rental News Impact Award - Auto Rental News
Michael DeLorenzo received the inaugural Auto Rental News Impact Award for outstanding service to the auto rental industry. DeLorenzo serves as the executive vice president of International Franchise Systems (IFS), which owns the NextCar, Priceless, and Rent-A-Wreck brands. He is also a member of the American Car Rental Association’s (ACRA) Board of Directors... [read more].

So You Think You Want to Become a Franchisee? - Auto Rental News
“I washed cars for Hertz in high school,” says Matthew Allen, a Rent-A-Wreck franchisee in Richmond, Va. “From that experience I had always felt I wanted to have a rental car operation.” Allen started (his Rent-a-Wreck franchise) with seven cars in 2012 and is up to 86 today. Regarding the decision to franchise or operate his own car rental business, “I never thought about going independent,” he says. “I felt I needed the support and expertise of people who had done it before."... [read more].

How One Rent-A-Wreck Franchisee Became a CNBC Star - Auto Rental News
Ernesto “Sonny” Mongillo, Jr. wasn’t even sure what the fuss was about. After filling out a questionnaire sent from International Franchise Systems, the parent company of his Rent-A-Wreck and Priceless car rental business in Southern Conn., he took a follow-up phone call with more questions... When Mongillo finally saw the link online, he realized he had been named one of CNBC’s Star Franchisees for 2016. “Yeah, I was surprised and excited,” Mongillo said. “It was a little overwhelming...” [read more].


FYI, for our Canadian readers:
A separate Canadian Rent-a-Wreck company is not affiliated with the US based firm. The Calgary-based firm offers car and truck rentals in all 10 Canadian provinces and the Yukon.

More from IHateTaxis
Are Cross-Border Car Rentals Possible?
Renting Diesel in North America
Baja Mexico's Double Dipper Gas Scam
Help! I Left My iPad on the Plane!

Need to rent a car? Check out IHateTaxis Car Rentals - we're global and we're competitive... give us a try!

Baja Mexico's double dipper gas scam

Pemex gas stations are a common sight in Mexico - and it's at
one in Los Cabos that this rental car gas scam happened
creativecommons image: mcrael on Flickr

Heading to Baja, Mexico? Watch out for the double dipper gas scam!

Many Americans and Canadians, especially those located on the continents’ west coast, frequently visit the Baja region of Mexico. This is a place increasingly popular for weddings, kite surfing and general rest and relaxation. More frequently, however, it is starting to get a reputation of numerous scams on well heeled tourists.

Most notably is the double dipper gas scam where travelers head to a gas station before returning to their rental car to the airport to find out that their credit card does not work when it is inserted into the processing machine - followed by a demand is required to rectify the bill in cash; albeit in Pesos or US Dollars. More often than not, travelers with limited time before catching a flight assume their credit card transaction did not go through and readily handover cash, sometimes driving accompanied to a nearby ATM machine to make a withdrawal before speeding off to the airport for their flight home.

Fast forward several weeks and the traveler discovers that their credit card transaction for fuel actually did go through, so they paid twice. Then begins a contestation with the credit card company over the disputed charge.

While this scam is not isolated to the Baja region of Mexico, it is safe to say that the best way around this is to put aside cash (in local currency) as your last and final transaction payment before leaving the country. This will mean for future trips you will need to build this into your overall currency exchange at the beginning of your trip.

Related resources:
Beware the gas station scam in Mexico
The hidden cost of car rentals in Mexico
How to protect yourself when renting a car - Advice from IHateTaxis
Are cross-border car rentals possible?
Renting diesel in North America

Renting diesel in North America

By Todd Romaine
A cheaper alternative when renting cars in North America is….DIESEL!

The Diesel engine and fuel were invented by the
German mechanical engineer Rudolf Diesel (1858–1913).
Read about his mysterious disappearance and death.

When most of us think of diesel vehicles, we think of large pick-up trucks with Albertan or Texan license plates rolling down the highway making a lot of noise. The driver possibly wearing a white tank top, goatee and those cheap white framed sunglasses with a Calvin & Hobbs sticker on the back window.

Let’s be honest here, most of us only have limited experiences with diesel. Admittedly, my only experience was when I accidentally filled up my car with diesel at a local gas station. A hundred dollars later at the service station and the issue was embarrassingly rectified.

My short lived conviction at the time that combining gas with diesel resulted in a ‘super fuel’ was short-lived. Not many people in North America drive diesel vehicles, though they are on the increase. Many of us have been deterred by getting such a vehicle because naturally we are worried about the lack of readily available businesses offering diesel fuel. That being aside, people are becoming increasingly cost conscious when it comes to vehicles and especially car rental agencies.

Hertz Car Rental in the United States has been testing out the consumer market to see if people would consider renting a diesel car that has better fuel mileage than a traditional gasoline one. The other selling feature, arguably, is that using a diesel vehicle is better for the environment (using less fuel to get from A to B than a gas guzzler).


If you can't see the Hertz Green Traveler Collection video above, click here to view it on YouTube.

So far, so good, with Hertz locations offering diesel expanding in the USA, and into Canada as well. Hertz markets these cars as part of its Green Traveler Collection.

If you decide to rent from Hertz, and are interested in their diesel fleet, make sure you inquire about their Volkswagen Jetta TDI. Anticipate other rental car agencies to follow suit if there is sustained interest from the cost conscious public.

If you go down this path, make sure you avoid my mistake of turning your brain off at a gas station and assuming gas and diesel are interchangeable!

Related resources

• Hertz Reinvents Newark Airport Car Rental Experience - MarketWatch
• Would You Drive a Clean Diesel Rental Car? Hertz Sure Hopes So - Jaunted
• Accidentally Fueling a Diesel with Gasoline - About.com
• Book your Hertz diesel rental car with IHateTaxis
• How to protect yourself when renting a car - Smart Travel Advice from IHateTaxis

Are cross-border car rentals possible?

Swiss border post in Italy

Thinking of renting a car and traversing across several countries?

Well, it is not always as easy as it seems.

Besides USA-Canada-Mexico, parts of Western Europe, and parts of Southern Africa, there are still many complications with cross-border car rentals that will make things difficult, costly or outright impossible.

Rental car agencies are naturally quite concerned with renting their vehicles for travel in countries that have a notorious reputation of theft or damage and, sadly, this includes a good chunk of the world.

Donegal, Ireland car hire

Even if a car rental agency will let you take a vehicle into another country, it will unlikely be their best make and model.

You may find yourself behind the wheel of a small economy car that has limited functionality to traverse in countries with bad roads. An economy car will likely have issues in countries with lots of potholes and lack nearby logistical support to help out a strained car, leaving you at the mercy of the general public for assistance.

Also, a small car will likely show your belongings more on the backseat as you will be cramped with trunk room and this will again attract attention from possible thieves, carjackers etc.

Rental car plates in Uruguay are
identified by the word "alquiler"

Another thing to think about is do you really want to tell the next country that you are a foreigner and attract unwanted attention? If you are driving from Hungary into Bulgaria or Romania, or from South Africa into Mozambique, you may elicit unwanted attention (“we need to check your paperwork”) in the forms of frequent traffic stops and bribes from the police.

Bottom line, if you can find alternative transportation, such as a train, then this is your best bet. You can always try to rent a car locally for the country in question versus irregular cross-border journeys. However this is not always realistic based on limited infrastructure in some of these countries, so if you need to drive cross-border here are some things to plan for:

• Confirm first and foremost you are permitted to drive to another country. This includes the online booking details as well as asking in person once you are picking up your car 
• You need special insurance to go into another country and this is something the car rental agency will arrange for you beforehand (keep these documents in your glove box and present these to the relevant authorities: highway police, immigration control stops) 
• Make sure you have an international drivers permit – this will avoid the “you are not authorized to drive in country X” accusation (and the accompanying "we need to be paid off in order to let you drive away" bribe)
• Inquire about vignettes, or road taxes, (especially in Central & Eastern Europe) that essentially covers off all toll roads – if you don’t get this figured out you could be in for a nasty surprise when dropping off your car or being pulled over by the police 
• Check out our page on renting How to Protect Yourself When Renting a Car for more tips

Related resources

• International Car Rentals and Car Hires - advice from IHateTaxis
• How to Protect Yourself When Renting a Car
• Do You Need Insurance to Rent a Car?
• Airport Car Rentals and Car Hires
• One Way Car Rentals and Car Hires
• International Driver's Permit (IDP) - Government of Canada

Ready to book? Click here to book your rental car with IHateTaxis!

The Verdict is still out on FlightCar

FlightCar offers its peer-to-peer car rentals at Boston Logan Airport (BOS)
Photo: Boston, Logan Airport and the 911 Memorial from the roof of Central Parking (wikicommons)

- by Todd Romaine

Its been about a year since FlightCar launched itself with the attempt to radically change the way travelers thought about car rentals and airport parking.

The concept behind FlightCar is to give those that drive their vehicles to the airport a chance to get free parking and a profit in return for allowing the middleman (FlightCar) to rent out their car during their absence. FlightCar's peer-to-peer carsharing model allows travelers the ability to rent private vehicles at a fraction of the cost, in comparison to national and international car rental companies. Think Airbnb for cars.

Since its initial launch last year, FlightCar has expanded from San Francisco to now include Los Angeles and Boston. Despite the oddity of the business model, FlightCar has signed up more than 15,000 members and have had some major financial backers confident that this trend will become a new American, if not global, phenomena.

FlightCar has received some hang-ups, especially from the airport authorities, who want an expensive take on the action. While legal proceedings are ongoing between the various entities, other companies similar to FlightCar have moved in to negotiate contracts with airport authorities and modify their business model to ensure potential customer acquisition is relatively unaffected by cutting another groups into the profit stream.

It is hard to say whether this is a niche market or something that can spread throughout the world. My personal take is that I would only sign-up for this program if I owned a car that had little financial value and where I was relatively indifferent to the wear and tear caused by strangers utilizing my car. It would probably just take one costly mechanical breakdown to conveniently link the expensive bill to the indifference other drivers would have towards my car. And such an experience would probably permanently sour me if the cost was even slightly greater than generated profits.

Everyone, of course, is different. For many, free airport parking, a cleaned car upon arrival and cheque in your pocket after a long trip would be well worth it.

In it's latest twist, FlightCar is going after business travellers, paying them to share their cars - for a fee.

Predictably, international and national car rental agencies may need to lower their cost margins to drown out FlightCar eventually, if it becomes a threat. Likely however, FlightCar would remain a minority player when it comes to the lucrative car rental industry.

While ihatetaxis.com does not offer FlightCar services yet, we do provide very competitive car rental rates at airports around the globe.

Todd Romaine is one of the two Canadian brothers who were the brainchild behind the IHateTaxis.com website. For the story behind our name, read Do we really hate taxis?

Related content:

• FlightCar Targets Business Travelers With New Paid Parking Service
• FlightCar Celebrates First Anniversary
• FlightCar Launches Free Parking at Airport
• IHateTaxis Blog: Airport Parking Wars
• Car Rental Advice from IHateTaxis.com
• Meet the Brothers: an Interview with Todd Romaine

Need to rent a car? Check out ihatetaxis.com airport car rental rates.

Travel Tax Squeeze: Best and Worst USA Cities

Here's interesting news if your travels take you to major cities in the USA.

This past week, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) released its annual travel tax report on car rentals, hotels and restaurants in 50 top USA cities. Of most interest to travellers are what the GBTA calls "discriminatory travel taxes", which are taxes imposed specifically on travel services, above and beyond general sales taxes. Here are a few highlights.

Worst USA Cities for Travel Taxes


Rental car return backup at Portland Airport - the USA city with the highest
discriminatory travel tax rate - that will effect your rental car bill

The top 10 U.S. cities with the highest discriminatory travel tax rates are:

2013 Rank	City	$ over general sales tax
1	Portland (OR)	$22.86
2	Boston	$19.34
3	Indianapolis	$18.10
4	Minneapolis	$17.46
5	Chicago	$17.39
6	New York	$15.96
7	Washington, D.C.	$15.61
8	Kansas City	$15.26
9	Charlotte	$15.16
10	Milwaukee	$15.04

Minneapolis jumped up two spots over 2012 (from 6 to 4), and Washington D.C. jumped up four spots (from 11 to 7).

Best USA Cities for Travel Taxes

Enjoy your rental car in California, the taxes won't break the bank

You may be interested to know that California and Florida are among the states with the lowest discriminatory travel tax rates in the country, making them tourist friendly.

The top 10 U.S. cities with the lowest discriminatory travel tax rates are:

2013 Rank	City	$ over general sales tax
1	Burbank	$1.58
2	Orange County	$3.16
3	Ontario (CA)	$4.48
4	San Diego	$5.27
5	Oakland	$5.79
6 *	Tampa	$7.27
7*	Fort Lauderdale	$7.27
8*	Fort Myers	$7.27
9*	West Palm Beach	$7.27
10	Los Angeles	$7.37

* tie

The biggest change since 2012 was Los Angeles, which dropped from 5th to 10th.

More...

The information gathered by the GBTA is helpful, and we are appreciative of the level of detail the organization shares in its press releases, allowing us to share it with you. You may also be interested in the total travel tax burden rankings - just refer to the references below for more.

All information in this blog post is from the following Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) press releases:

• GBTA Reveals Best and Worst Travel Taxes Across Top 50 U.S. Destinations
• Taxes and Fees on Travel Reaching the Tipping Point 
• Bad For Business: A Billion Dollars In New Travel Taxes