Alamo
Address: www.goalamo.com
Information given: locations; fleet details, including car models, features and sizes; special deals.
On-line booking facility: yes.
Ease of use: excellent. On-line booking was simple and fast. Site is bright and to the point.
Special features for agents: none.
Marks out of 10: eight.
Holiday Autos
Address: www.holidayautos.co.uk
Information given: rental prices for each country, linked to sample vehicle site; destination information, including driving regulations for individual countries; special offers; price match details; and Prestige Cars fleet and prices.
On-line booking facility: for agents only. Consumers must wait until the end of the year.
Ease of use: good navigation. The only site to give rental rates without having to start to book.
Special features for agents: password-protected travel agents’ area allows retailer to book on-line and check all bookings made from their branch. Users can input their postcode to get names and addresses of their nearest Holiday Autos’ agents.
Marks out of 10: eight.
Avis
Address: www.avis.com
Information given: rental locations; programmes and services; mapping facility; and special deals. Fleet section includes vehicle guide by country and ‘Select a Car’ option. This allows the client to click on preferred features and size of car and Avis then recommends a vehicle. ‘Fast track’ access to rates before users have to send e-mail request.
On-line booking facility: no.
Ease of use: fast and full of information. Mapping facility gave totally wrong area to that requested.
Special features for agents: travel agent site is password protected so it could not be checked.
Marks out of 10: five.
Hertz
Address: www.hertz.com
Information given: programmes and services, such as Le Swap and #1 Club Gold; worldwide locations; partners; sample car guide including vehicle features, and passenger and baggage capacity. Large section with special offers.
On-line booking facility: yes.
Ease of use: simple to navigate around. A lot of windows to work through to make a booking. Users can enrol in #1 Club Gold on-line.
Special features for agents: dedicated travel agents’ area with link to on-line booking and global distribution system key words.
Marks out of 10: nine.
Budget
Address: www.budget.com
Information given: WorldClass fleet, with ability to drill down to see sample cars and sizes; partners; and tips and guidance. Locations are shown with details of their individual fleets.
On-line booking facility: yes.
Ease of use: slow to load. Users need country codes to book and finding them was tedious.
Special features for agents: None.
Marks out of 10: five.
National
Address: www.nationalcar-europe.com
Information given: services; locations; partnerships; fleet, with sample cars and sizes; rental programmes; and mapping service. Also details Emerald Club frequent renter scheme.
On-line booking facility: yes.
Ease of use: fairly easy to get around but to make a reservation users go into worldwide site and, once there, I could not find a ‘button’ to get back to ‘Europe’.
Special features for agents: brochure request service.
Marks out of 10: six.
Europcar
Address: www.europcar.co.uk
Information given: fleet guide with sample cars, sizes and features; locations, found by clicking map or using pull-down menu; and loyalty programme.
On-line booking facility: yes.
Ease of use: fast and easy to use.
Special features for agents: travel agents section details retail products and how to book through GDS.
Marks out of 10: seven.