In Business Travel News' (BSN) 2024 Rental Car Survey, travel buyers gave mixed reviews to rental car companies, with National Rent a Car taking first place in customer satisfaction for the ninth year in a row.
According to BSN, three companies had higher scores and two had lower scores compared to 2023. The industry average is 4.08 on a scale of 1 to 5, down from 4.12 last year.
On a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent), National's rating of 4.27 was slightly higher than 2023's score of 4.26. National's sister brand, Enterprise, dropped 0.02 points with an average score of 4.16, placing him in second place for the third year in a row.
Avis once again secured a third place finish with an average rating of 4.02 from 4.07, while fellow brand Budget improved by 0.03 to 3.97 to move into fourth place. Hearts dropped 0.13 points to 3.95, taking fifth place.
“National has developed a 'pick a car, hop in a car and go' model,” said Chrissy Herman, KesselRun's vice president of program management. “From a corporate traveler's perspective, there's no better way to do it. Some other vendors have tried similar types of models that allow for choice and ease, but National has continued to do so. “And I think that really resonates with true corporate travelers.” ”
Car rental research categories include:
- Availability and ease of reservation
- clean and well maintained car
- Negotiating prices and amenities
- rental productivity
- Mobile app features
- Upgrades and services for VIP travelers
- price transparency
- Complaint resolution
- Relationship with account managers and sales representatives
- Communication with buyers regarding changes
- Quality data and reports
- Overall value
- Final evaluation
Of the 12 categories whose average scores had declined over the years, 11 showed improvement in 2023. The only improvement was in price and amenities negotiation, which increased by 0.03 points to 3.93, but still had the lowest average score of all categories.
However, according to Neil Hammond of GoldSpring Consulting, “Prices for car rental companies recovered faster than anywhere else in the market. People were already suffering from the worst bargains. Maybe because car rental companies were asking so much. Buyers felt they got something out of the negotiation, whether it was because of concessions in city premiums or multipliers in some cases. They didn't feel good, and that led to poor scores overall. But I was able to get something out of it.”
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to our daily TravelPulse newsletter.
