Car rentals tips

The Skift Travel Health Index indicates a bright tourism outlook this summer. The latest June 2023 Highlights Report shows global travel performance outpacing 2019 levels by 4 percentage points. The index now stands at 104, gaining 1 point over the previous month.

Global car rentals rocketed during the end-of-year holiday break, with more than three times the amount of seven-day bookings compared to the 2019 winter holiday period.

Skift Research’s Travel Health Index continued to track above 2019 levels in July, with a 2 point increase from July 2019, according to our latest monthly update.

Labor Day is right around the corner, and what better way is there to kiss summer goodbye than with one last adventure? Right now, a handful of travel companies are coming in clutch with late summer deals, while others are looking ahead to fall, winter, and beyond to make sure you have something to look forward to when the temperatures start dropping.

Rapid Rewards members normally earn 600 points for qualifying car rentals. That’s 600 points no matter how long the rental, or how much the rental costs—not a very compelling proposition, especially for longer rentals.

Infrequent travelers often say cheap car rentals are the best way to get off the beaten path while abroad. They’re usually wrong.

If you plan to park your car at an airport for more than a day or two, fees can add up quickly—even at the discounted off-site lots. And even if you don’t leave your car at the airport while you’re gone, your car just sits somewhere being of no use to anybody while someone you don’t know arrives at your hometown airport and rents a car, again for a stiff fee. And maybe you’ll need a car rental at your destination, too.

Summer is flying by quickly, but there’s still plenty of time to book a budget trip before the season of peak wanderlust expires. Right now, Caribbean destinations are stealing the spotlight with an extended Independence Day sale at Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas resorts, as well as enticing spa and flight perks at both Sandals and Beaches properties. And even in peak season, major cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Disney are slashing 30 percent off of select sailings.

It’s been called «revenge travel» or «rebound travel» — but most travelers are calling it what it is: a period of sky-high prices on nearly every part of a journey.  However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index released Wednesday shares some comforting news that costs of airfares and rental cars are decreasing — as much double digit drops in prices. The most significant drop is airline tickets, with prices dropping a whopping 18.9 percent from last June, and eight percent drop over the last month.