Hybrids for Rent

The big auto rental companies are catching on to the hybrid craze. Toyota Priuses are coming to rental car fleets near you.

Hertz has a “Green Collection” of low-emissions and/or fuel efficient cars, such as the Subaru Outback and Ford Fusion. And coming very soon: 3,400 new Priuses. New York City is getting 100 of them. Rental rates start at $50 for these cars.

Plus, Hertz is donating $1 from the rentals to the National Park Foundation (up to a max of $1m).

Avis starts this week with their own fleet of 1,000 Priuses, in locations along the West Coast. (Ask for car group “XG.”)

A Quest for a Cheap Car Rental

As part of my family’s trip to Montana via Seattle, (aka Bellingham, Washington,) finding a car rental was the next step after I picked the airline–Skybus (see post), I was particularly interested in making a car rental reservation ASAP since one Gadling reader commented that when he flew into Bellingham he noticed there weren’t many car rental options. Since Sky Bus has a link to Avis on its website, I Iooked there first and wondered if I could do better. I also checked prices through Travelocity –Enterprise car rental, the cheapest was $10 more than the Avis rate.

I was determined to find a better deal. Then I remembered that AAA had travel discounts. Sure enough, by using the trip code on the AAA website, I found a Hertz rental about $30 cheaper than the Sky Bus deal. I reserved a full-size car since there are four of us and we have a bit of luggage to contend with. The last two times we rented cars, however, we upgraded for no extra charge at the check-in desk. We’ll see. If not, we’ll save on gas. Who knows, maybe our AAA standing will help out in a way I don’t even know yet. Next step, find a hotel for the night before we fly home. Our rental is for two weeks and includes two weekends, by the way.