Advantage Rent A Car is the next victim of the crappy economy

The doom and gloom stories about our economy going down the toilet are starting to depress me.

The news from Advantage Rent A Car is no different – not only have people stopped buying cars, they obviously no longer rent them either.

The chain has 49 stores in the United States, and well over 100 overseas but the decline in rentals and the lack of available credit has forced them into Chapter 11.

The press release does not mention what the fate is of their international locations, but the Advantage.com website won’t let you reserve a car at any of their locations.

Customers with a rental car reservation will be assisted by Hertz who will honor “nearly all” the pending reservations. The Advantage locations at the following airport locations will remain open for normal business: Austin, Chicago Midway, Colorado Springs, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Orlando, Phoenix and Salt Lake City.

If you have an existing reservation with Advantage then you are advised to call 800-777-5500 or 80-777-5524 to be advised of the status of your reservation. Advantage does remind people currently using one of their rental cars that they will want them back as scheduled. The “consolidation” will affect 440 Advantage employees, I wish them the best of luck in finding a new job.