With car hire shortages anticipated from 19th December for the Christmas and New Year holiday period 2009/2010, easyCar are warning their customers to book car hire NOW to avoid disappointment. 

The demand for rental cars has been historically high in the UK and Ireland during the Christmas season, but shortages are expected this winter in the popular cities and resorts of France, Portugal and Spain too.

easyCar reported in June 2009 that many areas of the UK, France and Spain had actually run out of hire cars during Easter, with the credit crunch leading car hire fleet operators to use their current stock of cars for longer periods, and not replace all of the older vehicles. A number of sources throughout the summer also stated that holidaymakers were more likely to book the small cars as they presumed they were cheaper, although this wasn’t always the case, which then led to the smaller cars being in very short supply.

Again the message regarding Christmas car hire availability with the shortage of cars and increasing prices being a problem, is that if you want to be sure that you will get the hire car of your choice, do not leave your rental booking until the last minute – BOOK NOW!

A brand new service has just been released - Pay On Arrival.

This new service allows a small deposit to be paid when booking, with the balance paid when the hire car is picked up. The service is currently available across Spain and Portugal, with more countries soon to be added.

A big advantage of the pay on arrival service is that customers can reserve their hire car with a small deposit, leaving the full payment right up to the last minute when they pick up their hire car. This will enable many customers to book their hire car much earlier than before, which will help them to avoid some of the car hire shortages seen this year.

The service is easily identified by looking for the Pay On Arrival message and logo next to the hire car price.

To book, simply follow this link for car hire

If you are looking for cheap car hire this Autumn, check out our latest sale and voucher code on our special offers page.

The voucher code on this page gives savings at many UK, European and Long Haul destinations. However to access the best car hire discount codes, sign up to our Newsletter on the homepage, and you’ll be sent discount codes with the highest savings!

With more cars becoming available after the high season rush and prices dropping, September can be a great month to travel.

To kick September off, we’ve a fantastic new sale, with many cars reduced in price even more! To view this sale, visit the car hire sale page and use the easyCar voucher code on the page.

You’ll need to hurry, as even this month the more popular cars will sell out, and these savings will not last forever!

This summer has seen cars in short supply, and today the BBC news  website has highlighted this issue with news that many villa holiday customers have opted to cancel their travel plans rather than pay up to 100% more for their car hire compared to last year (according to travelsupermarket.com).

Good advice here is to always book early if you have booked your flight and accommodation seperately. It’s surprising the number of people who will book a flight and a villa in January, and then leave thier car hire booking to a few weeks (or even days!) before they travel.  In years gone by, at worst this may have meant not getting the hire car of choice. This year it has meant many people have had to pay more than before or even seeing no car hire available at all.

In European resorts, easyCar has increasingly better availability as the summer high season progresses, particularly if you are travelling from late August onwards. However, supply will still be tighter than in normal years, and the later you leave it the higher the price will be – so book early!

There’s still a voucher code offer available from easyCar to help you save on car hire, just visit the car hire discount page and use the code on the screen!