Here are the worst summer destinations for car rental shortages

·Reporter

May 14, 2021 at 2:30 PM·3 min read

Pandemic-fatigued Americans planning their post-vaccine trips could encounter rental car shortages if visiting certain summer hotspots, a new analysis found.

Visitors to the hometown of Disney World may run into the biggest problems created by a fractured rental car network that is driving up rental prices — if there’s even inventory to rent, according to insurance provider Allianz Partners USA which analyzed more than 236,000 U.S. rental car reservations made at airports between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

After Orlando, Florida, the next hottest rental destinations include, in descending order:

Denver
Las Vegas
Honolulu
Maui
Anchorage, Alaska
Miami
Los Angeles
Seattle
Phoenix

“Increased demand has led to significant price increases for car rentals at popular summer destinations,” said Daniel Durazo, director of marketing and communications at Allianz Partners USA.

People wait in line at Enterprise rental agency in the Miami International Airport Car Rental Center on April 12, 2021, in Miami, Florida. Customers are finding that car rental agencies have limited or no supply of vehicles as people begin traveling again after being locked down during the pandemic. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Joe Raedle via Getty Images)

The weakened inventory network is a result of the pandemic as car rental companies sold off their fleets last year to minimize overhead, Jonathan Weinberg, founder and CEO of AutoSlash, previously explained to Yahoo Money. But that has left them flat-footed as demand soared in 2021 when domestic travel restrictions relaxed.

"The rental car companies simply underestimated demand, the amount of people that wanted to get away," Weinberg told Yahoo Finance Live earlier.

As the travel industry quickly rebounds, companies can’t keep pace with customer needs and the supply and demand imbalance is translating into exorbitant daily rental amounts and sell-outs. In certain places like Hawaii, available cars rent for as much as $500 a day, a far cry from the bargain of $5 a day in 2020, Weinberg shared. Across the Sunbelt, prices have also steadily increased since winter.

In Hawaii, some visitors are even turning to moving vans as an alternative. (Photo: Getty) (OceanProd via Getty Images)

If rental car availability is weighing on your decision on where to vacation this summer, know there are alternatives to getting wheels outside of the traditional rental car. Where rental car prices have surged, the popularity of peer-to-peer car sharing marketplaces have followed.

Platforms like Getaround and Turo connect car owners with renters and bypass the need for rental car companies reported “heavy demand” as bookings have “more than doubled,” Getaround’s vice president of marketplace and operations, Pat Notti, shared with Yahoo Finance. In Hawaii, some visitors are even turning to moving trucks and cargo vans as alternatives.

“We have seen a considerable uptick in U-Haul rentals from customers who are visiting the islands now,” Kaleo Alau, president of U-Haul Company of Hawaii, previously told Yahoo Money. “We realize this demand is occurring when tourists are unable to secure a rental car, or they learn that our rental fleet options are more affordable.”

Stephanie is a reporter for Yahoo Money and Cashay, a new personal finance website. Follow her on Twitter @SJAsymkos.

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