Worldwide Covid-19 Car Rental Safety Measures and Effect On Rental Rates

Image - TAJ Car Rental

Aleksandr Buraks from Discover Cars said: "Protecting the wellbeing of all customers and ensuring that they can rent a car during this period without fear of infection or compromising their safety is of utmost importance to all car rental companies.

"Our survey reassuringly shows us that the wider car rental industry is taking this health crisis extremely seriously and implementing steps to ensure that people are guarded against the risk of catching Covid-19 to the best of their ability."

• The majority, 84%, of car rental providers carry out specialist sanitation on each of their cars across all locations
• 27% offer additional Covid-19 protection such as antibacterial gels and face masks free of charge, 12% charge for such service*
• Poland and New Zealand are experiencing the smallest price decrease of 5%*
• Sweden had the biggest change in prices with 57% decrease *
• However, Norway is the only country whose prices went up with 13% increase*
• Following a number of countries easing their lockdown rules and getting almost back to "normal", Discover Car surveyed almost 400 car rental providers to find out what Covid-19 safety measures are in place to keep customers safe.

Over three-quarters, (84 percent) of the car rental firms polled said that they carry out specialist sanitation on each of their cars across all locations to protect the wellbeing of their customers.

Furthermore, over one-fifth (27 percent) of companies offer additional Covid-19 protection such as antibacterial gel and wipes, or face masks and gloves for customers in their cars completely free of charge.

• Gel 60%
• Mask 46%
• Wipes 17%
• Gloves 10%

Meanwhile, 12 percent provide them at an extra cost.

The car rental providers went on to share that they sanitise and disinfect the whole car, from the steering wheel to ventilation or radio systems. They also take steps to follow social distancing rules in their shops. They go on to sanitise and cover steering wheels and seats in plastic while car keys are given to customers in plastic bags.

Some providers, depending on where they are based as each government around the world has different regulations, ask customers to sign a document stating that they do not have Coronavirus symptoms or that they have not been in touch with anyone who has had them. Providers in some countries require a note from a doctor that the customer does not have Coronavirus.

If a customer states, when dropping a car off, that during the time they were using the vehicle they started to experience Coronavirus symptoms or were in touch with someone who displayed such symptoms, the car goes into quarantine. After the quarantine period is over the car is sanitised and rented out again.

Covid-19 protection is the third most popular customer request in the Discover Cars booking system. This comes just after automatic transmission and air conditioning.

• Automatic Transmission- 10%
• Air Conditioning- 4%
• Covid-19 protection- 4%
• Unlimited Mileage- 3%
• Diesel- 3%
• Zero Deductible- 2%
• Additional Driver for Free- 2%
• 4x4- 2%
• Manual Transmission- 2%
• Instant Confirmation!- 1%
• Online check-ins where possible and contactless handovers are also very much on the increase among customers.

Aleksandr Buraks from Discover Cars said: "Protecting the wellbeing of all customers and ensuring that they can rent a car during this period without fear of infection or compromising their safety is of utmost importance to all car rental companies.

"Our survey reassuringly shows us that the wider car rental industry is taking this health crisis extremely seriously and implementing steps to ensure that people are guarded against the risk of catching Covid-19 to the best of their ability."

affecting the prices

As a result of the current health crisis, car rental prices have gone down across the globe. The biggest drop is Sweden, where the average price to rent a car in 2019 was €81 compared to €35 in 2020, representing a 57 percent decrease.

Next was Canada which went from €48 to €25 (48 percent). Third was Portugal’s Azores Island which was €36 down to €20 (44 percent).

The locations which have been least affected include Poland, which went from €20 to €19 (five percent), New Zealand was €19 to €18 (five percent) and Iceland €64 to €56 (13 percent).

Norway was the only country to observe an increase in rates, with the average price to rent a car standing at €68 in 2019 and €77 in 2020, which is a 13 percent rise.

The full report can be found here: https://www.discovercars.com/blog/car-rental-during-coronavirus

surveyed 359 car rental partners on the 10th of June 2020. The price data was gathered on the 11th of June 2020. The prices are based on 7 days rental, economy class.

About DiscoverCars.com

Discover Cars supports people through the whole process of renting a car, before, during and after. The company helps find the most relevant car, whether it’s for a holiday, adventure or a business trip, for the best price.

Website: https://www.discovercars.com/

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