HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Like many other industries, the car rental business took a hit from the pandemic. As a result, consumers across the country are now experiencing high costs and limited availability of rental cars.
Two people in Houston County say finding a rental car was more challenging than ever.
Star Golden says that she called four places before finding a car. She travels frequently for her daughter's sporting events, so she started online in her car search for spring break.
"But even when you went to click on to see the cars, they were all gone," she said.
She says she ended up renting a car in Dublin.
"In my searching, I actually looked in the Macon area, and I was even willing to drive to Atlanta, and so not finding a car was a shock, but also a shock was the price!" said Golden.
Lori Shad agrees the prices were higher than she's used to. She recently made a reservation for a pickup truck online.
"Then the day before we called again and said, 'OK, do you all have the full-size pickup truck?' They said, 'Oh, yes, not a problem.' So that morning, we went to go pick up the truck, no truck," said Shad.
She says they had her wait two hours, then they had to give her a refund.
"He said, 'There are no full-size pickup trucks available anywhere in the area,' and he said, 'We'll just have to cancel your reservation,'" Shad said.
AAA spokesperson Garrett Townsend says rental companies sold off large portions of their vehicles over the last year
"Certainly during the pandemic, rental car companies struggled for obvious reasons. Business travel was down, leisure travel was down. Some rental car companies opted to get rid of some of those rental car vehicles," said Townsend.
With summer vacations coming up, he expects an increase in travel.
"There is a shortage of rental cars available -- it's supply and demand, limited supply, higher demand is going to result in paying more money for that rental car," he said.
Townsend recommends booking early, being flexible with your travel dates, and finding an off-airport rental location.