Rent a car in France

Free electric car hire is now being offered by the Kensington hotel base2stay.
The London Hotel, in the city’s inner-west, has a proud history of being at the forefront of eco-friendly programs and has won consistent praise for its green credentials in an industry which is seen as being often wasteful.
Under the new complimentary rental program, guests at base2stay will be entitled to enjoy up to four hours worth of free electric car hire this summer using the highly acclaimed Citroen EV’ie. The Citroen, which will be supplied to the hotel by the eco-friendly car hire company Move About, is able [...]

Car rental leader Hertz has moved to reassure staff and investors at Dollar Thrifty over job levels.
Hertz has announced that the potential takeover bid for Dollar Thrifty would not affect staffing for a minimum of three months; with the company’s Tulsa-based workforce guaranteed stability for that period should the proposed $1.3 billion acquisition go ahead.
Hertz CEO Mark Frissora made the announcement, and added that Hertz will continue the incumbent base wage, benefit, bonus and severance pay schemes for a minimum of 15 months after the conclusion of the transaction.
Frissora’s assurances came via a letter to letter to Dollar Thrifty CEO [...]

Budget carrier, Ryanair, has announced that in reaction to the UK government’s Air Passenger Duty (APD), it will be reducing its winter capacity in the UK by 16 per cent. The airline claims that by doing this it will be able to reduce costs and boost profits. Speaking at a press conference, Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said that the APD, as well as the high airport charges being levied by BAA, was harming both tourism in the UK and the country’s economy.
Ryanair plans to move some of its London-based aircraft to less expensive European bases where governments have cut [...]

Hertz has promised that if its $1.3 billion bid for Dollar Thrifty is accepted, then employees of the budget car hire firm in Tulsa would be secure in their jobs for at least three months following the take over. Hertz chief executive, Mark P Frissora, said in a letter to Dollar Thrifty chief executive, Scott [...]

The International Air Transport Association has confirmed that for the first time since the global recession took hold two years ago, the number of passengers boarding flights with the world’s major airlines has bounced back. Following almost 24 months of plummeting numbers, air passenger levels are back to their pre-recession figures.
Figures for May show that passenger traffic jumped by 12 per cent compared to the same month a year earlier. IATA also claims that demand for air freight during the same month jumped by a massive 34 per cent on a year ago. A rise in air freight is always [...]

Leading European car hire outfit Avis has unveiled plans for raising cash from shareholders worth £151 million.
The move will aid the rental group, currently in a complex bidding war with rival company Hertz for the takeover of the Dollar Thrifty brand, to consolidate its financial stability and undertake wider expansion plans. The greatly discounted share offer has won the backing of D’Ieteren, the Brussels-based majority shareholder – with a 60 per cent stake.
The Avis Group, which, along with partner Budget provides rental vehicles to seven million customers every year across the continent, further announced it had also secured an updated [...]

Fairmont Hotel guests will receive exclusive worldwide rates under a new deal with leading rental car provider Avis.
The partnership will make it even easier for customers from Fairmont Hotels & Resorts to explore new destinations, with the global network provided by Avis creating a unique level of support for the worldwide collection of luxury resorts and hotels.
Under the new agreement, Fairmont guests will be able to enjoy savings of up to 25 per cent at all participating Avis locations across the globe, in addition to being provided with a rage of exclusive benefits that are currently offered under the Fairmont [...]

A new report suggests that only around 20 per cent of travel insurance covers policy holders adequately in the event that the airline that have booked with goes bust. Financial researchers at Defaqto found that although there may well be cover for airline failure contained in an insurance policy, the small print often revealed that the value of that cover was capped.
This means that although the cost of the air ticket may be covered, the value of facets of the holiday such as accommodation, car hire, pre-booked excursions etc on which money had already been spent, could be lost.
Head of [...]

In a little over a year, Paris could roll out a new electric car rental program, if everything goes to plan. Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, the brains behind the less than successful Velib bike renting scheme, wants to have a fleet of ready-to-hire zero-emission electric vehicles on the streets of the capital as early as September [...]

As the possibility of a new bout of industrial action by British Airways cabin crew hangs over the airline’s head, British Airways management have warned that a vote in favour of walkouts by its staff might this time result in legal action and job losses.
According to the Financial Times, Tony McCarthy, BA’s director of people, has allegedly written to Unite’s bosses, Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, saying that any further action in terms of balloting could now put British Airways cabin crew jobs at risk. Mr McCarthy has apparently pointed out that if there are no new reasons for balloting [...]

The Toyota Motor Corporation has lost a key courtroom battle in its case regarding out of control vehicles.
Product-liability lawyers won the right to have the manufacturer’s trade secrets revealed in litigation in the hearing over complaints relating to the over-speeding cars, with the presiding judge rejecting Toyota’s request for a ban on confidential information in pre-trial proceedings, thereby allowing disclosure to outside experts and consultants for the plaintiff. Toyota had requested that rival car makers be excluded from the information for confidentiality.
Toyota sought the exclusion to ensure that no proprietary information which could compromise the manufacturer’s competitive position by sealing [...]

Less people are buying in favour of hiring cars in the Emirates, bucking the downward trend of the global travel industry.
The British ‘staycation’ trend of 2009 has spread to the Middle East, where an increasing number of people are steering clear of buying new vehicles over job and financial security fears, leaving car rental companies happy to fill the driving void.
The stay at home vacation means that the car hire sector is one of a rare few that is booming while other travel industry areas continue to take punishment. In the last year, revenue from car rentals across the UAE [...]