AGOURA HILLS, Calif. — Renting a car at or near an airport is one travel experience that continues to improve, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2001 Domestic Airport Rental Car Customer Satisfaction Study(SM) released last week. Competition to retain automobile rental customers has produced a steady stream of innovation and new services from the leading rental car agencies.
The study was expanded in 2001 to provide distinction between business and leisure customers. Avis tied with National for the overall highest ranking among business rentals and Enterprise ranks highest among leisure rentals.
"Competition in the rental car field has produced five straight years of increasing customer satisfaction," said Michael Taylor, director of travel services at J.D. Power and Associates. "The 2001 results reflect even fiercer competition to attract and retain renters. Rankings among the companies is tightly grouped, especially on the business side. Avis and National managed to edge out Alamo, Hertz and Budget due to a slight advantage in the critical passenger pick up process."
Avis also demonstrated strong performance in the reservation process, while Hertz and Alamo performed particularly well in the return process, according to business renters.