Oh, and BTW was Pam at all embarrassed by her marketin

E nterprise Holdings, which owns and operates the largest fleet of rental hertz rent a car kapalua cars in the world under the Alamo Rent A Car, National Car Rental, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car brands, will announce tomorrow that it is ending its relationship with Orbitz.com and its sister site CheapTickets.com on April 1 after months of difficult discussions. I asked Pam Nicholson, the president and chief operating officer hertz rent a car kapalua of Enterprise Holdings, to explain the decision and what it means to travelers.
With Alamo and National on the Orbitz site for the last 10 years, we thought it only made sense to work with them to add our flagship brand, Enterprise, as well. However, after several months of good-faith hertz rent a car kapalua negotiations with Orbitz, we are discontinuing our efforts.
In addition, Orbitz is insisting on unacceptably high commission hertz rent a car kapalua rates from the Enterprise brand, which, in turn, would make renting a car less affordable. That means none of Enterprise Holdings' three brands will be listed on Orbitz.com or CheapTickets.com as of April 1.
Enterprise Holdings and its regional subsidiaries continue to own and operate nearly one million vehicles, the world's largest fleet of passenger vehicles. As a result, we are able to offer the Alamo leisure brand to deal-shopping customers as well as the National brand to business hertz rent a car kapalua travelers and other frequent renters.
In addition, Enterprise – the largest car rental hertz rent a car kapalua brand in North America – is available both on and off airport and has the largest network hertz rent a car kapalua of locations in the industry. Enterprise Holdings' three car rental brands hertz rent a car kapalua may still be booked directly online, through our websites, or through various other third parties such as travel agencies or online sites including Travelocity and Kayak.
We have been serving car rental customers since 1957. We have learned many things along the way, particularly how difficult it is to fully meet the changing transportation needs of consumers with only one brand. As a result, we maintain three separate rental car brands at the airport, hertz rent a car kapalua each with a unique service offering.
In my opinion, Orbitz's current stance violates the best interests of consumers, our company and our industry. In fact, many consumers may not be aware that Orbitz intentionally limits the number of brands on its website.
I can t divulge specifics, but please keep in mind that we try to keep our car rental brands hertz rent a car kapalua priced consistently on all online travel sites. So if one site begins charging unacceptably high rates, it can, in turn, have an impact on rates across the board.
As the leader of the car rental industry, we have a responsibility to keep our product affordable and to aggressively hertz rent a car kapalua advocate for the rights of consumers. For example, we lead our industry in the fight to curtail excise taxes that unfairly single out rental car customers. Today, rental car taxes account for as much as 20 percent of the cost in many markets, placing hertz rent a car kapalua our industry's customers among the highest taxed in the United States. These escalating taxes, combined with unacceptable commission costs imposed hertz rent a car kapalua by third parties such as Orbitz, mean more and more consumers no longer will be able to afford to rent a vehicle.
Yes. In April 2008, we filed a lawsuit, which is a matter of public record, alleging that Orbitz was willfully violating their online listing agreement. At the time, we stressed that the lawsuit wasn't just about Orbitz deliberately violating their contracts with Alamo and National, it also was about violating the trust of consumers.
We stated in our press release that the loss of revenue was bad enough, but what was much harder to calculate was the long-term impact on fair competition hertz rent a car kapalua and consumer choice. We eventually reached an agreement with Orbitz, but our fundamental viewpoint on the importance of consumer choice and trust has not changed.
We think Enterprise is a great company. We value the relationship. We entered into good-faith negotiations with a valued partner. We could not come to an agreement hertz rent a car kapalua on economics and Orbitz has chosen to work with another supplier.
It s important to point out that we re going to continue to distribute Enterprise through our private-label business which powers a number of airline and other travel sites. And to they are going to still be distributed through Orbitz For Business.
hertz rent a car kapalua It is not likely to affect me, I don t deal with Orbitz (remember they were one of the first companies to use popup ads). I have a long memory and I warned them I would not deal with them for doing that.
I ve dealt with Enterprise hertz rent a car kapalua many times through the years, and always been treated honestly and fairly. Dealt with Orbitz exactly once bought two $150 plane tickets, had to change hertz rent a car kapalua the name on one, and got charged a hundred bucks! I said
Despite Enterprise s multiple divisions and claim that they re the largest rental hertz rent a car kapalua company in the US and around the world, I ll still never intentionally rent from them. Same can be said for Orbitz. hertz rent a car kapalua There s just something about this whole story that turns me sour. As usual, Expedia and Avis will continue to win my business. They re still cool with each other, right?
I don t have time for games. The loss of National, a premium brand, isn t so tough. They price themselves out of my shopping immediately. Alamo, however, has been pretty hertz rent a car kapalua good, and reasonably priced (usually). The lesser brands are going to get a boost at Orbit, but I wonder about using them when there are so many other sites vying for the same budget. Orbitz has done well for me over the years. This seems unnaturally bad.
What she said: Orbitz is insisting on unacceptably high commission rates from the Enterprise brand, which, in turn, would make renting a car less affordable. That means none of Enterprise Holdings' three brands will be listed on Orbitz.com or CheapTickets.com as of April 1.
What she meant: Orbitz wanted too much money for where we wanted our cars to be displayed in the search field, and we do not have an pricing power in this economy and have run out of extra fees to charge to make up the profit. Thus, because our competitors can compete on price, we cannot afford to pay Orbitz for what we want any more because you, the consumer, will not pay us enough to maintain our profit level.
What they did: Notably hertz rent a car kapalua not a single resolution of that lawsuit benefited consumers there was not a single penny of their settlement agreement that went to their customers and not a single lawyer represented consumers it was all about money for National/ Alamo / Enterprise.
Does anyone really talk like that? No written questions answered by the marketing department, hertz rent a car kapalua approved by legal. At least the Orbitz response was clear and to the point the contract ended the parties could not arrive hertz rent a car kapalua at a mutually agreeable extension of their deal. Dear Ms. Nicholson your company is not a victim here orbitz simply wanted more than you were willing to pay end of story. why the transparent claims that you are somehow looking out for us consumers when its clear its only about the bottom line?
Many would be surprised how much more important this market is than the tourist market. As an insurance hertz rent a car kapalua professional, when I used to tell people that Enterprise was the biggest in the world, many would scoff citing small airport offices. But their size is directly related to insurance replacement.
Enterprise is my car rental company of choice. That said, their response to the questions are just painful to read. It s an interview, not an advertising placement contest. Quit pimping yourself and get on with it already.
That was a terrible interview. hertz rent a car kapalua Did she actually say anything of substance that actually answered hertz rent a car kapalua a question? Not that I could tell. And yes, I was dizzy actually trying to find answers to the questions amongst all of the spin.
All of that aside, when I was under 25, Enterprise was the only agency who would rent to me without charging an extortionate fee. (There was a fee, but it wasn t bad.) And, I ve never had a bad experience with them, so I will always consider renting from them when they are a choice.
Unlike the last time I rented from Payless ATL, and when I arrived, the only thing they had on the lot was a mini-van. I don t like driving larger vehicles hertz rent a car kapalua than I need when I m in a strange hertz rent a car kapalua town (I don t drive anything hertz rent a car kapalua larger than a mid-size at home) and I sure don t want to pay for the gas on a mini-van. I realize the agent at the desk can t make inventory appear out of nowhere, so I told him that if he threw in a free tank of gas I d be a happy customer. No dice. Thankfully there was a car be cleaned that he let me have, but I had to fight to get it. I d pick Enterprise over Payless any day.
I also rent enterprise, as they are the recommended insurance supplier and they always have a wide list of available cars and also because they have very reasonable hertz rent a car kapalua rates. Additionally, they were the ONLY company who would rent to people who did not have a major credit card. They required a few pay stubs and a $250 deposit.
I have no problem with Enterprise s decisions. A company can only pay someone else so much to rent their cars before the profit margin shrinks hertz rent a car kapalua too much to be of any benefit. Most people already get the best deals by going directly to the rental agency website anyway or by becoming a member hertz rent a car kapalua of its renters club.
I check airfares on Expedia, which means American Airlines hertz rent a car kapalua no longer exists for me since it refuses to work with Expedia. And I book car rentals through Priceline, where I always seem to end up with Hertz. The people who use Orbitz aren t likely to stop using it because Enterprise has taken its marbles and gone home; if Enterprise doesn t mind losing the business, then everyone should be happy.
I never book Enterprise for clients, as their rates are usually higher and they have driving restrictions. Insurance companies make up the bulk of their business so not being in Orbitz is no big thing, as it is just one small point of distribution and there are many others.
Oh, and BTW was Pam at all embarrassed by her marketin