GPS spreading among car rental companies
Car GPS units are being offered on a more widespread basis by car rental companies.
USA Today 06/07/05
author: Gary Stoller
(Copyright 2005)
The next wave of rental-car gadgetry is rolling in. A growing number of vehicles are being equipped with satellite navigation systems (car gps) and satellite radio.
It's the industry's first widespread technological breakthrough since compact disc players became standard in cars about five years ago. hert
Many business travelers welcome the devices, particularly the navigation systems' ability to guide them through unfamiliar cities. Some say they choose which company to use based on the availability of the devices.
The car gps units are great toy, and it's better than stopping and asking for directions, says Jeff MacMillan, a consulting engineer in Notre Dame, Ind., who has rented about a dozen cars with gps navigation systems. It's amazingly accurate, a friendly back-seat driver, and it pays for itself when it comes time to return the car at a strange airport.
Hertz has 50,000 vehicles in the USA and Canada equipped with gps navigation systems and expects to add 10,000 more by the end of this year, says Vice President Richard Broome.
Hertz charges renters $9 extra a day for a vehicle with such a system. No cars below midsize are equipped with it, and it is more prevalent in large and luxury vehicles, Broome says.
Avis charges $9.95 daily for a portable gps navigation device that can plug into any car. The gadget, available in just two locations two years ago, can now be rented in 67 cities, says spokeswoman Susan McGowan.
Avis plans to have them in 12 more cities this year and in various Canadian and Puerto Rican cities.
National and Alamo, which are controlled by Vanguard Car Rental USA, charge $9.99 each day for a portable gps unit, says spokesman Charles Pulley. Budget, which is owned by Avis' parent company, Cendant Car Rental Group, will begin renting the navigation equipment later this year, says Avis Vice President Michael Caron.
Sue Reiss, a sales manager in Iron River, Mich., says the gps devices are useful on highways but often don't provide the best directions in cities.
Frequent business traveler John Kernitzki of Glendale, Ariz., says he carries his own portable unit, because it is superior to those offered by car-rental companies. It has better reception and city maps with more up-to-date information, the technology consultant says.
USA Today 06/07/05
author: Gary Stoller
(Copyright 2005)
The next wave of rental-car gadgetry is rolling in. A growing number of vehicles are being equipped with satellite navigation systems (car gps) and satellite radio.
It's the industry's first widespread technological breakthrough since compact disc players became standard in cars about five years ago. hert
Many business travelers welcome the devices, particularly the navigation systems' ability to guide them through unfamiliar cities. Some say they choose which company to use based on the availability of the devices.
The car gps units are great toy, and it's better than stopping and asking for directions, says Jeff MacMillan, a consulting engineer in Notre Dame, Ind., who has rented about a dozen cars with gps navigation systems. It's amazingly accurate, a friendly back-seat driver, and it pays for itself when it comes time to return the car at a strange airport.
Hertz has 50,000 vehicles in the USA and Canada equipped with gps navigation systems and expects to add 10,000 more by the end of this year, says Vice President Richard Broome.
Hertz charges renters $9 extra a day for a vehicle with such a system. No cars below midsize are equipped with it, and it is more prevalent in large and luxury vehicles, Broome says.
Avis charges $9.95 daily for a portable gps navigation device that can plug into any car. The gadget, available in just two locations two years ago, can now be rented in 67 cities, says spokeswoman Susan McGowan.
Avis plans to have them in 12 more cities this year and in various Canadian and Puerto Rican cities.
National and Alamo, which are controlled by Vanguard Car Rental USA, charge $9.99 each day for a portable gps unit, says spokesman Charles Pulley. Budget, which is owned by Avis' parent company, Cendant Car Rental Group, will begin renting the navigation equipment later this year, says Avis Vice President Michael Caron.
Sue Reiss, a sales manager in Iron River, Mich., says the gps devices are useful on highways but often don't provide the best directions in cities.
Frequent business traveler John Kernitzki of Glendale, Ariz., says he carries his own portable unit, because it is superior to those offered by car-rental companies. It has better reception and city maps with more up-to-date information, the technology consultant says.
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