Be careful if you plan to rent a car this summer

As bookings multiply, it should be difficult to hire a car for the summer vacation at the last minute.

That’s it, the long awaited ones summer holidays finally point the tip of their nose. After long months of putting the morale of the French to the test, between health constraints and endless bad weather, it is now time to think about relaxation. But if vaccination is accelerating and many countries have reopened their borders, many French people will favor our beautiful country for their summer holidays. And inevitably, it should be felt on the roads, while at least one in two holidaymakers will take their car this year. Already, Bison Futé also foresees a lot of traffic jams on the main roads in July and August, and it will therefore be necessary to take your troubles patiently before arriving at your destination. But another difficulty should also complicate the holidays of the French somewhat: the shortage of rental cars. Companies specializing in short term rentals might not be able to have enough vehicles for their customers.

=> Find out which days will be the most congested this summer

A situation to say the least unfortunate but nevertheless predictable, which can be explained by several reasons. First, by the fact that this year more French people will travel to France, where in other years, holidaymakers tended to escape to the other side of the world. Obviously, demand will therefore be greater. Except that here, many rental companies had decided last year to reduce their fleet, when they were severely affected by the health crisis. Increasing demand, decreasing supply, the equation is therefore fairly easy to understand. In addition to causing a shortage, this situation also has the effect of driving up prices, sometimes from single to double, or even triple in some places. And this does not only concern France. According to Carigami, a week’s rental in Italy goes from 250 to 407 €, while it takes 263 € for a week in Spain, against 185 € in 2019. Hopefully these increases will not deter tourists, in a difficult context for companies in this sector.

Rentals between individuals also affected

This situation is therefore not really surprising, as Caroline Parot, CEO of Europcar explains: “ Until mid-April, there was a very negative positioning on the summer […] We took precautions not to accelerate excessively (…) Everyone has between -30 and -35% of vehicles compared to 2019 “. For his part, Massimiliano Archiapatti, president of the Italian rental companies, warns customers: “ We have started to warn people: if you want to come to Italy, which is finally opening, book in advance, get organized “. He also adds that “ with the law of supply and demand, it may have a consequence on prices “. But this situation does not only affect professional rental companies, since it logically has repercussions on rentals between individuals. Indeed GetAround (ex-Drivy) claims to have recorded a very strong increase in demand. The site also specifies that more than 90% of the cars available have been rented during the weekends since May, the beginning of the deconfinement in France. Moreover, many vehicles would have already been rented for the next weeks of summer vacation.