Skift Take
Three mega car rental companies will soon control the U.S. market, and a handful of airlines will do likewise. Consumer choice and competition is vanishing faster than free checked bags.
Anyone remember when there was actually car rental and airline competition?
Thank God for the fractured hotel market -- at least there tends to be some consumer choice when comparing rooms from chains and independent hotels, although there is more competition in Europe than the U.S.
With the news last night that Hertz has agreed to acquire Dollar Thrifty for $2.6 billion, the US. car rental market, if the deal gets FTC approval, would come down to three major players controlling more than 60% of car rental locations and more than 90% of revenue, according to 2011 figures from AutoRentalNews [pdf].
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="350"] Customers at a Hertz airport
