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Just in time for summer family travel season, Zagat, a leading provider of consumer-based ratings and reviews, releases the results of its latest U.S. Car Rental Survey covering 10 leading brands. Hertz made a clean sweep of top ratings for Vehicles, Reliability, Service and Popularity, netting the title of Top Overall car rental company. The surveyors, predominantly men, rented cars 11.4 times on average in the past year – 6.7 times for business and 4.7 for leisure. In addition to providing ratings on Zagat’s 30-point scale, the surveyors offered comments about their experiences with the various rental car brands.
Following Hertz, National took the No. 2 spot edging out Avis. National also was rated the best value among the 10 brands. The following are lists of the top five winners in each surveyed category:
| Vehicles | Reliability | Service |
| 1. Hertz (25) | 1. Hertz (25) | 1. Hertz (23) |
| 2. National (23) | 2. National (24) | 2. National (22) |
| 3. Avis (23) | 3. Avis (24) | 3. Enterprise (22) |
| 4. Enterprise (21) | 4. Enterprise (23) | 4. Avis (21) |
| 5. Alamo (21) | 5. Alamo (21) | 5. Alamo (19) |
| Overall (VRS) | Popularity | Bang for the Buck |
| 1. Hertz (24) | 1. Hertz | 1. National |
| 2. National (23) | 2. Enterprise | 2. Enterprise |
| 3. Avis (23) | 3. Avis | 3. Hertz |
| 4. Enterprise (22) | 4. National | 4. Avis |
| 5. Alamo (20) | 5. Budget | 5. Alamo |
Surveyors were asked to select the best rental car brands in a variety of additional categories. Enterprise wins for Deals and Promotions, Neighborhood Rentals, and Car Pick-Up Experience, while Hertz wins the remaining 10 of 13 categories. The results are as follows:
– Business Travel – Hertz
– Neighborhood Rentals – Enterprise
– Leisure Travel – Hertz
– Deals and Promotions – Enterprise
– Counter Staff – Hertz
– Car Pick-Up Experience –Enterprise
– Self-Service Kiosk – Hertz
– Car Return Experience – Hertz
– Loyalty Program – Hertz
– Shuttle Experience – Hertz
– Green Options – Hertz
– Website – Hertz
– Airport Rentals – Hertz
According to Tim Zagat, co-Chair of Zagat, "Having closely followed the car rental industry over the past 20 years, it comes as no surprise to see Hertz, National and Avis dominating. However, the degree of Hertz’s victory in this year’s survey is most impressive."
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
