It’s now just not airlines and tour operators. Advantage Rent A Car, one of the larger discount companies, just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and is closing two-thirds of its airport locations.
Basically, the company is closing most of its leisure locations, which, unfortunately are the most popular over the holidays. But those are also the locations that have been most affected by the economic downtown.
The locations that are closing for rent a car pickup include: Albuquerque, Aspen, Burbank, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Grand Junction, Hayden, Honolulu, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Maui, Palm Springs, Reno, San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle and Tucson.
Airport locations still in business are Austin, Chicago Midway, Colorado Springs, Denver, El Paso, Houston Intercontinental, Orlando, Phoenix and Salt Lake City .
“We have been hit with a simultaneous drop in leisure travel, with greatly increased costs and frozen credit markets,” said Jon Austin, spokesman for Advantage in a prepared statement. “These factors are affecting many industries and companies and we are not immune from these forces. These painful steps are a recognition of that reality.”
Advantage has said it is working with Hertz to honor existing reservations. (But in places like Hawaii, that could be difficult. Also, there’s no word yet if Hertz will honor Advantage prices.)
Cars can still be returned at the closed locations and customers with questions should call toll-free (888) 846-0808. And anyone with an Advantage reservation should definitely reconfirm. The time to find out there’s a problem is not when you are standing in front of a closed counter with long lines everywhere else.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
