Top rental car locations this summer

Yahoo Finance’s Stephanie Asymkos breaks down the latest on car rental shortages.

Video transcript

KRISTIN MYERS: Welcome back. Well, if you are trying to rent a car, well, think again, because many rental car companies are facing shortages, and those that can snag a car will be paying pretty high prices. We're joined now by Yahoo Finance's Stephanie Asymkos with all the details on why. Hi, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ASYMKOS: Hi. That's right. This rental car industry has been rocked. And Americans are facing just eye-watering prices when they get to rental car counters, if there are cars available at all. So using data from Allianz Partners, they analyzed nearly a quarter of a million car rental reservations from airports. And that was from Memorial Day to Labor Day and the data concluded that visitors to hotspots like Orlando, Denver, and Las Vegas will have the toughest time securing car rentals. And this increased demand has really led to significant price increases for rentals.

And while we're talking about this, let it be said that gas is also over $3 a gallon on average, which is its highest since 2014. So no matter where you are in the country, if you rent or if you own it's going to be a little bit more expensive than what we're used to trying to get where you need to go this summer.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: So what happened to the rental car network? I mean, why are prices so high? Are there simply not enough cars right now to go around?

STEPHANIE ASYMKOS: Pretty much. I mean, last year at the pandemic's onset when people were under much stricter stay-at-home orders, rental car companies sort of panicked and sold off a lot of their fleets to minimize overhead. And here we are a year and change later, and no one could have really predicted the pendulum swinging back to where we are now. Plus, the road trip is really having a renaissance, and people are out driving.

So it's really a supply and demand imbalance, and it's translated to really exorbitant daily rental amounts and sellouts. And you know, quickly in places like Hawaii rental cars or as much as $500 a day, whereas a year ago they were $5 a day. So quite a huge change. And then across the Sunbelt as well, prices have steadily increased beginning in winter-- sort of right when vaccines were coming out-- and people had that renewed confidence in travel.

KRISTIN MYERS: So then Stephanie, since those pandemic-era deals are long gone, what can travelers do if they want to rent a car, there is a car available, but they do not want to spend that $500 a day?

STEPHANIE ASYMKOS: Right. So you can get a little crafty. There are alternatives, and it is possible to bypass all of that. So the popularity of peer-to-peer carsharing marketplaces that connect car owners directly with renters-- apps and platforms like Getaround and Turo have really taken off. And I've connected with representatives from both companies who have confirmed that demand has more than doubled in some cities.

And depend on-- if you want to be seen in driving around a cargo van, some people-- actually, tourists in Hawaii have actually been renting U-Haul cargo vans and pickup trucks and cruising around the island that way, because the affordability and the availability. So there are options. It just depends on what you want to be seen in.

KRISTIN MYERS: All right, absolutely. I have seen a lot more U-hauls out there than normal. I didn't realize that it was a bunch of people not moving, but just driving around. Stephanie Asymkos, thanks so much for bringing us those details.