Why Car Rental Prices Increase all Day

Customers sometimes ask “hey!!!! the price just changed. what happened?

It’s an unfortunate result from the economic effect of supply and demand.

This is the same effect that controls flight prices. It is why diamonds are so expensive, and why strawberries are cheaper in season. Mmmm, I love strawberry season.

Ahem. Car rental companies only own a limited number of cars that can be rented.

To roll with the supply and demand effect, they create different groups of prices.

When the first group at a low price sells out, the next group kicks in at a higher price.

This continues for multiple groups of increasing prices until the last group which is sold at the most expensive rate.

The supply and demand effect is the reason why a price can be $50 one minute and $60 the next. It’s because a lucky customer snuck in and booked the last car at the $50 price.

The moral of the story is to make sure you’re the customer who books their rental car before the next customer books theirs

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