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More car rental companies offer healthcare workers discounts

Two big names in the Australian car rental industry have joined the growing list of companies offering discounts to essential workers.


Rental car giants Avis and Budget have joined a growing list of car hire companies offering discounts to healthcare and essential workers during the COVID-19 crisis.

The jointly-owned rental car brands said they would offer hire car vehicles for as low as $10 per day for essential workers in healthcare, disability, aged care, pharmacy, safety and security, education, childcare, supermarket, airport and transport industries during the coronavirus pandemic.

The offer comes three weeks after a number of other rental car companies began to offer savings for healthcare and essential workers.

“During these uncertain times, both Avis and Budget Australia want to ensure we are supporting the nation’s essential workers and that those who need to travel can do so safely to get to where they are needed the most,” Avis Budget Group Pacific’s CEO Tom Mooney said in a media statement.

Avis and Budget’s scheme is available from select locations until June 30 for bookings from four days up to 59 days.

The discount reduces the daily hire rate for compact cars such as the Kia Rio to $10, medium cars such as the Hyundai i30 to $12, and standard sedans and compact SUVS such as the Toyota Corolla sedan and Mitsubishi ASX to $13.

Large sedans and intermediate SUV models such as Toyota Camry and Mitsubishi Outlander are reduced to $15, while large SUVs such as Toyota Kluger come down to $20 per day.

These rates represent a saving of approximately 80 to 85 per cent on most vehicle categories.

Avis and Budget’s discount scheme joins others undertaken by the car hire industry in the wake of the Coronavirus.

Earlier this month, Hertz announced an initiative that saw 240 vehicles in its fleet available for free hire by healthcare workers, with each state receiving an allocation of 30 cars. That offer is available until June 30.

East Coast Car Rentals was one of the first to offer a discounted weekly rate to doctors, nurses, paramedics, midwives, pharmacist workers, aged care workers as well as supermarket and grocery store employees.

The discount reduces all vehicles in its fleet to a flat rate of $50 per week. For a larger SUV, this equates to a discount of approximately 85 per cent on regular rates. The discounted rate can be accessed until June 30.

Europcar has also offered discounts across its fleet based on availability, however CarAdvice has calculated the discount to be between 35 and 55 per cent on most models.

For more information on Avis’s offer, click here . For more information on Budget’s offer, click here .

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