We Tried Harder....

As I read my newsfeed last week, I noticed this.

AVIS Car Rental at Barkley Airport Closing June 30

PADUCAH, KY - One of three car rental companies at Barkley Regional Airport is closing.

The airport posted an announcement on their Facebook page Wednesday afternoon saying that AVIS Car Rental will close on June 30.

This made me a little sad. I’ve rented a lot of cars at that location. When I worked at USEC, we rented a lot of cars from AVIS for use on trips. I would guess as USEC ramped downward, it hurt their business. Plus, there were three rental car companies at Barkley Regional. There are a grand total of TWO incoming flights at Barkley – on Saturday there is ONE. There just couldn't have been enough people to support all three.

I have had an Avis Wizard number for years. The big advantage of this isn’t at Barkley though. When I get to other airports, it makes a huge different in picking up a car. Your car is ready to go. You see your last name and the location of the car on a board and you simply go to your car. You do not have to spend all the time at the rental counter. I love it. It's nice after a long flight to just simply pick up your car and not wait in a long line. Plus, having an AVIS Wizard number doesn't cost anything!

I will also admit that I have not rented a car for personal use from Avis in years. You might wonder why. I rent vehicles almost exclusively from Enterprise. Their base rates are a bit cheaper. The big difference is that the airport tacks on a 10% fee on the cost of the rental. This isn’t nearly as bad as some airports I’ve visited (it can add 30% to 50% to the cost of rental). My being thrifty (cheap) makes me go to Enterprise.

Honestly though, I’m not sure how we still have an airport in Paducah. But that’s a topic for another day..