Airport Rates Drop Slightly in June
After a small upturn in rate quotes for March, April, and May, airport rates dropped slightly (74 cents) in June. Summer rental rates may be impacted by England’s decision to leave the European Union; the euro and pound have already been weakened.

Rate data provided by Rate-Highway, a leading provider of revenue management services for the auto rental industry. Rates are an average of aggregator/OTA rates for all vendors present in the markets listed on the date of the survey. These tables and graph show the average of all base rate quotes per day for an ICAR at the six or 50 airports shown, for arrivals 15 to 21 days ahead of the date of the survey, for two- and seven-day rentals.
With the help of Jim Tennant of The Tennant Group and Michael Meyer of Rate-Highway Inc., we are conducting rate surveys on a weekly basis and providing analysis and comments where appropriate. We publish this monthly recap in our electronic edition and more comprehensive looks in the print editions.

After a flattening and small upturn in rate quotes in March, April, and May, rates turned down slightly in June. The June 24 weekly survey (done at 9 a.m. the day after the Brexit vote) was only down $0.08 from the previous year, so not surprisingly the vote results had no immediate effect on rates.
However, the turmoil in Europe has already weakened both the English pound and the euro, which can’t be good for inbound overseas travel. Our previous optimism over summer rates may have been overtaken by events.
The Northwest and Southwest averages continue to show strong year-over-year gains,and the Northwest had the highest average at $75.97.

Rate data provided by Rate-Highway, a leading provider of revenue management services for the auto rental industry. Rates are an average of aggregator/OTA rates for all vendors present in the markets listed on the date of the survey. These tables and graph show the average of all base rate quotes per day for an ICAR at the six or 50 airports shown, for arrivals 15 to 21 days ahead of the date of the survey, for two- and seven-day rentals.
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