PARSIPPANY, N.J. -- Galileo International Inc., a travel distribution services company, announced that Hertz has upgraded to CarMaster Inside Availability, Galileo's highest level of connectivity.

CarMaster Inside Availability is designed to give car rental companies control of where, when and how they make their inventory available. As a result, the service provides Galileo travel agency and corporate subscribers with real-time access to rates and available inventory from the car rental companies' own reservation systems, Galileo International said.

Hertz is the first participant to use Inside Availability's Approximate Total feature that returns an approximate total of the car rental cost, all taxes, surcharges and any additional charges to agents viewing a single company display on a CarMaster availability screen.

With Inside Availability, Hertz now can instantly return customized responses to agent queries with client-specific pricing, inventory, integrated into a neutral screen display for the travel agent to view, Galileo International said. In addition, as one of the largest suppliers for corporate rentals, Hertz's participation in Inside Availability provides travel agency and corporate subscribers the ability to review corporations' negotiated rates prior to the sale.

"With CarMaster Inside Availability, we can deliver our most advanced and comprehensive information and reservation data available, enabling travel agents to provide faster and more reliable customer service and providing customers with competitive, up-to-the-minute rates and availability, leading to increased agent and customer confidence," said Brian Kennedy, Hertz executive vice president of marketing and sales."

"With the addition of Hertz, approximately three-fourths of car rental bookings will be made with Inside Availability suppliers," said Flo Lugli, Galileo senior vice president of global supplier business development. "Inside Availability allows Hertz to deliver specialized rates and inventory to a targeted customer base, thereby improving revenue management and enhancing inventory control."

Galileo International's core business is providing electronic global distribution services for the travel industry through its computerized reservation systems and Internet-based solutions. Galileo International is a subsidiary of Cendant Corp.