Rental Cars: A breath of fresh air

Name: Budget Travel LLC
Price range: $

By Sean O'Neill

October 3, 2012

It's strange to say, but it's true: Rental cars are smelling fresher these days.

Since last October, Avis and Budget banned smoking in their cars, enforcing the rule with a $250 cleaning fee for violators.

Hertz, which hasn't completely banned smoking, does set aside "smoke-free" cars for booking. It's found a creative way to keep its cars odor free for its customers. In the past year, the chain has rolled out Fresh Wave IAQ, an "all-natural odor neutralizing technology" to nearly all of its U.S. locations. Made of natural plant extracts, the products are biodegradable and non-toxic.

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Product Reviews

Denmark launches a social media site for travelers

Starting this month, Americans of Danish descent have a new way to learn about their heritage and to enjoy walking tours in Denmark. A new site, 1000.stories.dk, publishes fun mini-histories of the country, written by a group of Danish scholars and journalists. Each "story" is boiled down into a short snippet that can be read or listened to on mobile phones and GPS devices. (In July, the English mobile version will be available.) For travelers, it's an ideal companion to a day on the sightseeing circuit. There's offbeat information like the location of Denmark's first traffic light, its oldest souvenir shop, and the annual Woodstock-like music festival in Roskilde. Personally, I'd go for the hot dogs at the Pilot Grill, a popular spot for local airplane buffs. Model airplanes dangle from the ceiling above tables that overlook the airport's main runway. Along the way, you'll hear amusing tales, such as about the time when Marie-Antoinette shopped for gloves during her visit in the 16th century. MORE Follow Visit Denmark on Twitter @DenmarkFeelFree Copenhagen is My City [Intelligent Travel] Six reasons to visit Denmark, the world's happiest country [from Four Hour Workweek]

Coming soon: Turn your smartphone into a hotel room key

A new application will let travelers use their iPhones and other smartphones as room keys at Holiday Inns. The Open Ways app makes it possible for guests to skip the front desk and go straight to their room, says a scoop by USA Today's Hotel Check-In blog. It'll work like this: After you book a room, the hotel chain will zap an encrypted, unique audio code to your phone. You'll get a text message, too, telling you what room you've been assigned to. Once at the door, click the app on your phone, and a signal will unlock your room's door. A similar technology is already used as the key for rent-by-the-hour Zipcars. The technology is still being tested in parts of Chicago and Houston and is not yet widely available. Meanwhile, Apple recently filed for a patent for iTravel, a new app that will allow travelers to use paperless ticketing at airports, car rentals, and concerts. One trick Apple would like to pull off is display on an iPhone's screen a barcode-like graphic. Once you make reservations for your trip, airlines, hotels, and other companies can send you a code by e-mail or text message. You can have this code scanned by attendants at airport gates, concert turnstiles, or other shops. Already, Starbucks now lets you pay for your coffee via an iPhone app tied to the Starbucks debit card. Apple's other trick may be to add a "near-field communication chip" to each phone, which would make it easier and more common to use an iPhone as a hotel room key. Do you like the idea of skipping the front desk by using your cell phone as a room key? Or does this new technology sound like it'll create new problems?

Inspiration

San Francisco: Make the most of Alcatraz

Alcatraz Island—the infamous former prison that was home to inmates such as Al "Scarface" Capone, and "Birdman" Robert Stroud—is a huge part of the Bay's landscape. If you've been to San Francisco, you probably have a stunning photo of the island from afar. But if standing on Fisherman's Wharf for a photo op isn't enough, try an Alcatraz tour to get up close. Alcatraz Cruises, the island's only tour operator, offers three types of tours, starting at $26 for adults ($16 for kids ages 5 to 11). All tours pick up and drop off at Pier 33, just off The Embarcadero and near other marquee attractions like Pier 39 and the Aquarium of the Bay. Here are our handy tips for getting the most of your Alcatraz tour: BUYING TICKETS Plan to buy tickets at least several days in advance—they're actually available up to 90 days out. You can buy online at alcatrazcruises.com or by calling 415/981-7625. Cruises almost always sell out, especially in the busy summer season. Allow two-and-a-half hours for the visit. Touring Alcatraz at night is a great way to see the lit-up city skyline—and the dark makes the prison extra spooky. The night tours (from $33, Thursdays-Mondays) have smaller group sizes and include extras like a personally narrated boat tour around the island and guided tours from the dock to the main prison building. WHAT TO BRING Wear comfortable shoes: The quarter-mile walk to the prison is a steep climb of about 13 stories, and you'll be on your feet during the whole tour. Note: There are golf-cart transportation options for the disabled. Also bring a jacket or a sweater: Even when temperatures are warm, the island gets chilly because of the water and wind. And don't forget sunblock! Ticket purchasers, even those who print out their tickets at home, need to bring their photo ID. You can bring food to eat at the dock, but beyond that, food isn't allowed, and there isn't any for sale on the island. But bottled water is allowed everywhere. WHEN TO GO Get an early start: The 9 a.m. tour is the least crowded. Alcatraz is popular enough that it sells out regularly, but you might see fewer people in the middle of the week. The island is actually a haven for colonial nesting seabirds. Especially during the late winter and in the spring, you could spot cormorants, pigeon guillemots, and waterbirds like snowy egrets and black-crowned night herons. But beware—many guests get a "white badge of honor" courtesy the seagulls, and late June brings the nesting season, which makes the island a little smelly. AND MORE! The audio headset tour, featuring the voices of former Alcatraz guards and inmates, is highly recommended and included with all tours. Hear stories about escapes, surviving solitary confinement, and sound effects of the cell doors. For iPhone owners, you can also download the Geoki Alcatraz Tour App ($1.99) which features an audio tour as well as photos and videos.

Rental Cars: No-show fees are in the works

With hotels and flights, travelers are charged when they fail to show up on the date of a reservation. With car rentals, there's usually no fee for no-shows. But that may soon change. Auto Rental News reports that the very real possibility of instituting no-show fees dominated a recent car rental convention panel. "We are the only segment of the travel industry that does not have a fee for no shows or a system to guarantee a reservation," said Bob Barton, president of the American Car Rental Association (ACRA) and the panel's lead moderator. The ACRA says that the no-show rate on car rentals runs as high as 30 percent in some locations, and in the age when most rental lots have much smaller fleets than in the past, it is increasingly difficult for agencies to manage inventories. (Granted, at the same time, agencies have more than doubled the cost of rental rates, which certainly helps their bottom lines.) Car rental insiders swear that no-show fees aren't at all about the money such fees would generate. Instead, per the ARN story: The panel stressed that the industry is not looking for a revenue grab, similar to airline baggage fees, but a way to better manage utilization. "I don't care if I ever take a dollar from a customer for a no show," said Craig Parmerlee of Ace, who is working to formulate no-show fee guidelines for Open Travel Alliance. "I just want my customer to show up for the rental so I can plan my fleet better." The latest speculation is that such fees will become a reality soon—perhaps in 2011, perhaps with Avis Budget taking the first step. At the end of the discussion, the panel moderator requested a show of hands of those who want to see the advent of car rental no-show fees. Nearly everyone there raised their hands. It's not clear whether all of those people who want to institute a no-show fee would also agree to the flip side of the issue—you know, the one that would actually benefit travelers. We all know that when you make a car rental reservation, there's a chance that by the time you arrive at the rental counter the agency might not have the type of car you reserved. It might not have any car available at all, for that matter. Agencies have always partly blamed this unfortunate scenario on the high no-show rate. But if travelers face the prospect of no-show fees, the no-show rate will surely drop dramatically, and the agency has no excuse for renting out a car that someone else reserved. If a car rental agency implements a fee to guarantee travelers will show up for their reservations, the agency should at least guarantee that they are going to honor those reservations. It's only fair. MORE "Wheel Deals: Cheaper Alternatives to Airport Car Rentals"

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