With more than 36 million people hitting the road Memorial Day weekend, Enterprise Holdings – which owns and operates the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands – is helping to make summer travel more affordable and consumer friendly.  In fact, since 2009, average basic rental rates (covering time and mileage) for its flagship Enterprise Rent-A-Car service have only increased $1.55 per day at the airport, from $35.23 to $36.78.

In addition, airport customers renting from any of the three Enterprise Holdings brands can take advantage of fair, market-based refueling fees. They have the option of returning their vehicle with a full tank, pre-paying for a full tank at a discounted rate, or asking for the tank to be refilled after the car is returned. Those who choose the third option will have their tank refilled at a competitive and fair rate, unlike some competitors that may charge much higher refueling mark-ups.

Enterprise has consistently led the car rental industry with the lowest refueling fees, with a well-established track record on this important consumer issue. As early as 2008, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office announced agreements with other rental car operators to bring their refueling prices more in line with the much lower rates charged by the Enterprise, National and Alamo brands. At the time, the Baltimore Sun referred to their practices as “a model in setting refueling rates.”

During his keynote address at this year’s Car Rental Show, Enterprise Holdings’ Chief Marketing Officer Pat Farrell stressed the long-term importance of such consumer-focused policies: “The car rental industry meets people’s very real, important and urgent needs. There is a true purpose and honor in what we do. Our world will continue to change: innovation will drive growth, technology will drive growth and customer preferences will drive growth. Whether we – as individual companies or an industry – succeed or fail will come down to one simple thing – how we deal with each customer.”