Travelers have not been a happy bunch lately, but airport rental car companies that earn their customers’ commitment enlist real advocates for their business. Nine out of ten customers who say they are committed to a particular car rental company state that they definitely will recommend it to others. That reservoir of good feeling is harder to find these days, however, because overall customer satisfaction with the airport-based rental experience has declined significantly since last year.The culprit? The faltering economy is affecting all aspects of the travel industry as leisure and business travelers cut back on their bookings. Rental companies are responding to that reduced revenue with staffing and operational cutbacks that can make renting a car at the airport a less enjoyable experience. Customers expect to find rental cars that are clean and in good operating condition, that the vehicle models they reserved are available and short wait times for vehicle pick up and drop off. Companies that miss the mark on any of those measures immediately see the impact in unhappy customers and declining customer satisfaction ratings.
The J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Rental Car Satisfaction StudySM analyzed the experiences of more than 13,000 travelers who rented cars at airports to see how companies are performing in this challenging environment. 
We examine six factors (listed in order of importance): costs and fees, pick-up process, rental car and return process.
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