Texas mask mandate... no rental cars?

[Jook]

Spelled it out in the subject title.
I'm going to DFW ( Dallas Fort Worth Airport) on Friday to do college tours with my daughter.
She would have went in a week or three, but due to the governor lifting the mask mandate and many of the other covid rules, we moved up our trip to this weekend.
So I'm going Friday, yesterday I checked to see if I could go Thursday and have more time at the college.
Nope, no rentals cars.
Websites ( hotwire, expdia, kayak etc) that showed me a glimmer of hope to rent a car on Thursday faded into , nope, no cars available.

Are people flocking to Texas, just after the mask mandate is lifted?
Are they flocking to Texas to party?
Or are they like me and have to conduct their visit, but are terrified of the covid case count in 3 or 4 weeks from now?

Odd coincidence?

Oh yeah, Hail the Mighty Owls!

[Lluke]

I would have to say odd coincidence... I can't imagine why there's a shortage..

[Jook]

Airline travel is down by 50%? So maybe car rentals are off by similar?
I just read that Car rental companies have scaled their fleets down due to covid.
More people are opting to stay closer to home and renting cars for domestic travel.
Now I'm worried, if they will even have a car for me.

[Devorah]

Just a suggestion, if you are a Costco member, many times I have found cars there, when all the regular sites had none. As for Texas, it is currently spring break at the colleges here, so that may be why there is a shortage of rental cars. I know my brother (goes to UT Tyler) is on break and drove to NC to see my parents (although he didn't rent a car he has his own).

[Fanra]

Due to many factors, including the world wide microchip shortage, new cars are not being produced in adequate numbers. Which means less new rental fleet cars. And used car prices are higher, which gives more incentive for rental car companies to sell off part of their fleet.

[Ubherc]

When COVID started restrictive travel many car rental companies sold many of their cars to keep from going bankrupt.

[Fanra]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/25/business/rental-car-shortage-price-spike/index.html
$300 a day for a Kia Rio. Why rental cars prices have gone insane


A year ago, air travel came to a near halt, leading to a glut of rental cars (http://www.cnn.com/2020/05/23/business/hertz-avis-budget-enterprise-covid-19-crisis/index.html). Rental companies parked their cars in unused lots at ballparks around the nation, and cars were rented for a fraction of their normal price — or sold as used cars (https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/24/business/buying-used-rental-cars/index.html). The industry sold off more than a half a million cars, about a third of their combined fleets, just to generate cash they needed to survive the crisis.

Following a year of deep losses, rental car companies have been unable to rebuild their fleets, especially with auto plants shut (http://www.cnn.com/2021/02/09/business/gm-extends-plant-shutdowns-chip-shortage/index.html) by a shortage of computer chips (http://www.cnn.com/2021/01/13/business/global-chip-shortages-carmakers/index.html) needed to build cars.

So this spring's rebound in spring break travelers (http://www.cnn.com/2021/03/21/business/air-travel-spring-break/index.html) has led to a severe shortage of rental cars in vacation hotspots, resulting in sky-high prices for vacationers.