'I thought it was crazy': Travellers shocked by car rental prices on Vancouver Island – CTV News VI


If you are planning on hopping on a plane for a family vacation and renting a car at your destination, you better look into what it’s going to cost you.
Many travellers are being blindsided with the price tag of a car rental. Peter Raymond is one of those travellers that was caught off guard.
"I thought it was crazy," Raymond told CTV News on Friday. "I couldn’t believe it, number one, and I thought maybe they were making a mistake."
A month ago, Raymond booked a flight from Toronto to Victoria for a family visit. He also looked into a car rental.
"At the time, they wanted something like $1,200 for four days," said Raymond.
This is a trip that he has done before. Normally he expects to pay no more than $100 a day.
He decided to wait and try his luck at the airport once he got here. That’s when he discovered vehicles are now renting for more than $500 a day.
"I said, ‘Why so high?’ And he said, ‘Well it’s a market thing,’" said the bewildered traveller.
"I’m thinking to myself, no that’s a straight-up gouging thing," said Raymond.
It turns out, it is a market thing. During the pandemic, many rental car companies sold off their fleets to reduce costs. Now, as the world emerges from the pandemic, rental companies can’t buy more vehicles to replace them.
The Associated Canadian Rental Car Operators told CTV News that fleets are down because a shortage of semi-conductor chips has impacted new vehicle production.
That chip shortage is expected to last until the end of this year.
"It’s a simple case of supply and demand, that is what it is all about," said Kevin Crawford, sales manager at Used Car Centre in Colwood.
Used Car Centre buys a lot of its inventory from rental companies. With no new vehicles for those rental companies to buy, they are holding onto their vehicles for longer, creating a lack of inventory for the used vehicle market.
"The trickle-down effect is that it drives the used car prices up," said Crawford.
In the meantime, for the remainder of Raymond’s stay in Victoria, he’ll be getting around the old-fashioned way, by walking.
"My feet are sore, my legs are sore, but I’m $2,100 richer," said Raymond. 
Gibran Marquez made a phone call he never wants to make again. Marquez was one of many people trapped in a massive hail storm near Red Deer, Alta., which left dozens of vehicles damaged and drivers and passengers bruised and confused along the side of the QEII highway.

A new study that looks back on the first and second waves of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 says that travel restrictions barring entry to Canada did drastically reduce the number of COVID-19 cases entering the country but couldn't stop new outbreaks.

A Snowbirds aircraft crashed in Northern B.C. shortly after takeoff Tuesday afternoon.

A seven-year-old boy is recovering in hospital after being attacked by a cougar north of Rocky Mountain House on the weekend. Chay Feuser, Carson Feuser’s mom, said her son was staying with his two sisters and a family friend, Alicia, at a campsite near Buster Creek, Alta., Sunday morning when the animal attacked.

Doctors have successfully separated a pair of 3-year-old twin boys fused at the brain after months of cross-continental planning through a virtual reality operating theatre.

A British Columbia man who, after killing his wife, once tried to claim burning her body and vehicle was part of a "respectful cremation" has been granted day parole.

The woman who filed a lawsuit against Hockey Canada over an alleged group sexual assault recently passed a polygraph examination, her lawyer said Tuesday. The result of the polygraph test, which was arranged by the complainant's lawyer, was provided to the London Police, the Hockey Canada review and the NHL investigators.

An 11-year-old girl missing from Stratford, Ont. has been found safe.

The Winnipeg Public Library system won’t have to wonder anymore about what happened to its copy of 'Baseball' by Daniel E. Jessee, which was recently returned after a 48-year checkout.

As B.C.’s hospitals are faltering under the burden of staff resignations and illness, sources say private companies are quietly filling the gaps with growing numbers of well-compensated nurses – with an unclear price tag.

Some tenants in a Vancouver rental building say they were forced to walk up and down as many as 10 flights of stairs several times per day during the recent heat wave.

The out-of-control Keremeos Creek wildfire burning near a B.C. mountain resort continues to grow, and has shut down Highway 3A between Penticton and Keremeos.

A seven-year-old boy is recovering in hospital after being attacked by a cougar north of Rocky Mountain House on the weekend. Chay Feuser, Carson Feuser’s mom, said her son was staying with his two sisters and a family friend, Alicia, at a campsite near Buster Creek, Alta., Sunday morning when the animal attacked.

New data from the Canadian Health Institute for Health Information (CHIHI) shows cycling injuries spiked in the first year of the pandemic.

Doctors have successfully separated a pair of 3-year-old twin boys fused at the brain after months of cross-continental planning through a virtual reality operating theatre.

The father of a four-year-old girl who was struck and killed by a GO train in Mississauga, Ont. last week is speaking out for the first time since the accident.

The University Health Network (UHN) says the three intensive care units at Toronto General Hospital are at or near capacity as the health-care system struggles to keep up with demand.

Toronto police say that one man was taken to hospital with serious injuries after a shooting at a memorial service in Scarborough Tuesday night.

A Calgary health facility is shortening the amount of time it offers urgent care due to staffing issues.

The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that they have re-signed forward Andrew Mangiapane, defenseman Oliver Kylington and forward Martin Pospisil.

As more people and their pets spend time outdoors, Calgary veterinarians are once again warning about the potentially harmful affects of foxtail grass.

A Montreal man is facing a life sentence in the United States after pleading guilty to importing fentanyl into that country from his Canadian prison cell.

The owner of a popular Indian restaurant on Montreal's Saint-Laurent Boulevard says he has been forced to temporarily shut down his business because of ongoing construction right outside his doorstep.

The Sunrise assisted living home on St-Jean Boulevard in Dollard-des-Ormeaux has confirmed an outbreak of Legionnaire's disease in the building that sent two people to hospital last week.

After being officially reclassified as medical science professionals over a year ago, some New Brunswick paramedics say they have yet to receive the retroactive pay promised to them.

People who live in a couple of older apartment buildings in north end Dartmouth, N.S., say they're being tossed out now that the owner has sold the properties.

Nova Scotia's legislature wrapped up a short summer session on Tuesday with the passage of a bill rescinding a recommended 12.6 per cent pay raise for its members.

It was brief, but a tornado touched down in Manitoba, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

A Winnipeg library branch’s vestibule is no longer open 24 hours after a person experiencing homelessness started sleeping inside.

A 54-year-old man has been charged with multiple offences after a woman was hit and killed by a truck in a Poplar River parking lot.

An 11-year-old girl missing from Stratford, Ont. has been found safe.

It’s been a hot summer that has been met with red-hot inflation, which is hitting ice cream truck operators across southwestern Ontario.

The Government of Canada is scheduled to deliver a national apology to Peepeekisis Cree Nation in Saskatchewan on Wednesday.

Weyburn RCMP say a search warrant led to an increased police presence and a man being taken into custody in Halbrite on Tuesday.

Regina recorded the most homicides per capita in Canada last year, according to an annual report from the Canadian Centre of Justice Statistics (CCJS).

A 12-year-old Barrie boy hopes to make life a little easier for students fleeing the war in Ukraine, one backpack at a time.

An 11-year-old girl missing from Stratford, Ont. has been found safe.

Police have issued a warrant for a 31-year-old Wasaga Beach man charged with attempted murder and aggravated sexual assault.

More than a week ago a Saskatoon mother and her son were reported missing, now a call is going out for property owners to look for anything out the ordinary.

Saskatoon-based Prairie Harm Reduction says new federal cash to boost HIV testing was needed.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority says it has paused new admissions to the child and youth inpatient mental health and psychiatric unit in Prince Albert while recruitment is underway for child and youth psychiatrists.

Top Glove Boxing Academy in Sudbury is hosting a 5K fundraising run Aug. 13 to help it recover after the COVID-19 pandemic

The competition is on to find the best and most creative burger in all of Sudbury.

Ontario's Minister of Mines, George Pirie said while he's been getting ready to open his constituency office in Timmins, he's already had meetings regarding progress on the Ring of Fire mining development.

CTV News Programs
Local News
© 2022 All rights reserved. Use of this Website assumes acceptance of Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy

source


Tinggalkan Balasan

Alamat email Anda tidak akan dipublikasikan. Ruas yang wajib ditandai *