Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Car rental |
Founded | 1971Spokane, Washington, U.S. | , in
Founder | John Les Netterstron |
Headquarters | St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. |
Number of locations | 167 (2015) |
Area served | Worldwide |
Parent | Avis Budget Group |
Website | paylesscar.com |
Payless Car Rental, Inc. is a car rental company owned by Avis Budget Group and headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. While mainly a franchise system, the company owns and operates several corporate locations. Payless Car Rental, Payless Car Sales, Payless Parking and REZlink International are sister companies under the umbrella of Avalon Global Group. [1]
The Payless brand operates in North America, South America, and Europe. The company has 167 locations worldwide. [2]
Payless was acquired by Avis Budget Group in 2013. [3]
In 1971, John Les Netterstron opened the first Payless Car Rental location in Spokane, Washington. Under the direction of Netterstron, the company grew from a local car rental store to a franchise system with over 100 car rental offices throughout the United States. By 1987 the company acquired the U.S. portion of Canadian-based Holiday Rent a Car, at which time the company built its first automated central reservation system. [4]
The first Payless image was created in 1989, which has endured to the present day with only minor changes. Payless opened its first two corporate stores in 2002, adding 4 more between 2004 – 2006. The company currently has corporate locations in Denver, Ft. Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix and Tampa. [5] In March 2009 Payless Car Rental was added to the Expedia Preferred Vendors view. Payless also offers rates through travel portals such as Orbitz, Priceline.com, Travelocity and Rentcars.com.
As of 2008, Payless provides car rental services in over 80 locations in 20 countries operating over 10,000 vehicles. [5]
In July 2013, Avis Budget Group acquired Payless for reported cost of 50 million dollars. [6]
In order to keep costs low, Payless typically shares a fleet with other Avis Budget Group-owned companies, Avis Rent a Car, as well as Budget Rent a Car, in many locations. Payless uses sales techniques to maintain profitability, including offering fewer vehicle classes than other rental car companies. [7]
Hertz Global Holdings, Inc., known as Hertz, is an American car rental company based in Estero, Florida. The company operates its namesake Hertz brand, along with the brands Dollar Rent A Car, Firefly Car Rental and Thrifty Car Rental.
Cendant Corporation was an American provider of business and consumer services, primarily within the real estate and travel industries. In 2005 and 2006, it broke up and spun off or sold its constituent businesses. Although it was based in New York City, the majority of its headquarters employees were in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car is an American car rental agency headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. Enterprise is the flagship brand of Enterprise Holdings, which also owns other agencies including Alamo Rent a Car and National Car Rental. The company has historically concentrated on what it calls "home city" rentals, often people renting a car while their own was being repaired, but has expanded to airport-based rentals, especially after its parent company's acquisition of Alamo and National in 2007.
Sixt SE is an international mobility service provider with about 2,000 locations in more than 100 countries. Sixt SE acts as a parent and holding company of the Sixt Group, which is internationally active in the business areas of vehicle rental, car sharing, ride-hailing, and subscription.
Zipcar is an American car-sharing company and a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group. Zipcar provides vehicle reservations to its members, billable by the minute, hour or day; members may have to pay a monthly or annual membership fee in addition to car reservations charges. Gas, maintenance, insurance options, and a dedicated parking spot are included. Zipcar was founded in 2000 by Antje Danielson and Robin Chase.
Avis Car Rental, LLC is an American car rental company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. Along with Budget Rent a Car, Budget Truck Rental and Zipcar, Avis is a unit of Avis Budget Group.
Budget Rent a Car System, Inc. is an American car rental company that was founded in 1958 in Los Angeles, California by Morris Mirkin. Budget is a subsidiary of the Avis Budget Group, with its operations headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.
Dollar Rent A Car is an American car rental agency, headquartered in Estero, Florida, with offices in many countries around the world. Dollar is owned by The Hertz Corporation, along with other agencies including Hertz Rent A Car, Firefly Car Rental and Thrifty Car Rental. Dollar typically caters to budget-conscious leisure travelers.
Thrifty Car Rental is an American car rental agency, headquartered in Estero, Florida, with offices in many countries around the world. Thrifty is owned by The Hertz Corporation, along with other agencies including Hertz Rent A Car and Dollar Rent A Car. Thrifty typically caters to budget-conscious leisure travelers.
Avis Budget Group, Inc. is an American car rental agency holding company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. It is the parent company of several brands including Avis Car Rental, Budget Rent a Car, Budget Truck Rental, Payless Car Rental and Zipcar.
Budget Truck Rental, LLC is the second largest truck rental company in the continental United States, with around 2,800 locations and 32,000 trucks across the country. Budget Truck Rental is owned and operated by Avis Budget Group, which was spun off from Cendant.
Advantage Rent a Car is a privately held American car rental company headquartered in Orlando, Florida.
Tilden Rent-a-Car, later known as Tilden InterRent, was a Canadian car rental company that was founded by Sam Tilden. Its fleet was sold by the Tilden family to National Car Rental of the United States in June 1996.
Avis Europe plc is a United Kingdom-based company which holds the licence to operate the two main vehicle rental brands of Avis Budget Group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa as well as Asia in the case of Avis. In 2011 it was acquired by Avis Budget Group.
Henry R. Silverman is an American entrepreneur and private equity investor. Silverman is best known for his role in building Cendant Corporation into a multibillion-dollar business services company that provided car rentals, travel reservation services as well as real estate brokerage services and was also the largest franchisor of hotels globally.
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group is the former holding company of Thrifty Car Rental and Dollar Rent A Car. Dollar Thrifty Automotive began to operate as an independent car rental subsidiary of the Chrysler Corporation on November 4, 1997 while continuing to support its two brands, Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental. It was acquired by The Hertz Corporation for US$2.3 billion on November 19, 2012.
Enterprise Holdings, Inc. is an American private holding company headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. It is the parent company of car rental agencies Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, Alamo Rent a Car and also operates several other transportation services including commercial fleet management, used car sales, carsharing, and commercial truck rental operations.
Avis Rent a Car South Africa, better known as Avis, is a South African car rental company headquartered in Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa. Avis Rent a Car South Africa is part of the Avis Rent a Car System and the company operates as a subsidiary of Barloworld Limited since it was acquired in March 2005 and was delisted from Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The name Avis, however, remained unaltered.
Auto Europe is a large car rental wholesale company, working with approximately 24,000 car rental locations in 180 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, as well as North and South America. Auto Europe has been accredited with the Better Business Bureau since 2 April 1993, with an A+ rating. Auto Europe has been owned by Court Square Capital Partners since 2006.
Luis de Jesus Rodríguez Gutiérrez is a Dominican attorney, businessman, and entrepreneur. Rodriguez has served as director of the Domino's Pizza franchise in the Dominican Republic and Haiti since 1993, as well as director of car rental company Avis Budget Group since 1997. He currently serves on the board of directors of Universal AFI and as managing director of Investment Fund Casa de Santo Domingo.