Budget
Budget Car Rental is an international car rental company based in the United States of America with its headquarters in Parsippany, New Jersey. It is part of the Avis Budget Group, a holding company that owns the Avis and Budget brands, as its name would suggest, along with Payless and Zipcar. The group also owns many smaller brands in different regions of the world. Two notable ones that DiscoverCars.com partners with are Turisprime and Maggiore Group. The company focuses on the value-oriented segment of the rental market.
In the American car rental market, Avis Budget Group is the third-largest company behind Hertz and Enterprise. It has locations across the country in most airports and most large cities, including all the major tourist destinations. The Avis Budget Group directly runs the brands in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. In all other regions, it operates via licensees, though with corporate oversight to ensure the same quality and attention to customers as elsewhere.
Budget is a lower-cost brand for Avis. In many locations, both brands are served at the same rental desk or office. Together Avis and Budget have more than 10,000 locations across 180 all over the world. This makes it one of the largest retinal companies in the world and one of the most recognizable brands in the rental industry. If you’ve ever rented a car before, you have almost surely heard of Avis and/or Budget.
Budget was founded in 1958 by Morris Mirkin in Los Angeles, California. The company moved its headquarters to Chicago in 1960 and began to grow both domestically and internationally. In 1987, the company would become publicly traded and would begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange a decade later. It would be delisted in 2002 and taken private, with many of its locations and assets being sold to Cedant and others to Avis Europe. Cedant would split into independent companies later based on particular industries, with Avis Budget split off into its own company. It would later reunite with Avis Europe in 2011. Budget itself is headed by Joe Ferraro, its president and CEO.
Budget, as a large international company, has an extensive fleet of vehicles. There is also a separate Budget brand for van and truck rentals. The company has all sizes of cars, SUVs, minivans, and luxury vehicles. Chances are if you are looking to rent a specific type of vehicle, you can find one with Budget. Of course, you’ll be best served by Budget if you are a value-oriented customer. Other customers, particularly corporate customers, are better served by the company's sister company Avis.
Budget’s vehicles are completely free of smoke (smoking is not allowed in the vehicle), a policy that began in 2009 When you rent a Budget vehicle, you’ll be sure that you won’t have to smell smoke from a previous renter when you’re driving. And as one of the most recognized brands in the world, you can be sure that the vehicle you rent will be in great condition and safe.
As a global company that provides excellent value car rental services, Budget has won our 2024 Excellent Service Award in many locations including Adelaide and Hobart Airports in Australia; Cork, Kerry, Knock, and Shannon Airports in Ireland; Agadir, Casablanca, Fes, Oujda, Rabat, Tanger Airports in Morocco; Cape Town International Airport in South Africa; Malaga Airport in Spain; and Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Palma, Lanzarote, Tenerife Los Rodeos (North), and Tenerife Reina Sofia (South) Airports in the Canary Islands.
