For Many, Thanksgiving Menu Includes Road Trips, Shopping, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car

ST. LOUIS, MO--(Marketwire - November 18, 2009) - The traditional kickoff of the holiday season is finding American families taking to the road for both Thanksgiving family visits and holiday shopping excursions. As a result, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the nation's largest car rental company, is seeing a double-digit increase over last year's Thanksgiving weekend in neighborhood/non-airport reservations.

"Families are making traditional road trips to be with relatives and friends on Thanksgiving," said Steve Short, vice president of leisure business development for Enterprise. "And with the economy beginning to recover, they also are heading to local and regional shopping malls to take advantage of the early-bird bargains on the Friday after Thanksgiving. With a rental car, they can get the trunk space they need for those after-Thanksgiving bargains. That way they can put the miles on their shopping cart and not on their car."

Short added that many neighborhood Enterprise branches will be open on the Friday after Thanksgiving and are offering special rates for the weekend. To determine whether discounted rates are available at an office near them, customers should visit Enterprise on the Web at www.enterprise.com.

He continued, "We often refer to the rental car as a 'virtual car' because people rent to fill a need that their everyday vehicle can't meet -- whether that's for more room or greater fuel efficiency. That's why we advise people to 'buy for the need and rent for the exception.' For their Thanksgiving getaways, renters will find the perfect vehicle at Enterprise Rent-A-Car."

About Enterprise Rent-A-Car

There are more than 5,000 Enterprise neighborhood offices located within 15 miles of 90 percent of the U.S. population, and local customers are picked up at no extra cost. Known for exceptionally low rates and outstanding customer service, Enterprise was named to BusinessWeek's annual list of "Customer Service Champs" in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Enterprise also has ranked highest in customer satisfaction among airport rentals in 10 of the past 11 years, according to J.D. Power and Associates Rental Car Satisfaction Study. To minimize the environmental impact of car rentals, Enterprise not only offers customers the opportunity to offset carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, but also to rent a hybrid vehicle in more than 30 major markets. For more information about Enterprise, visit www.enterprise.com.

Contact Information: CONTACT: Ned Maniscalco Enterprise Rent-A-Car 314-512-5523 Jackie Leonard-Tackett Fleishman-Hillard 314-982-0283