Europcar Discovers Travel Stress Giving Brits a Serious Case of PHT

By Europcar, PRNE
Wednesday, August 18, 2010

LONDON, August 19, 2010 - Europcar has discovered in its latest survey that for over half a million
Brits*, their last trip to the airport was 'one of the most stressful
experiences of their lives'.

According to the new survey** 24% of Brits admitted to suffering PHT
(Pre-Holiday Tension) as their best-laid travel plans start to unravel.
Nearly a million*** holidaymakers (2%) have actually missed their flight
altogether due to one of the causes of PHT, which include delayed or
cancelled buses or trains (suffered by 16% of Brits); booked taxis that are
late or don't turn up (14%); anxiety about leaving something behind (12%) and
having to turn back mid-journey because they've forgotten something (5%).

The survey also found that it was Londoners who appeared to be the worst
sufferers of Pre-Holiday Tension, with 31% reporting that their last airport
trip was stressful.

With plenty of Brits still to jet off on their summer break, 11% said
that they expected their next trip to the airport, by train, bus or taxi, to
be the worst part of their trip and 2.4m**** holidaymakers (6%) admit that
they are 'dreading it'; but the journey to the airport doesn't always have to
be a stressful start to a holiday.

According to Catriona Kempston of Europcar, "A significant number of
people suffer a trying journey to the airport which is hardly the best start
to a long awaited holiday. We want to make the driving experience as easy as
possible for our customers and Airport Connect may also be a cheaper
alternative to leaving a car at the airport car park or taking a train or
taxi. With Airport Connect Plus (
www.europcar.co.uk/EBE/module/render/Airport-Connect) there is no need
to worry about prangs en route to the airport. Being involved in or worrying
about an accident on the way to the airport would definitely ruin your
holiday."

The Europcar Airport Connect (
www.europcar.co.uk/EBE/module/booking/FirstStepPromotion.do?promoId=1c12686b2b2c0d3c5e1a5c00260b7064)
service offers an alternative to risking
delayed or cancelled trains and taxis, as well as providing free hire car
delivery (www.europcar.co.uk/EBE/module/render/weDeliver) to the
doorstep at a time that suits them.

Notes to editors:

* 1.2% of population (49.121m) = 589,425

** Opinium Research surveyed 2,004 UK adults between 21st and 22nd July
2010
. Results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria.

*** 1.9% of population = 933,299

**** 4.9% (which equates to the 6% who are planning a holiday) of
population = 2,406,929

About Europcar (
www.europcar.co.uk/EBE/module/render/hire-car-fleet) :

Europcar is the European leader in passenger car and light utility
vehicle rentals. The company serves business and leisure customers throughout
Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Excluding
franchise operations, in 2009 Europcar signed 9.5 million rental contracts,
with 7,000 employees and a fleet exceeding 190,000 vehicles. In September
2008
, Europcar and U.S. market leader Enterprise Holdings joined forces in a
strategic commercial alliance to form the world's largest car hire
(www.europcar.co.uk/) network, with more than 1.2 million vehicles and
13,000 locations around the world. Europcar is owned by the French investment
company Eurazeo.

Europcar is the European market leader and is also leading in its
environmental approach to car rental. It opened its first "environmental
agency" in Paris in 1999, and in 2008 it was the first company in Europe to
have its "Environmental Charter" - which formalizes its commitments in favor
of sustainable development - certified by Bureau Veritas.

    For further media information please contact:

    Tom Lawless
    PR Officer
    Second floor
    15 Bermondsey Square
    London
    SE1 3UN
    +44(0)20-7234-9150
    www.europcar.co.uk

For further media information please contact: Tom Lawless, PR Officer, Second floor, 15 Bermondsey Square, London, SE1 3UN, +44(0)20-7234-9150

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