You can help the U of A save up to $30,000 on vehicle rentals per year

The Procurement team within the University Services and Finance portfolio is tasked with finding savings opportunities in the university’s expenditures on goods and services as part of the Service Excellence Transformation and budget reductions.

Faculty, staff and graduate students rent vehicles for professional development opportunities, conferences and research. When campus activities are in full swing, the university spends more than half a million dollars on vehicle rentals. Working with the university’s preferred provider, the Procurement team has negotiated and secured better rates and discounts on vehicle rentals and insurance. 

Savings opportunities faculty and staff can help with

With our new agreement, the university will save at least $30,000 per year compared to our previous agreement. Reduced rates are now available for rentals and insurance in both Canada and the United States. In addition, Risk Management recommends faculty and staff purchase the rental agency's insurance, which provides our biggest savings opportunity.

For Canadian rentals, the university reduced the daily vehicle rental rate by $4 per day. Insurance has been reduced from $24.99 per day to $12 per day.

For American rentals, the insurance rate has been reduced from $14.99 USD per day to $6 USD per day. 

Faculty and staff book nearly 75 per cent of rental vehicles without using our preferred supplier. In many cases, these bookings involve the same service providers (Enterprise and National) that provide the university with a discount when staff use the university’s booking tools. This results in the university spending more than it should, and reduces future negotiating power with the provider. 

So, let's work together and take advantage of these great new rates.

How to get the U of A discounts

It’s easy to set up an account and book your vehicle rental. 

1. Visit the Procurement Travel Intranet. 
2. Scroll to Ground Transportation Options and select Vehicle Rental. 
   1. If you’re booking flights, hotel and/or vehicle rental at the same time, select the Concur Online Booking Tool instead (first time users must register here first). Once you have a profile set up in Concur, your information will be automatically filled in each time you make a reservation. 
3. On the Vehicle Rental page, you can choose between Enterprise or National. The discounts are automatically applied through this booking link. 

Bonus: We encourage frequent rental car users to enrol in the Emerald Cub to expedite (and even skip) the check in counter, and choose your own car.

Philip Webb
Director, Procurement Services