Travel and demand
Airport rental demand still tracks air travel. TSA publishes nationwide checkpoint counts each weekday. Pair that with airline and airport news and the holiday calendar — not with guesswork.
TSA updates passenger travel numbers Monday through Friday by 9 a.m.; holiday weeks may be slightly delayed.1 These are national totals, not the line at your checkpoint.
Hertz’s Q3 2026 release said global RPD rose about 5% and U.S. core RPD about 8%, “despite lower TSA volumes.” The same release said TSA volumes were down 2.8% in Q3.2
Avis Budget Group’s Q3 2026 release said third-quarter Americas utilization was the best in twenty years “despite a softer travel demand environment,” with total-company utilization at 74.0% and Americas utilization at 74.1%.3 Average rental fleet was 706,717 vehicles, down 5% year over year; the Americas fleet was 510,817, down 6%.3
Los Angeles World Airports opened its 6.4-million-square-foot Rental Car Center on March 11, 2026, consolidating 12 on-airport brands and citing the 2026 FIFA World Cup among the reasons for the project.4
U.S. Thanksgiving 2026 falls on Thursday, November 26 — historically one of the year’s peak travel periods. We are not inventing a forecast; watch the TSA table as that week approaches.