Thrifty Runs 50th Anniversary Gas Card Sweeps
Thrifty Car Rental is running a gas card sweepstakes online this month to pump up it’s the 50 year anniversary.
The “Thrifty Turns 50” sweepstakes aims to boost its October rental rates by offering $50 gas cards to two daily winners, culminating in a larger gas giveaway at month’s end. The top prize-winner will receive $1,000 in gas cards, a free car rental for one week and two tickets from Southwest Airlines. Second prize is $750 in gas cards and a one-week free car rental. Third prize is $250 in gas cards and a free three-day car rental.
Consumers can enter. Daily winners will be notified by e-mail and phone. Grand prize winners will be notified after the sweeps concludes on Oct. 30.
“We’re coming off a busy summer, and things slow down in the fall before the holidays get here,” said Thrifty spokesman Chris Payne. “People are still concerned about gas, so this is a good way to go.”
Thrifty anticipates a significant bump in rental business fueled by the sweeps tactic. A significant percentage of its rental reservations are made online. When it ran a two-month promotion offering daily drawings for a year’s free supply of gas in the summer of 2005, it saw a 5% jump in rentals for the comparable period during the prior year, according to Payne.
The sweepstakes also affords Thrifty an opportunity to add consumer information to its opt-in database.
“We have a real strong database that we’ve developed around promotions like this, and people get offers that they want to hear about,” Payne said.
The rental car company is promoting the current sweepstakes by issuing e-mail blasts to the one million consumers who are currently registered in its database. It has also posted notices about the gas card contest on its Web site.
