Australian and New Zealand travellers who choose the popular discount airline Virgin Blue, now have the ability to book their car hire online at the same time as their flights, making the group a simple one-stop shop for all holiday and business travel needs.

Virgin Blue has announced that it has entered into partnership with leading car hire operators Thrifty and Hertz, with the carrier revealing last week that both would be featured on the new Virgin Blue car hire booking site. The airline already has an arrangement with prominent rental firm Europcar.

The new site offers passengers and customers the ability to search for and select from a range of makes and models from the preferred suppliers, both in the Asia-Pacific region and at outlets across the world. Additionally, when making a booking with Virgin Blue’s car hire partners Hertz, Thrifty and Europcar, customers will be able to accrue points in the Virgin Blue Velocity membership program. Under Velocity Membership, the level of your membership status determines how many points you will earn, so the higher the better when it comes to booking in New Zealand and Australia. For all international bookings, a flat rate will apply, with members earning 800 Velocity Points for every reservation.

The new Virgin Blue car hire site is powered by the well-known system for managing distribution, Car Trawler, making cost comparisons simple and the reservation process extensive.