Nonsmoker Rental Cars Remain Burning Issue : Transportation: There aren’t many smoke-free autos available to rent now, but look for the major companies to begin offering them as the demand increases.

Want to fly smoke-free? It’s easy enough now, on domestic flights under six hours and on an increasing number of foreign airlines.

Prefer a smokeless hotel room? No problem. Many hotels offer entire floors of smoke-free rooms. Similarly, some cruise lines have separate sections for nonsmokers in their dining rooms.

But what about renting a car that exudes no evidence of cigarette smoke?

Not so easy.

No major rental car chain of eight I contacted offers smoke-free autos on a system-wide basis, though some do provide such vehicles in a few U.S. markets.

In 1983, Thrifty became the first car rental company to offer a national program of no-smoking cars. But its plan has gradually diminished.

“It was great for customers, but hard to administer due to problems of compliance by renters and the need to have no-smoking cars in all of our various rental classifications,” said Melody Blanch-Scott, a Thrifty spokeswoman.

Whether or not someone lights up in a no-smoking car is strictly on the honor system.

“Suppose the nonsmoking renter has a business client in the car who smokes,” Blanch-Scott said. “They’re not likely to tell this person that he or she can’t smoke.”

Another problem for car rental companies such as Thrifty that has various franchise licensees is in getting the approval of each franchise to set aside a number of vehicles for this purpose.

“Right now we’re between revival and death on this subject,” Blanch-Scott said. “A decision may be reached this fall, and one possibility is to make our whole fleet nonsmoking.

“But we’ll only revive the program on a national basis if we can administer it well internally and meet customer expectations externally. We have to make sure renters will be able to get cars with no signs or smells of smoking. The trend in the United States is very much toward nonsmoking, and we expect the number of nonsmoking renters to increase.”

Hertz is testing a no-smoking program at some corporate locations on the West Coast. No-smoking decals are put on the windshield facing the driver and on the outside of the car for staff personnel to identify the cars. A no-smoking medallion is also placed on the key chain.

“Once someone smokes, the car becomes a smoking car,” said Hertz spokeswoman Brenda Rigby. “Renters can request a no-smoking car, but there’s no guarantee one will be available.”

No-smoking cars are not offered at Hertz’s overseas stations, Rigby added.

Avis offers no-smoking vehicles at a few of its company-owned locations in the United States, but none overseas, according to Dmitria Mudar, an Avis spokeswoman. “The logistics of running such a program are difficult,” she said, “and there hasn’t been much demand.”

Dollar Rent A Car had discontinued a no-smoking program it began several years ago, but revived it recently with a successful test-market program in Detroit and Milwaukee.

“We’re encouraging our licensees to participate in such a program, and when we have a strong enough interest we may launch a no-smoking car program nationally,” said Brian Baker, a Dollar spokesman.

“We have a few stations that offer no-smoking cars,” said Mike Olson, a National Car Rental spokesman. “But we don’t offer this nationwide. It’s a tough program to do on a national basis. “ A similar response came from Budget Rent A Car. “We don’t offer no-smoking cars on a national basis, though some stations might have a number of such cars,” said Budget spokeswoman Jodi Chapman. “We’re not aware of any customer demand for such cars. We get new cars around every four months, so our cars are relatively fresh.”

Only a consistent amount of smoking in a car would make it suspect anyway, according to Chapman. “Moreover, there are many more nonsmokers than smokers renting cars.”

In addition to rental companies replacing vehicles in their fleets at a rapid clip, cars allocated as nonsmoking vehicles still--as a rule--have ashtrays and cigarette lighters as part of their equipment (decals, though, advising of the auto’s special status might be placed in their vicinity).

“We don’t remove ashtrays or lighters because we lease the cars and return them intact to the manufacturer,” explained Baker of Dollar Rent A Car.

No-smoking cars are not offered by Alamo Rent a Car for many of the same reasons. “Due to our high utilization, we’d rather have cars available for all customers than holding some cars for nonsmoking renters,” said Alamo’s Liz Clark. The likelihood of finding no-smoking rental cars overseas is slim. “Smoking is much more of an issue in the U.S. than in Europe,” said Malcolm Pynn, spokesman for Kemwel, a rental company. “But some of our stations in Europe may have no-smoking cars, and consumers should request one when they make a reservation. But there’s no guarantee.

“The problem is one of enforcement, but we’re coming to the point that if people see a no-smoking decal in the car, they’ll abide by it.”

According to Pynn, creating an overall policy would mean going to each franchise Kemwel has in Europe and asking representatives if they would be willing to set aside a number of no-smoking vehicles.

“This can depend on how much business comes from the U.S. and how much from Europe,” he said. “But I think in the next couple of years we’re going to see a much greater amount of no-smoking cars. This is the trend.”

Said Budget’s Chapman: “The social stigma of smoking hasn’t spread overseas yet.”

At this point, consumers who desire a no-smoking car should request one. Or advise travel agents accordingly. Car rental companies will usually make a note of the request during your booking. “Suggest that your travel agent call the individual car station if possible and not the central toll-free reservations number,” Rigby of Hertz advised.