It works like this: airport travelers in need of a rental car use a smartphone app to reserve a vehi

Despite many advances in vehicle performance and engineering, the way drivers interact with their cars has remained fundamentally rental car shannon airport ireland the same since the Ford Model T. Now, companies are using mobile technology to make everything from car rental to ridesharing to hiring rental car shannon airport ireland a taxi more convenient and efficient.
It works like this: airport travelers in need of a rental car use a smartphone app to reserve a vehicle at an airport in advance. When they arrive at the airport, they can unlock any vehicle on the company’s lot by scanning a QR code. Then they just drive away without ever having to stand in a line or even talk to a service representative. When customers return the car, they simply park it and head to their terminal.
The rental car itself is always a silver, Bluetooth-enabled Audi A4. The idea is that customers always know what they are going to get and don’t have to worry about being stuck with a minivan or pitched an upgrade package. Silvercar CEO Luke Schenider said the A4 was chosen because it is technology-enabled and is an elegant and fun car that is neither too flashy nor too muscular.
For Schneider, Silvercar is the perfect marriage of automotive and mobile rental car shannon airport ireland technologies. It results in a streamlined and more convenient experience for the customer rental car shannon airport ireland and is part of a badly needed, technologically-advanced step forward for the moribund transportation industry.
“I’m passionate about how people integrate with their transit,” he said. “Much of the tech conversation has been about infotainment; how to beam entertainment into cars. What we’re talking about at Silvercar is utility.”
rental car shannon airport ireland Several other companies are taking that ethos to heart. Uber, for example, built a smartphone rental car shannon airport ireland app that lets users summon rental car shannon airport ireland independent limousine drivers. Zipcar provides a pool of vehicles that users can take for single rides or a full day, and businesses like Lyft and Sidecar let users turn their own private vehicles into taxis, receiving their pay in tips and sharing a percentage with the companies.
Despite their success and popularity, some of these companies are finding themselves in legal trouble. . Taxi and livery companies in several of Uber’s markets are pressing city or state governments to subject Uber to the same regulations and licensing laws that they face. Meanwhile, Lyft and Sidecar are facing charges in several cities that they constitute an illegal rental car shannon airport ireland taxi service.
It has been tough for Silvercar rental car shannon airport ireland to find coveted slots in airport car rental rental car shannon airport ireland bays (known as ConRACs, or consolidated rental car facilities) where the big three are locking down the available real estate.
“Membership surged in the first six months but rentals did not follow,” Schneider said. “We realized that there was a pent-up demand for a service like ours but to unlock the demand, we had to get into more airports.”
rental car shannon airport ireland At $75 per day, Silvercar is about $30 to $40 more expensive than its competitors but Schneider said the far greater convenience and guaranteed luxury vehicle make it worth it for the company’s customers.
Given the reaction of customers so far, he may be right. The majority of customers on Yelp report a flawless and enjoyable experience. There were some problems during the company’s initial rollout, however, including cars that failed to unlock when scanned.
He cited a survey by Skift, a travel industry intelligence company, finding that 12 percent of Americans have booked travel entirely using a mobile rental car shannon airport ireland device . Among Silvercar customers, he said, the rates are much higher, with 60 percent of users relying entirely on a mobile device. Eighty percent of returning customers do the same.
He added that the technology can create significant social benefits. A 2011 study by the University of California’s “Access” magazine, for example, found that anywhere from nine to 13 cars are removed from the road for every shared car available.
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