Parking cars at airports can be severely expensive and time consuming. Moreover, you don’t want to run into flight delays due to parking woes. Likewise, renting cars after arriving at a destination can be a complex process. Travel startup, FlightCar has come up with an innovative solution that might just help you do away with this problem.
FlightCar, an American car rental brand headquartered in San Francisco and founded by Kevin Petrovic, Rujul Zaparde & Shri Ganeshram, offers an exceptional service that has already grabbed the attention of many international travellers. It allows travellers parking at airport rent their vehicles to verified people and earn money in return while vacationing.
How does it work?
The car owners will have to list the details of their cars and the dates of travelling on FlightCar. The car details include: Vehicle’s statistics and Proof of ownership. On the day of the flight, after detailed communication with the brand’s executives, they will be requested to hand over the keys to the FlightCar valet at a particular parking spot. During their vacationing, the owner’s cars will be provided to the visitors of the town for renting purpose. When the owners are about to return to town, they need to get in touch with the brand executives again. The valets will meet the owners at the same parking spot where they previously met.
Just like any car-rental website, the potential renters will have to book the car through FlightCar website. They will be offered from Volvos to Hondas and the price of these vehicles vary from $15 to $34 per day.
Image Credit: FlightCar Facebook Page
Advantages of using FlightCar service
The biggest benefit of using this service is that the owners can earn a substantial amount of money while just vacationing! This becomes their passive earning. If the car gets rented, the owner will be paid an amount ranging from 5 to 20 cents per mile while the car is driven. How much one can earn, also depends on the car’s make, model and condition. If for any reason, the car does not get rented out, free parking and car wash will still be available [how cool is that :)]. On return, the owner will receive the car back with the refilled car tank.
The brand also provides liability insurance for bodily injury and damage to other property. For damage to rented vehicles an insurance of $300,000 can be made. The brand also insures the owner’s car against theft upto the value of the vehicle.
The renters will be offered a huge collection of verified vehicles of all sorts from Volvos to Hondas. The cost incurred for renting a car through this service is much cheaper. The prices, as mentioned above, will vary from $15 to $34 per day.
Future of a service like FlightCar in India?
The practice of parking vehicles in airport for days at a stretch is not quite prevalent in India. That’s one of the reasons why you see many travellers taking taxis for airport drops. However, with success of self-drive car rental services in India, we believe that there is immense potential for such app-driven services in our country. While, FlightCar might have to address concerns such as vehicle safety and on-road insurance the biggest challenge will be a culture roadblock. As a renter, would you like to drive a car of any random person?
Have you ever tried a car-rental service like FlightCar while travelling abroad? We would love to hear your experience.
