Washington - On a recent trip to San Francisco, I rented a car for four days. But not just any car. Somebody else’s car. Somebody who was on a trip like me, except that while I was landing this person was taking off.
I’d have the car back long before the person needed it, or so went the plan.
FlightCar, the California start-up, began when Kevin Petrovic, then 18, had a striking realisation when he was returning from a trip: long-term parking was full of cars sitting idle while their out-bound owners travelled, and in the next lot over a fleet of rental cars sat idle waiting for in-bound travellers.
“We thought, ‘Couldn’t we make those two lots the same thing?’ “ said Petrovic, now 19, one of three teenagers behind FlightCar. He and the other two founders, Rujul Zaparde and Shri Ganeshram, put their college plans (MIT, Harvard and Princeton) on hold once they determined the answer was yes.
The company, which is working to open its second location in Boston by the end of this month, depends on the idea that plenty of travellers would love to save on parking fees, even if it means that a stranger is driving their car.
On the renter’s side, the company banks on the idea that travellers who need a car want a cheaper way, even if it means that the ride isn’t brand-new. To ease the worries of the former, FlightCar promises rigorous driving-record checks and up to $1 million (R9.5m) in insurance, plus that parking-fee saving and a nominal payment (in the form of a petrol card) of up to $20 a day for new, luxury cars. Drivers are limited to 144km a day (a per-km fee buys you more) and a 12-day rental.
The upshot: when I reserved a 2008 Corolla, the quoted price was $21 a day for a total of $84. A check of comparable rental rates showed prices, including all those extras, starting at about $130.
Deciding to go with FlightCar was almost a no-brainer. By almost, I mean that the price was right, and the online application and reservation system was efficient, but I wouldn’t know how smoothly things would go until I had tried it.
FlightCar isn’t at the terminal, but in a lot outside the airport, and I’d be picked up by a driver. I built a little extra time into my schedule just in case there were hiccups.
There weren’t. As instructed, I called upon landing, and a nice black Lincoln pulled up in just five minutes. The FlightCar lot was only a few minutes’ drive away, marked by a temporary sign and a little green storage shed. The sign-here-and-initial-here process was no longer than typical, and perhaps a little quicker – but that could be because I was the only customer.
The car was fine. FlightCar thoroughly cleans vehicles before and after every rental. Checking back in was just as smooth.
After Boston, FlightCar is planning to open in Los Angeles, followed by a handful of airports, each with its own complicated process of negotiating permits and regulations. But if calculations by Petrovic and his co-founders prove right, the complications will be worth it. – Washington Post