Zipcar.com is a site to rent cars but made easier and cheaper. It’s more like getting into a club or a network with special benefits. To become a member you only need to make an application providing your information and paying a one time fee of $25. Once you are accepted you have to pay an annual fee of $50. The good thing is that you won’t have to bear with monthly payments nor any kind of deposit.
So how does it work really? Once your registration is approved, Zipcar.com will send you a card to your mailbox. Delivery takes a few days (let’s say four, although it could take some more time according to where you live).
When you have your card you can start driving once you’ve selected the car you want and made the reservation for it. You can make the reservation online with your member information, and when it is ready you simply go to the car and unlock it by passing the card through a scanner attached to the car’s windshield.
The search engine at Zipcar.com allows you to search cars by location or by type of vehicle. So you can access to a car in the spur of the moment. Rentals cost $66 a day or $7 per hour. These fees raise slightly in the weekends. Each car includes insurance and free gas to make your driving, together with 180 miles per day. Additional miles are charged $0.45.
This service will be appealing for those who don’t own their own car nor want to own it either because of all the hassle included. The annual affordable fee, and avoiding the risks of robbery or accidents, make it a good choice for a lot of people.
In their own words
An online reservation system so easy you can literally reserve a car in sixty seconds.
Why it may be a killer
Zipcar.com lets people drive a car whenever they need without paying expensive fees, and at the same time makes them save by not having to buy their own vehicle.
Question
Will they add the chance of making one way trips with Zipcars in the future?
