Comprehensive Guide to Car Sharing Services

By Shais On Dec 23, 2016 0

It is a widely accepted notion that ‘why buy a car when you can borrow it’. Besides, not everyone affords to buy a car, and that does not mean they should not be entitled to transit through the car. Car sharing services is an attempt to provide people who do not have access a vehicle a facility to enjoy one. It is a type of car rental. However, it is different from the traditional car rental. Car sharing is intended to be of utility for people who want to rent a car for only a short period i.e. a few hours and pay only for that. An individual, in car sharing, is billed by the total time he or she had the car and the distance he or she has traveled. Furthermore, car share service is available around the clock rather than being on the business hours. Also with car share service the cars are there in the much-reserved parking of the town, and chances are there that such parking would be near your vicinity.

There is also a cheap way of transit which is car pool. It is about sharing the car so that many people are traveling I the car and thus just not one person has to pay for the car travel. Carpool reduces per person travel costs and also alleviates the stress of driving. Carpool also makes your journey more comfortable.

Car Sharing Service Features

Here are the car sharing features that you need to know.

1. Mobile

Mobile is an important thing covering the features of car sharing service as it involves the mobile phone applications of car sharing services. Mobile apps enable the car sharing service to perform some functions. You can change or cancel the reservations just by pushing some keys on your phone. Some apps even get the doors unlocked and enable you to have access to keys.

While many can lead you to the nearest car on the map by showing it to you and guide you with the directions to the car, you can have the Android App, Apple App, Cancel Booking, and Favourable Reviews get directions to the car and the GPS locating. You can also have the map view, company website on mobile. And last but not the least you can modify reservation and place reservation by using your mobile app.

2. Reservations

This is a critical part of the car sharing feature as it informs you about the details regarding where, when and how to reserve a car. All services offer their customers an online reservation system while some of them also offer mobile applications to make reservations easier and quicker. You can also cancel or adjust the reservation online. Furthermore, one thing needs to be remembered that if a booking is required to be done it should be done in advance. Also, this part informs you about the option of using the license of an international driver to book a domestic reservation.

The reservation features are:

Book in Advance: As mentioned earlier, you can book the car in advance for some date in future. However, the time needs to be specified.
Availability Map: You can access the map online which shows you the availability of cars regarding their location in real time.
Cancel Reservation: The reservation can be canceled online.
Change Reservation: You can change the booked reservation online.
International Driver’s License: The feature as mentioned earlier that you could reserve a car if you possess an international driver’s license.
International Reservation: You have the option to reserve a car which is outside the country you are living in.
Same-day Reservation: You can also reserve the car on the day you want to use it.
Reserve Anywhere: You also have the option to reserve the car when you want to travel to a different city or even state.

3. Itinerary

This part explains those features which can affect the kind of trip you have planned with the car sharing service. It explains whether the service requires you to bring back the car to its original location or whether it permits you the one-way trips. It also informs about the possible availability of service i.e. whether it is near the airports, whether it approves the overnight trips, or whether you can get over a 100 miles ride without costing additional charges. Thus this part should concern the customers, especially the long-distance travelers.

Here are the most important features of the itinerary:

100 Miles Per Day: You are allowed to drive up to 100 miles a day without getting to pay additional charges.
Airport: You have access to cars that are in proximity to major airports.
One-Way: For one-way trip
Overnight: If you want to keep the car overnight, you can keep it.
Round Trip: If you want to keep the vehicle for the round trip, the car sharing service allows you to do so.

Related: Adelaide Auto Wreckers best auto wrecekrs in Adelaide.

4. Membership Perks

You may have wondered about what features you can enjoy at the given price when you are going to share the car; the most popping-up questions are about roadside assistance, tolls, insurance, and fuel. The majority of the car sharing services contain an insurance policy reaching $1 million and round the clock roadside assistance to ensure the customers’ as well as the passengers’ safety. However, you should be aware of the benefits that you can enjoy so that you don’t have to face any unpleasant hidden fee exceeding the designated price.

The membership perks or say benefits are as follows:

You get the fuel in your membership without any added fee.
Insurance is also included in the membership, so no additional charge is incurred.
You are entitled to 24/7 roadside assistance under the membership fee thus without any additional cost.
Your company has to pay the toll fees.
Rental time: It refers to the way you are charged according to the time you have kept the car for your use. Most car sharing companies have the rate per hour. However, some also charge on daily and week based rates.