Auto Rental News

JAN-FEB 2014

Magazine for the professional car and truck rental industry.

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INDUSTRY NEWS IN-DEPTH PEER-TO-PEER CAR SHARING GAINS AIRPORT FOOTHOLD Despite pending lawsuits, FlightCar opens at LAX and strikes landmark deal with Travelport. A BY AMY WINTER AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE? The city of San Francisco contends that FlightCar has an unfair advantage over other rental 14 January/February 2014 agencies that comply with the regulations and must pay the appropriate fees – 10% of gross profts and $20 per rental. "This company is competing for the same customer base yet without incurring the costs of their competitors," Doug Yakel, public information offcer for San Francisco Airport, told Auto Rental News in June. "We view that as an unfair business practice." Rujul Zaparade, co-founder and CEO of FlightCar, refuses to pay the SFO airport fees on the assertion that FlightCar isn't a traditional airport car rental agency; it's a peer-to-peer car-sharing company. Operating from an offairport location, FlightCar customers drop their AUTO R ENTAL N EWS PHOTO CREDIT: FLIGHTCAR AS A NEW TRANSPORTATION CONCEPT, peer-to-peer car sharing has faced some challenges as it tries to fnd its place among more mature travel modes. But peer-to-peer car-sharer FlightCar has continued to expand, opening its third airport location (San Francisco, Boston and now Los Angeles) and inking a partnership with an e-commerce global travel provider — despite challenges such as a lawsuit by the city of San Francisco. A FlightCar manager escorts a customer to a car at its LAX location, situated next to Silvercar, another startup car rental company. cars at a lot near San Francisco International Airport and a limo service takes them to and from the airport. And according to Zaparade,

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