Until your Zipcard arrives, make sure to only book cars and trips where your cell phone will be in range. Apply online with a valid driver's license. Most people are approved instantly and can book a trip within minutes, but if there's a reason for delay, we'll email you. As soon as you're approved, you can book Zipcars by the hour or day and use our app to unlock and lock during your trip.
We'll also mail you a Zipcard, which is an access card to any Zipcar vehicle you reserve. Learn how to check the status of your application. You can cancel or change your upcoming hourly trip up to 3 hours before its start time at no charge minutes after booking at no charge through the app or online under Trips.
For trips longer than 8 hours in length, you must cancel at least 24 hours in advance to avoid cancellation fees. For rules on cancelling or modifying your trips, learn more here. Zipcar is a round trip service, so your Zipcar must be returned to the same location where you picked it up originally.
If your location has multiple Zipcar parking spots, you can park in any available Zipcar spot. Make sure to lock up with your app or your Zipcard to end your trip. Access the car's location details in the My Trips section of the app. We'll also send details about your upcoming trip in a confirmation email.
To lock and unlock your car, use the app or tap your Zipcard to the reader on the driver's side windshield of the car. The car keys will be located inside the Zipcar, typically in the console or attached to the ignition.
To use, insert the card at the gas station as you would a credit card. Learn more about how to fuel up here.
Other active Zipcar members can drive your Zipcar, but you must be in the car if you booked the trip. Non-members are strictly forbidden from driving your Zipcar. Learn more. Before you start driving, inspect your Zipcar inside and out and report any issues in the app.
While we expect the previous member to leave the Zipcar in good standing for you, it is important to report any issues before you drive. Provided that another member does not have a reservation immediately after yours, you can extend your trip using the mobile app or by text. If you see that the car isn't available, you'll need to return on time to avoid a late fee. We know lateness can be part of everyday life.
To avoid being part of this domino effect, here are some tips to be on time:. Book your trip well in advance. Book enough time to take traffic, refueling and cleaning the car into consideration. It looks like you might be in the. The big breakthrough came when he put city managers in charge of their own profit and loss, and encouraged them to approach their cities as they saw fit.
Each office assembled street teams, kids just out of college who serve as part-time marketers, cruising in their Zipcars and honking and stacking cards at local delis and retailers. Store owners get free Zipcar memberships in return. Soon, managers began to come up with cool promotional ideas. In Harvard Square, the Boston team stuffed bags of frozen Ikea meatballs inside a Mini Cooper and asked passersby to guess how many were inside, a task that titillated Harvard's math majors.
In San Francisco, which launched in August , the team bought an old SUV, painted it puce, parked it at the foot of Market Street, and offered passersby the chance to swing a sledgehammer at it. In Chicago, which opened in September , employees drove Zipcars onto a flatbed semi and drove around town with a bullhorn. By the end of Griffith's first year, there weren't tons more members--the number had risen to about 10, But the cars had higher usage rates.
About two years ago, Griffith began offering city managers cash bonuses for hitting targets for revenue, profitability, car usage, membership, and customer satisfaction. When managers are responsible for their results and empowered to make their own decisions, Griffith found, their results tend to be a lot more interesting.
Once he had revved up Zipcar's approach to marketing, Griffith stopped to consider the market. Insurance companies require higher premiums for those in this riskier age group. Chase had begun targeting younger drivers, offering memberships for students at Harvard and MIT in exchange for on-campus Zipcar parking and marketing help from the schools.
Griffith took the strategy a step further. Before Chase left the company, she had begun talks with her alma mater, Wellesley, to see if the school would pay insurance premiums for its under drivers.
Wellesley finally agreed in the fall of , after Griffith had taken over. The Wellesley drivers had good records, and Griffith took that data to Zipcar's insurance company, Liberty Mutual, which agreed to a policy with lower-than-usual premiums. That let Griffith try the program at three more schools. With solid results from that, Griffith struck a deal with Liberty and extended the under program to 35 schools.
The university program will expand to campuses by the fall, and it's a moneymaker for Zipcar. The schools let Zipcar market on campus and provide less expensive parking spots, and some have their own fleet-management crews that clean and maintain the cars, which can offset the higher costs of insuring young drivers. What's more, renters become Zipcar fans at a young age. About two-thirds of Zipcar's members are under Courting young customers was easy--it's a market other car-rental companies don't want.
But Zipcar also has its eye on the industry's core market--businesses. Zipcars are used heavily at night and on weekends, and many are idle during the day. For Zipcar to make money on a vehicle, Griffith calculated, it needs to be in use more than 40 percent of the time.
He's trying to attract corporations to meet that goal. The company retooled its technology for businesses--now, cars can be booked by a travel manager for individual employees, for example, or billed to specific departments. Zipcar created new marketing materials, too, changing the fun and cheeky vibe of the consumer campaigns to language that is more sober and bottom-line-oriented.
Griffith believes Zipcar for Business can be bigger than the university market. After all, if you're a carless city dweller, why not rent a car near your office for a couple of hours when you need to travel to a client meeting, rather than taking a cab to the Hertz counter and renting one for the entire day?
Or, says Daniel Shifrin, who heads Zipcar's business group: "When you fly in to San Francisco, to get a car, you get a shuttle, wait on line an hour and a half--it's a very frustrating experience. With Zipcar, you can hop on the BART, go downtown, and then when you need a car just pick one up a block away from your hotel.
Griffith knew from the outset that if Zipcar was to take off, it would need millions in venture capital. But instead of pitching investors right away, he waited.
It was only in , after Boston, Washington, and New York had become profitable, that he began meeting with venture capitalists. That money meant Zipcar could expand, adding more U. Griffith had long seen Zipcar as a global brand, but he was determined to move slowly. Toronto was a perfect test case--close enough to be manageable but with a different currency, telecommunications network, and customer base.
Succeeding in Canada would prove that Zipcar could be a truly international company--making it more valuable in the eyes of investors. The approach proved smart. The company has since launched in Vancouver and London. In spring , Steve Case, the co-founder of AOL, was about to announce the launch of a new venture, a holding company called Revolution, which would acquire early- and midstage companies and have a heavy hand in management.
One sector of the company, Revolution Living, was examining prospects in the consumer space, specifically businesses that promoted environmental values and healthful living. Case lived in Washington, where Zipcar and its Seattle-based competitor, Flexcar, both had offices, and after seeing car-sharing in action, Case decided it would be a good fit for Revolution.
He called Griffith to discuss acquiring Zipcar. Griffith was flattered but reluctant. He and the board thought the timing for a sale wasn't right. The company was about to close the financing round from Benchmark. It wasn't clear how Case would fit into the deal. Case instead bought 55 percent of Flexcar, in August ; a year later, he upped his stake to 85 percent. Though the two companies went head to head in only two markets, they had been fierce competitors, each one claiming superior cars, technology, and service.
Still, Zipcar had met on several occasions with Flexcar execs to discuss merging. Each time, Zipcar insisted on being the acquirer, and each time, Flexcar refused. But by spring , when Zipcar was definitively the larger company and Flexcar had a new owner, Griffith decided to check in again.
He sent Case a friendly e-mail. Case responded, saying perhaps it was time to talk about Zipcar and Flexcar again. Aston Martin reveals its topless Valkyrie hypercar. See the first self-driving car to take a spin on NYC streets. Prices for used cars have rocketed to record highs this year as supplies of new cars have been hampered by computer chip shortages.
If you're looking for a new car now, whether it's brand new or just a new-to-you used car, experts say it's more important than ever to be open-minded about the exact make and model you need. Read More. The scorching hot used car market may finally be cooling off. Even when he has found something to consider, he said, dealers insist he pay for expensive pre-installed add-ons, like paint protection or an alarm system that make the price even higher.
At least Shozo is being flexible about what he's looking for, which is one thing experts advise. Here's what you need to know about shopping for a car in today's crazy market:. Consider leasing instead of buying. Shozo thinks he might just lease a car for himself and his wife and let his son drive one of their current cars.
That's probably a good idea, said Drury. Luxury automakers, especially, are still offering leasing incentives, he said, making it possible to get a BMW or Mercedes for only a little more than you might pay to lease a mainstream model. And leasing could allow him to ride out the currently inflated car market.
If you're leasing now, negotiate a strong exit. If you have a lease contract coming to an end soon, you could be in a really good position, said Wiesenfelder. A lease usually includes a pre-set price at which the lease customer can buy the car at the end of the lease term.
That price is probably considerably lower than the car could actually be sold for now.
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