[Anechoic]

Frequent travelers and members of rewards programs aren’t treated that differently

Um, actually we are. With Avis First (free to join) or Hertz Gold (last I knew there was a fee, but that may have changed), I take a shuttlebus to the rental car lot (or at the smaller airports, walk from the gate to the rental lot), look for my name on the message board, walk over to my car, get in, drive to the gate, show the attendant my license and I'm gone. In the really small airports (FSD or FWA for instance) it's literally 5 minutes from gate to road.

WRT Flightcar, that has absolultely no appeal to me as a car owner parking at an airport, or as a car renter. As a car owner, when I get back from a trip, I really want my car to be there so I can get home, I don't want to have to deal with my car not being there because the renter got stuck in traffic or had a change in plans.

As a renter (for both business and pleasure) I want to be able to have some flexibility in my rentals - if I want to extend my rental, I just visit the website and extend the rental. Would I be able to do that if the guy who's car I'm renting needs it back at a certain time? Also, how do I know that the car I'd be renting would be in decent running order?

I think that airport car rentals could use some disruption (for example more flexibility in refueling is nice, but I don't see that Silvercar really solves that problem), but I don't see these businesses doing it. Of course YMMV.

[whatusername]

The petrol (gas) refuel thing is the only thing that feels all that different from Hertz Gold (I think it's sometimes a 1-time fee -- I got mine free a few years ago).

My experience at CBR last week. Walk off the plane. Walk up to the Hertz counter. Wait 20 seconds for the 1 other person in the Gold line. Flash my license. Given my keys and the direction to the lot. Walk to the lot. Drive off. Would have been under 5 minutes from when I walked off the plane.

[czr80]

Well, the question is not whether their business model is uniformly better than the current model, nor whether it makes sense for everyone. The question is whether there is a sufficiently large group of people for whom the cost savings outweigh the potential hassle/risks. I'm not sure it will, either, but let's see.

[rsheridan6]

As a renter, I've usually already bought my return tickets and have to be at work the next day, so there's no chance that I'm going to extend my trip, unless I get stuck somewhere. The company should have provisions for giving a loaner to a car owner whose car isn't returned on time, but I doubt that would be a problem very often.

[itry]

Both of your arguments against Flightcar (trust as owner, flexibility as renter) are as valid for Flightcar as for AirBnB. Still AirBnB rents out rooms for some hundred million dollars per year.