<B> Car Rental Majors Upgrade Sites</B>
By Lynn Woods
While the number of bookings made on car rental company Web sites still is minuscule compared with other sources, executives at virtually all of the major firms are planning enhancements that will broaden the type of transactions that can be conducted online. Part of that growth is the establishment of links with their partners and other travel-related sites in an effort to sow more brand recognition on the Web. The Hertz Corp. and Avis Rent A Car, for example, both have relationships with AOL that, among other benefits, make them the leading car rental providers on AOL's new Business Travel Center.
And online travel booking services such as Expedia and Preview Travel have formed preferred vendor relationships with certain car rental companies--in Expedia's case, Alamo Rent-A-Car, Avis, Dollar Rent A Car and National Car Rental--that, in exchange for a premium fee, entitles the firms to having their rates appear first on the query screen.
Not wanting to alienate travel agencies, the car rental companies have been a bit more hesitant about exploring ways to connect online with their corporate accounts. "We have relationships with corporations, but many are still managed by a travel agency, which adds a lot of value," said Fran Nahabedian, director of Internet marketing at Budget. "They're hesitant to leave that value."
Car rental companies also are not eager to have their product reduced to the status of a price-driven commodity. "Consumers shopping for the best price is what's driving Internet bookings today," said Bob Briggs, president of National Car Rental. "That's not my market. I want to facilitate the customer's ability to get speed, recognition and convenience" through the Web.
Despite these concerns, some of the firms have established links with the corporate intranets of their key accounts. All of them now offer online booking and enrollment in their express rental product.
Here's a glimpse of changes made to the majors' Web sites:
<ul><li>Hertz.com is the most comprehensive site of the majors and the only one to feature a multilingual option (<I>BTN</I>, Oct. 4). The menu includes information about the fleet, special offers, information about partnerships and directions.
Recognizing that "business travelers are key online Internet bookers," Peter Budd, Hertz's director of electronic distribution, said that the site maintains a Gold members-only section allowing members to track their account balance and redeem awards points online.
<li>Avis.com is the only car rental Web site that lets users check a rate, book a car or modify an existing reservation without having to go to a second page. A pull-down menu on the front page enables a customer to choose the type of transaction and press "go."
Another unique feature is door-to-door directions, with a choice of either the fastest route or the shortest one for destinations in the United States and Canada, provided by MapQuest.<li>National Car Rental's site (nationalcar.com), Briggs acknowledged, "has some issues; it's operational but not yet ready for prime time." But with online bookings growing 150 percent year over year and the U.S. implementation of Odyssey, National's new IT system, nearing completion, the site in January will acquire a new look, and more speed and functionality. A special section for corporate travel will provide accounts with e-mail access to sales reps, along with other functions. Links to corporate intranets and other online partners also are part of the plan, said Briggs. National recently completed its direct-link pilot with Siemens and currently is in discussion with other accounts about similar arrangements.
<li>Budget's attempt to establish a fresh new identity for the brand has been extended to its Web site (drivebudget.com), with its "Get Out of the Ordinary" slogan. Users can review or cancel existing reservations. At the bottom of the page is a link to travelweb.com, the hotel reservations network. Budget also features an online bidding feature that is an industry first. Launched in June, the program enables users to request their own rate for a car. (Nahabedian said that Budget publishes suggested prices online to help users come up with a reasonable bid).
Budget plans to add international bookings to the site in the near future (currently, British Columbia is the only foreign destination bookable online). Also later in the year, members of Perfect Drive, Budget's loyalty program, will be able to redeem award points online.
Besides the link with travelweb.com, Budget is electronically connected to its airline partners and other companies with which it has a relationship, such as credit card companies.
<li>Alamo.com recently enhanced its booking process by allowing users to check all rates and all car types without having to go through the hassle of inputting all the query information before making a choice. "We ask for personal information at the last step of the process," said Maria Menendez, Alamo's vice president of marketing. While she declined to specify what percentage of Alamo's bookings are online, she said that bookings had grown by 300 percent year over year.
Several corporate accounts are linked to the site through an intranet. By year-end, users will be able to modify an existing reservation. Alamo also is developing a subsite for corporate travelers with more bells and whistles, such as a reporting function for corporate accounts that would track type of rates and vehicles booked, said Menendez. "We're working the details out with our major accounts," she said. The subsite is due to be launched by year-end.
<li>Bob Thunnel, vice president of corporate and travel industry sales at Thrifty Car Rental, said that online bookings comprise 3 percent of total reservations, up from 1 percent a year ago, and that the firm had established a new Internet marketing department to deal with the explosive growth anticipated for the future.
Thrifty.com recently was upgraded, enabling companies to sign up for the corporate accounts program. Thrifty has a seamless online enrollment process in place for Blue Chip, its express rental product (<I>BTN</I>, May 17).
Thunnel said that Thrifty is considering adding a multilingual feature to its site. A few franchisees in other parts of the world already have established native-language sites.
<li>Sister company Dollar Rent A Car (dollar.com) also is investigating a multilingual feature. The site currently provides access to rates in Europe through a link to its partner, EuropCar; overseas rates will be included directly on the site early next year, when Dollar begins its new partnership with Sixt (<I>BTN</I>, July 19). Also in the works is a booking feature for cars in Latin America.
Richard Zemina, Dollar's Internet marketing manager, said that enhancements are planned for the online booking feature. Currently, corporate account users can input their corporate ID and fill out a form for enrollment in Fastbreak, Dollar's express rental product, although they must print out and fax in the form. Zemina said online bookings were up 300 percent over the same period last year.