U.S.-based luxury car rental company Go Rentals on March 7 added its content to the three main global distribution systems—Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport, the company told BTN.
Go Rentals CEO Kaye Gitibin said the move was in response to requests from travelers and travel management companies to be able to book the company’s cars through the GDSs.
Go Rentals launched 30 years ago in southern California and today is available at 258 airports—both public and private—with 40 more set to be added this year. "We are in every airport that high-net travelers and business travelers travel to," Gitibin said. "We are looking to expand into Canada by the end of this year. We are opening in the Hamptons as of May 1."
At private fields, a Go representative will greet the client upon arrival and take them to their car directly. Travelers flying into commercial airports are greeted at baggage claim and then taken to their car. Go Rentals does not keep any car for more than 18,000 miles, Gitibin said.
[Clarification, March 13: A previous version of this report indicated Go Rentals does not have rental counters. It does. Customers are met by greeters and can bypass the counter by completing paperwork digitally prior to arrival.]
Corporate travel makes up about 60 percent of the company's business, Gitibin said, and Go Rentals works with executive assistants, private aviation departments and corporate travel managers alike.
"We surveyed our business travelers, and they like convenience, they want safety, they want luxury," Gitibin said. "Those are the three things that they are concerned [about]. They can buy anything they want to buy, but the only thing they can't buy is time, so we make sure we save time for them."
Safety concerns have led some travelers to switch from chauffeured transportation to car rentals, Gitibin said.
"With technology, you don't know if you're being recorded in the car, if you are on the phone," Gitibin said. "Or, a person that you don't know is dropping you off at the destination, and they know where you're at now. I've seen a lot of corporate security teams recommending to their executive teams to either drive their own rental cars, or they bring a colleague or a trusted friend, or they hire a security officer to drive. That's why the demand for large SUV rental cars has increased for business travelers."