E-Z Rent A Car is a 10-year-old story that opened it doors with nine cars, and emerged as an industry star with over 3,500 vehicles in its fleet. With offices in …
E-Z Rent A Car is a 10-year-old story that opened it doors with nine cars, and emerged as an industry star with over 3,500 vehicles in its fleet. With offices in Orlando, Miami, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, and St. Petersburg as well as airport locations at Dallas DFW, Atlanta, Tampa/St. Petersburg, and Orlando, E-Z`s sales are expected to grow by more than 40 percent in 2003.
We are growing because we offer solid value — in our industry that means new cars at affordable rates — and we have learned how to use all the available online channels as a major source of business, said E-Z Rent A Car Vice President, Dan Spindler, who joined the company less than a year ago and made immediate changes to the company`s Internet strategy. Since 9/11, more of the traveling public is evaluating options and booking cars on the Web. Until recently, we relied on more traditional booking sources, such as our voice center and walk-up traffic; a year ago we began working more closely with VIP International, our channel marketing provider. Before, VIP was a vendor; now they are a partner. They were able to align our rates with competitors`, real-time, and I had my team adjust our rate management strategy daily instead of weekly. Both moves have proven to be good decisions; in the past year we pulled 60% of our reservations from the Internet.
E-Z Rent A Car`s Internet bookings and reservation counts are managed by its provider, which also supervises all of E-Z`s GDS (Global Distribution System) sources -Sabre, Worldspan, and Galileo. In addition, their channel marketing partner oversees its Orbitz relationship, researches travel booking engines that will give the company more exposure, and audits a wide number of Web sites to see if they are a good fit. Spindler notes he works closely with VIP`s Productivity Manager for Cars to stay focused on the emerging Internet business potential provided by the huge number of travel booking sites.
E-Z Rent A Car Concentrates on Core Business, Outsources Internet Expertise
Spindler met with his channel marketing vendor in its Calgary offices and together they put in place a well thought-out `best practices` strategy for increasing E-Z`s bookings and rates, step by step. As part of the plan Spindler`s team will use more of VIP`s services, including its Direct Rate Updating system to oversee rates posted on the Web and ensure they are aligned with competitors` fee strategies. DRU allows E-Z to instantly and globally update the rates they offer over the Internet in real-time instead of waiting until close of day, which was the norm. This gives the company an edge in responding immediately to competitive strategies. In the past, E-Z`s staff performed online rate management weekly; now they monitor and adjust their Web rates every day. Our booking growth reflects a conscious emphasis on controlling rates and raising revenue, said Spindler, who observed he is now free to focus more on E-Z`s core business – offering new cars at affordable rates, while their Internet partner concentrates on Web marketing opportunities.
For example, E-Z`s channel marketing provider recently uncovered a new Federal policy that specifies how car rental agencies must structure pricing when bidding for government business, and worked with E-Z to implement the new guidelines. We learned the government needs a whole rate – $25 instead of $25.95, explained Spindler. VIP also discovered a new government SATO (Scheduled Airlines Travel Office) surcharge of $5 per day that car rental companies may charge government drivers. It makes doing business with government travelers much more attractive. All of this helps E-Z build its relationship with SATO and develop the government segment.
August 2003 booking increase over August 2002
Another action E-Z Rent A Car will soon be taking advantage of is a `Total Pricing Model` service that provides details on regional taxes and fees. VIP will supply itemized information on local fees, duties, airport surcharges, and taxes at E-Z`s rental locations for them to make available to customers. In some airport locations taxes and other fees associated with car reservations are over 60 percent of the rental price. By providing this surcharge information, E-Z will be able to offer more complete rate comparisons to its customers. The Total Pricing Model follows on the heels of a recent innovative VIP agreement with Worldspan that could result in new incremental reservations for mid-sized car rental companies. Terms of the contract allow VIP to help travel agents make rate bookings that include unlimited mileage, LDW, theft protection for European locations only, mandatory coverage, airport surcharge, all local taxes and surcharges, and vehicle license fees.
It is VIP International`s element of innovation that adds the most value to our revenue growth, concluded Spindler.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
