If you’ve ever traveled before and needed to rent a car, you know how much of a hassle that is – and Lyft wants to change that by launching their new mobile-friendly car rental service. With the launch starting in LA and San Francisco, users will soon be able to rent a car directly through their mobile device and pick it up at a nearby location. Aside from offering the convenience of not needing to step foot into a stiff and awkward car rental office, Lyft hopes to attract customers by offering other bonuses like unlimited mileage and free rides to and from the pick-up and drop off location (up to $20 each way).
Lyft has been competing with Uber for quite some time now in the rideshare market. But so far, Lyft has continued to play second fiddle to the behemoth that Uber has become. It appears that by expanding into car rentals, Lyft is trying to expand horizontally into new segments of the transportation market that are ripe for disruption.
Lyft first ran a car rental test in San Francisco back in May of this year, and is now semi-officially launching the service in LA. This suggests that the initial test was successful or at least promising. As for whether or not the company will pursue this on a wider scale will depend on the outcome of this expanded effort.
Why Rent When You Can Get a Lyft?
One obvious question that presents itself is simply why is Lyft getting into car rentals when rideshare services are already widely available in California? One answer could be that some travelers would simply prefer to maintain control over their transportation experience. Perhaps they don’t want to get stuck waiting in the rain for a rideshare driver to arrive, only for them to get lost at the last minute and cancel the ride, charging them a cancellation fee. Another possibility could be travelers that travel with infants or other young children that require special safety seats. It’s not realistic to ask a rideshare driver to have a safety seat, but carrying a safety seat with you when you travel isn’t that far-fetched.
Finally, as Lyft is offering unlimited mileage, driving your own rental car could prove to save a hefty chunk of money on a trip that may involve many stops and that would otherwise equal many costly rideshare trips. The only major downside to this program as it stands is simply its limited availability. But that could change quickly if Lyft finds the business model to be successful. If it rolls out nationwide, or even just to a larger number of metro areas, existing car rental companies could see themselves facing a serious threat and may be forced to up their game and stop charging fees for things like mileage and start providing free pick-ups and drop-offs.
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