Car rental firm launches keyless hire service
Car hire firm Goldcar has launched a digital system that allows customers to book, pay for, collect and open their car via a mobile phone, without the need for a key and without having to visit a counter.
The Spain-based company claimed it was the first operator in the car rental sector to offer a keyless hire service.
CEO Juan Carlos Azcona said: "Connectivity and digitalisation are changing the paradigm of the tourism sector and at Goldcar we want to stay at the forefront of innovation, providing value-added services to the traveller.
"This revolutionary system is easy and comfortable for the user, renting, paying and opening the vehicle from their own mobile phone, making their travel experience much more fruitful."
Clients using the new ‘Click ‘n Go’ system, will receive a virtual key with the registration and location of their vehicle via the Goldcar app on their mobile phone. They will be able to open and start the vehicle using Bluetooth technology.
The service is available to all Goldcar users who hire a car through the Goldcar website in Alicante, Barcelona, Malaga, Madrid and Palma. The company said it was aiming to gradually extend the service to all its destinations.
Last year Goldcar launched Key’n Go, a smart key dispenser that allows the user to pick up and deliver the car keys by displaying a QR code to the machine reader, without having to go via the office.
More than 23,000 customers used the service service in 21 Goldcar offices in Spain, Italy and Portugal. Over the next few months, the company will continue to implement it gradually in the rest of its centres, it said.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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