July 21, 2015
The next time you take a vacation, you could put your car to work.
A service called FlightCar now available in Philadelphia and Newark allows car owners to park near the airport for free in exchange for letting the company rent out their cars, NJ.com reports.
Even if the car doesn’t get rented out, the owners still get free parking and a car wash. If someone does take the car, they get 5 to 20 cents per mile.
A search on flightcar.com for rentals a month from now in Philadelphia International Airport shows prices ranging from $33 per day for a compact car to $200 per day for a minivan.
FlightCar’s CEO Rujul Zaparde started the company in 2013 when he was 17, turning down an enrollment offer from Harvard so that he could focus on his business. It’s now expanded to 90,000 registered members in 16 locations, including LA, Baltimore, Boston and Dallas.
Renters are screened for their driving history, with no more than two minor violations or accidents allowed in the past three years.
Car owners also get $1 million in liability insurance and the company says that it will cover any damage to the car up to its full cash value. Reviews of the service have not always been positive, but the Philadelphia location right now has four stars on Yelp.