Tag: First


Lake Tahoe’s First Big Storm of 2010 Brings Vacation Rentals To Life

28
September

The Lake Tahoe ski resorts can be the perfect wintertime getaway for a family. Many travelers load up the car each winter from California and head up to the north or south shore where many ski resorts make home to a day of fun skiing, sledding and snowboarding. Some families simply go to breathe in the beauty of the lake and surrounding snow-capped mountains. Travelers near and far also go to Lake Tahoe to enjoy the unlimited recreational activities any season of the year. Lake Tahoe truly has something for everyone especially if you are adventure minded. Perhaps this is why the first major storm has skyrocketed bookings for one of the many Lake Tahoe vacation rentals and cabins on both shores. The first arctic blast of the season has brought several feet of snow just in time for the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year holidays.

Lake Tahoe’s north and south shores are home to numerous world class ski resorts for kids and adults. Pacific coastal storms deliver many feet of snow to the local ski resorts and a little less at lake level. Many of the Lake Tahoe skiers often have the best of both worlds – tons of snow and relatively warm temperatures in the late winter and early spring. These great conditions combined with amazing views of Lake Tahoe below make skiing on Lake Tahoe’s north or south shore truly exceptional. The largest ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area are Squaw Valley, Heavenly, Sugar Bowl, Alpine Meadows, Kirkwood, Northstar-At-Tahoe and Sierra-at-Tahoe. Northstar-At-Tahoe is a wonderful destination for families to spend a day skiing or snowboarding. Lessons are easily booked and managed for the kids while parents can enjoy their own day of skiing, boarding or hanging out at the beautiful resort. Cross country skiing and snow mobile riding are also very popular in Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe offers nearly unlimited shopping, gaming, hiking, biking, along with Truckee river and lake activities. There are hundreds of miles of bike trails in the Lake Tahoe basin. The Tahoe Rim Trail is a 90-mile hiking and equestrian trail that follows the ridge tops of the Lake Tahoe Basin. The trail traverses six counties and two states and includes a portion of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. This trail is on the adventurous side with elevations ranging from 6,300 to 9,400 feet and an average grade of 10%. Shorter and less demanding trails are available throughout the region. For golfers, numerous courses are available for all skill levels and budgets.

In winter or summer, many shops all around the lake display the goods where shoppers can find all sorts of unique items. Several small towns around Lake Tahoe like Incline Village, South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe City offer great shopping and dining. Major casinos like the Hyatt on the north shore or Harrah’s on the south shore offer casinos for adults.

The preferred accommodations for groups and large or small families are one of the many Lake Tahoe vacation rentals and cabins on either shoreline of Lake Tahoe. The seemingly endless supply of incredible vacation rentals are fitting for most all budgets. The unique range of Tahoe accommodations are situated near your family or group’s desired recreational activities. At an ever-increasing rate, travelers are  selecting vacation rentals, cabin rentals and condo rentals to meet the needs of their family vacation. These types of travel accommodations offer the flexibility and amenities not found in a hotel room. The best time to book your next vacation home in Lake Tahoe is well in advance of your actual trip. Much like hotels, Lake Tahoe vacation rentals, cabins and condos sell out during the peak seasons and many weekends. The first storm of the season already has the phones ringing with anxious travelers booking up their winter holiday accommodations.

Sondra writes travel article for several Lake Tahoe Vacation Rentals and Cabin Rentals websites while living in the area part-time.


Article from articlesbase.com

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First Car Rental Launches World’s First ?Green’ Mobile Checkout Facility

19
January

First Car Rental’s latest in a string of ‘green’ solutions, and launched at Cape Town International Airport branch recently – and set to roll out nationally, is what is believed to be the world’s first mobile checkout facility created for First Car Rental’s corporate customer base, which is also a 100% paperless transaction.

 

First Car Rental’s corporate loyalty tier is aptly called Show & Go as this is literally what their corporate customer’s do – present their Show & Go loyalty card and go.

 

The handheld mobile checkout device allows First Car Rental’s corporate customers to checkout in less than 1 minute without going into a branch thereby ensuring no queues, no waiting and definitely no paperwork. The entire transaction from online booking to contract opening to vehicle movement logging to closing off the contract after the rental period has ended, is completely paperless.

 

Says Melissa Storey, Executive Head: Strategy, Development & Marketing at First Car Rental, “We are very proud of this achievement as ultimately our business is incredibly customer-centric, plus in this day and age it is smart to simultaneously improve processes that are also ‘green’. This mobile checkout facility is designed to save our corporate customers effort and time, which as we all know, when you travel a lot, as this market sector does, is invaluable.”

How it works

A booking is made online.
The renter walks out of airport arrivals using the shortest pre-defined route to the First Car Rental Show & Go collection and termination zone where their car is parked, bypassing the branch completely.
A staff member is waiting within this dedicated area with a mobile checkout device to check the renter out by tending to a simple verification process such as ‘does this photo look like the renter?’
First Car Rental staff pre-prepares a check-sheet and walks around the vehicle with the renter to ensure they agree on the vehicle condition.
The renter’s Show & Go card is ‘snapped’ by the device and the renter is voice-recorded agreeing with the check-sheet. There is no signature required.
The renter is ready to go in less than 1 minute.

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At Cape Town International Airport the total time taken from airport arrivals to checkout is approximately 3.5mins. This could take longer should a customer query specifics of the vehicle but on average this is the approximate time taken.

 

When the renter returns the vehicle, they park the car exactly where they picked it up from, which is the closest parking available to the airport and branch. They drop their keys into the Show & Go key drop safe and off they go back to the airport.

 

Comments Storey, “We have timed it so that our renters don’t have to. For business travellers, waiting around to be attended to is extremely frustrating, especially in peak periods. We want to completely remove this element from the car rental experience and get them moving to their destination as quickly as possible, whilst simultaneously inspiring green processes.”

The Technical Side

On the technical side, Firestring, First Car Rental’s loyalty platform provider, modified its MobiSnap 2D Bar Code Reader software to in conjunction with their own software solutions enable quick mobile checkouts for First Car Rental’s existing Show & Go 2D Bar Code Card Holders. The software, written in J2ME, runs on BlackBerry Torch 9800 mobile phones and provides our car handlers with mobile technology to seamlessly recall customer- reservation- and vehicle information directly from First Car Rental’s online reservation and fleet planning solutions as well as its operational system.

 

A secure VPN is established between the device and the server using the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). First Car Rental’s Service Orientated Architecture allows modules to be added securely with ease, enhancing the customers’ experience through innovative technologies and unique First Car Rental business processes.

 

Launch dates

First Car Rental Show & Go Mobile Checkout will be available at the 3 major airports – Cape Town International in September 2011 with King Shaka International and OR Tambo International from October 2011.

 

How it all started

In 2010 First Car Rental began applying speed to the car rental experience with its customer recognition software rolled out at all 43 branches nationwide. The technology was designed to capture electronic customer profiles with photographs and the relevant legal documentation. This system allows staff to access customer profiles quickly from a central database to complete the car rental process without time-consuming repeat paperwork.

 

Storey said: “The new software dramatically speeds up the rental process for customers and forms part of a phased approach to a fully paperless rental agreement, fulfilling our vision of being the first car rental company in South Africa to offer a truly ‘green’ check-out procedure, which we have now achieved.”

The technology, coupled with First Car Rental’s loyalty card programme, means that customers provide their personal details just once. Their photos and details are captured and saved on First Car Rental’s central and secure database, and in future, clients simply produce their loyalty card, speeding up the rental process while they earn loyalty points.

 

Storey explains that the software was initially developed to drive First Car Rental’s loyalty programme in order to identify and reward frequent customers. Over and above flagging frequent renters in the system for additional benefits, the loyalty software also records rental activity so that customers can view their rental history and rewards online.

 

Says Storey “We have now taken this a step further and designed the Mobile Checkout Device using this advanced technology, which we believe, is a world-first in the car rental industry and thereby living up to our name and payoff line ‘First Car Rental – First in Car Hire, First in Service’.” 

First Car Rental provide affordable rental cars to business and leisure travellers looking to travel in and around South Africa.


Article from articlesbase.com

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