Alamo Launches QuickRent, The First Complete Online Car Rental Process With ATM-Style Counter Bypass.Business Editors FORT LAUDERDALE Fort Lauderdale (lô`dərdāl), residential, commercial, and resort city (1990 pop. 149,377), seat of Broward co., SE Fla., on the Atlantic coast; settled around a fort built (c.1837) in the Seminole War, inc. 1911. , Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2001 Alamo Rent A Car Alamo Rent A Car is a car rental agency. It is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but has branches across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America, parts of Africa, Europe, and Australia as well as some locations on various Caribbean islands. , a division of ANC ANC abbr. African National Congress ANC African National Congress: South African political movement instrumental in bringing an end to apartheid ANC n abbr (= Rental Corporation (Nasdaq:ANCX), today introduced QuickRent(R), the car rental industry's first product that lets customers actually rent a car online. QuickRent customers are now able to bypass the counter by choosing all their options online, electronically signing the rental agreement A rental agreement is a contract, usually written, between the owner of a property and a renter who desires to have temporary possession of the property. As a minimum, the agreement identifies the parties, the property, the term of the rental, and the amount of rent for the term. , and using an ATM-style kiosk at the Alamo Alamo Eighteenth-century mission in San Antonio, Texas, site of a historic siege of a small group of Texans by a Mexican army (1836) during the Texas war for independence from Mexico. rental location. Heralding the official beginning of the 21st century, QuickRent debuts this month in 36 U.S. cities, including: Orlando, Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. , Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, San Diego and a host of other popular vacation destinations. Since 1995, car rental companies have allowed customers to reserve a car online -- but unless customers were members of a frequent traveler club or other similar program, they were required to complete the rental transaction at the counter. QuickRent changes that. Now all renters with Internet access can experience the counter bypass benefit--a feature other car rental companies reserve for members-only, and typically fee-based, club participants. QuickRent is a no lines, no hassle, streamlined car rental process that combines the power of alamo.com (rated the rental car industry's best Web site by Forrester Research, Inc. and ranked number one in ease-of-use by Gomez.com) with Alamo's ATM-style Quicksilver quicksilver: see mercury. (1) (QuickSilver Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA, www.qstech.com) A mobile communications company that specializes in a reconfigurable logic chip for cellphones and PDAs. See adaptive computing. (R) kiosk network. As a result, customers can enjoy more control, flexibility and speed. The revolutionary process lets customers: - Make all their car rental decisions online at alamo.com, in the privacy of their home or office, 24/7 - Identify and compare the costs of different car types; select options typically purchased at the rental counter; and calculate the total cost of their car rental (including fees, etc.) before they pick up the car - Make changes as needed as needed prn. See prn order. -- any day -- up until the car is picked up - Sign the rental agreement online - Bypass the counter, avoiding the line by using Alamo's Quicksilver rental kiosks. "With QuickRent, we can leverage the significant investment we've made in the Alamo Web site not only to enhance ease-of-use for our customers, but also to provide additional operational economies to increase our shareholder value," said ANC Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Egan. "Real creativity and innovation in the car rental industry are relatively rare," commented Karen Beard, President--North America, Alamo and National. "We believe QuickRent is one of the most significant breakthroughs this industry has seen in decades. It reinforces ANC's positioning of Alamo as our value brand, committed to delivering easy to use, hassle-free products that are available to everyone." Any qualified driver with a valid driver's license and a credit card can complete the entire rental process -- from choosing the type of car to signing the agreement -- all on alamo.com. QuickRent also represents one of the industry's first applications of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN, Pub.L. 106-229, 14 Stat. 464, enacted 2000-06-30, ) is a United States federal law passed by the U.S. . ANC Rental Corporation (Nasdaq:ANCX), the parent company of Alamo and National, is one of the world's largest car rental companies with annual revenue of approximately $3.5 billion in 2000. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, the company has more than 4,000 locations in 69 countries and employs approximately 22,000 associates worldwide. |
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