National Introduces its New Rental and Reservations System
10 March 1999
National Car Rental Introduces its New Smart, Fast and Efficient Rental and Reservations System Global Odyssey Ushers in a New 'Counter Culture' at National
NEW YORK, March 10 -- National Car Rental announces the
introduction of Global Odyssey, a new state-of-the-art reservation system
designed to further reduce car rental pick-up time, speed up returns and
eliminate billing surprises at the rental counter.
"Global Odyssey ushers in a new 'counter culture' at National," says Bob
Briggs, President of National Car Rental. "Almost every vehicle renter has
experienced some kind of frustration at the rental counter at one time or
another -- waiting and delays, complicated, confusing billing procedures and
misinformation. At National, we believe any inconvenience is unacceptable.
So we set a goal of anticipating and solving as many potential problems as we
could with a single, comprehensive reservations system."
"Global Odyssey is engineered to do just that. The system will virtually
eliminate 'counter shock' for the customer -- those unexpected surprises and
charges at the rental counter. It is designed to make the customer's
transactions easier, faster and more accurate, reduce booking errors, and
provide clear explanations of all rates and charges in advance of pick-up and
return," Briggs continues.
With the new Global Odyssey System, customers will receive customized
information about pricing, terms, conditions and availability of their rental
at the time that they reserve their car. Global Odyssey will provide complete
and accurate rate quotes of the total estimated charges prior to arriving at
the counter, even itemizing state and/or local tax, surcharge fees and other
specific information. Global Odyssey is also designed to capture special
requests, and automatically credit frequent traveler awards for loyalty
customers based upon airline flight information. The system will also track,
display and verify coupons or tour vouchers and determine availability of
special promotions or discounts to avoid confusion and delays at the time of
pick-up.
"Global Odyssey is designed to offer National's customers a superior
reservation and a very personal kind of service. Each of our customers has
different needs, and the new National computer system has the flexibility to
anticipate almost every travel contingency," Briggs says.
When a vehicle is reserved, either through a reservation agent, travel
agent or over the Internet, Global Odyssey does more than simply confirm a
rental for a specific location and date. The new system will begin to build
an individualized renter profile from the customer's very first contact,
updating preferences with each transaction. Customers can easily compare
prices between different car classes, special equipment and optional insurance
coverage, and verify the availability of any car, at any location, at any time
of the day.
Global Odyssey is designed to automatically deliver real-time confirmation
and rate updates to all major Global Distributions Systems. Should plans
change, Global Odyssey will automatically cancel and rebook reservations. For
international bookings, Global Odyssey will deliver immediate confirmations
and rate quotes in the currency for the country of travel. It has the
capability to embed special requests directly into the system that can be
accessed by the rental agent at the time of pick-up.
"After nearly 18 months of development, Global Odyssey represents a major
leap forward in customer care at National. Global Odyssey will improve nearly
every aspect of the rental process, from booking to selection; from pricing to
communicating terms, conditions and special requests; from estimating total
charges to quick processing at return. At National, our journey is to expand
and improve upon the outstanding service our customers and travel partners
have come to expect," says Briggs. "Global Odyssey is the tool that enables
National to continue to strive toward exceeding customer expectations. It is
the first technology improvement of its depth and application in our
industry."
For more than 50 years, the green logo of National Car Rental signifies
one of the world's largest car rental systems with nearly 3,000 locations in
75 countries. National offers industry-leading services such as Choice and
the popular Emerald Club with Emerald Aisle Service for frequent renters.
National's customers know that "Green Means Go!" in the United States, Canada,
Europe, Africa, Australia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean and
the Pacific Rim through its partner in Japan, Nippon Rent-A-Car.
