How do you avoid overlapping bookings at a car rental company?

Q&A • Car rental

How do you avoid overlapping bookings at a car rental company?

Overlaps appear when bookings live in different places: a file, a phone, a notebook. The solution is one calendar per car.

Short answer

  1. Keep a separate calendar for every car you rent out.
  2. Check the car's availability on the calendar before confirming a booking.
  3. Leave a preparation day between two rentals, for cleaning and checks.
  4. If the car is not free, look for another one in the same category.

Steps for a new booking

  1. Choose the period the customer asked for.
  2. See which cars in the wanted category are free on those days.
  3. Assign the car and enter the customer details.
  4. Generate the contract from the booking data.

What a calendar does not solve

A calendar shows availability, but it does not decide late returns. For those you note the real return time on the booking and adjust the next booking.

How SoftAuto helps

  • An availability calendar for each car.
  • Day-based bookings, with category rates.
  • A contract generated from the booking data.

See also