National Car Rental Increases Efficiency for Business Travellers with New Mobile App

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 20, 2013) - Today, thanks to a new mobile application offered by National Car Rental, time-sensitive business travellers in Canada now have enhanced efficiency at their fingertips. The free app offers features designed to provide speed, choice and control to frequent travellers who want to save time and be more productive on the road.

"Frequent business travellers depend on National to provide the smoothest transaction of their travel day," said Rob Connors, assistant vice president of marketing for National Car Rental. "With that in mind, we have designed our app to make the rental experience even faster, more convenient and more streamlined, particularly for our valued Emerald Club members."

The app provides travellers with one point of contact to manage their rentals, with features that include:

• Rental Tracking - The app has the ability to track all of an Emerald Club member's reservations and where a member is in the process of each rental. The app offers options to modify any feature, including car class, arrival time or day and payments, for both personal and corporate rentals. A snapshot of the most recent reservation or rental appears on the user's home page. Members also can receive EmeraldAlerts(SM) - communications that include Arrival and Return Alerts, and Drop & Go(SM) service with convenient eReceipts - directly through the app.
• Emerald Club Profile Management - Emerald Club members can use the app to update their profile information, review reward status, book their free rental days, and access their virtual Emerald Club card. The app also offers push notifications to let members know if their payment or license information is out of date.
• Discounts - The app displays specials and discounts that can be booked through any mobile device.
• Rental Locator - Customers can locate each of National's more than 300 North American rental car facilities and access operating hours, "click to call" contact information, and more details for each location.
• Roadside Assistance - National customers currently driving a National rental car can use the contact section of the app to directly reach Roadside Assistance.

National developed the app using input from "road warriors," including members of its award-winning Emerald Club. For example, the rental car brand tapped into its 300-member "Emerald Exchange Community," which consists of Emerald Club members who travel and rent vehicles regularly.

"We carefully researched the important tools today's business travellers need, so we could tailor our app specifically to those needs," said Rob Connors, who leads National's brand marketing efforts. "We know from serving today's business pros that efficiency is their top priority, and National's Emerald Exchange Community was able to help us address that priority and more by offering invaluable, real-time insights into the minds of actual business travellers."

Travellers can download the app - which is designed for use on both Apple and Android devices - by visiting iTunes or Google Play. The app is available in both English and French. For more information, visit www.mobileapp.nationalcar.com.

About National Car Rental

Founded in 1947, National Car Rental is a premium, internationally recognized brand serving the daily rental needs of the frequent airport traveller throughout the world. With National, time-sensitive customers in the United States and Canada are able to quickly choose their own vehicles, based upon their advance reservation and requested car class, and then simply drive away from the airport. For the second time, National earned the "Leading Edge Award" from Executive Travel magazine, recognizing the brand as the top rental car service in the travel industry in 2011 and 2013.

The Emerald Club - the car rental industry's first comprehensive frequent-renter program - expedites the rental process for members by offering counter bypass as well as access to National's "Emerald Aisle," an exclusive section of the lot where members can select any vehicle as long as they reserve a mid-sized car. In addition, Emerald Club members can choose to receive EmeraldAlerts(SM) - emailed communications that include Arrival and Return Alerts, and Drop & Go(SM) service with convenient eReceipts. Today, National has expanded to 63 Emerald Aisle locations in the United States and Canada, including the top 50 airports for business travel. For more information about National, visit www.nationalcar.ca or www.facebook.com/NationalCarRental and follow National on Twitter @NationalPro.