What Would Millennial and Gen Z New Yorkers Rather Do Than Stand in Line for a Rental Car?

A recent survey revealed the frustrations of younger New Yorkers waiting at the rental car counter as the busy summer travel season gets in full swing.

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July 19, 2023

What Would Millennial and Gen Z New Yorkers Rather Do Than Stand in Line for a Rental Car? — Millennial and Gen Z travelers in New York imagine all kinds of alternatives to waiting in line for a rental car.
File photo: Bobit

Millennials and Gen Z New Yorkers would rather do everything from eating street dogs to climbing 25 flights of stairs or staying with the inlaws than stand in line at the rental car counter, according to a Getaround survey conducted with market research firm YouGov.

Getaround connected carsharing marketplace announced the results of a recent survey conducted to uncover the frustrations of New Yorkers waiting at the rental car counter as the busy summer travel season officially kicks off.

More than eight in 10 (81%) Millennial and Gen Z New Yorkers would rather do at least one of the following than stand in line at the rental car counter:

More than a third each would rather eat street hot dogs at midnight outside of Madison Square Garden (36%) or take the stairs 25 flights up to the top of the Statue of Liberty (34%)
About three in 10 each would rather look down from the top of One World Trade (30%) or vacation for a week in Staten Island with their in-laws/partner’s family (28%)
Roughly two in 10 each would rather try to find a restroom in Times Square on New Year’s Eve (20%) or walk around Penn Station barefoot (19%)

Given nearly half of Gen Z and Millennial New Yorkers also shared that they’ve either had to wait an hour or more at the rental car counter (47%) or for a delayed bus or train (65%), consumers wish they could have spent that time doing other things — even if to many these things might seem outlandish.

Additional survey findings revealed how Millennial and Gen Z New Yorkers would take advantage of easy access to a car. Most would be more likely to choose to discover new areas around the city (65%), take day or weekend trips outside the city (61%), conduct larger shopping runs that may be hard to do otherwise (62%), and run errands (52%). And knowing that most New Yorkers don’t own a car, nearly half of Millennial and Gen Z New Yorkers wished taking trips to go visit friends and family (48%) were easier.

Getaround and its patented Connect technology provide 24/7 access to vehicles to make it easier to rent a car. Travelers can rent from car owners conveniently located around the corner from their current location.

With Connect, users can unlock the car via the Getaround app without having to wait in line or arrange an in-person key exchange. Individuals can instantly book the vehicle for any span of time, from one hour to weeks.

Topics:New York operators customer experience Carsharing contactless rentals timelines millennials Rental Operations