Car Rental Glossary and Terminology—who, what, and why?

Car Rental Glossary and Terminology is an online glossary compiled and constantly updated by Car Rental Gateway. It has been up and running for almost a year now. A glossary that started with zero users has grown at a relatively fast pace and reached more than 500 users per week. Currently, it has 177 car rental specific terms and terms that are related to the newest trends in the mobility industry. Definitions in our Glossary include such traditional rental vocabulary as Additional driver, Cross-bordering, and Theft Protection, but also more mobility- and technology-specific terms, such as Ride-hailing platform, bCall, and Phone-as-a-Key (PaaK).

“At first, it took off as an internal glossary in 2019 with an initial idea to help new employees during their onboarding,” says Indrek Uibo, CEO of Car Rental Gateway. “We saw how it helped our employees comprehend the products we are developing and understand the industry in which we are operating. This made us realize that this is something we should share and not keep to ourselves.” Of course, the idea of a sector-specific glossary is not unique. There are plenty of rental operators who explain core terminology on their websites. Nevertheless, there is no other website that would include and explain terms that are rather new, consider also the newest trends, and take into account the viewpoint of all possible stakeholders.

Currently, the mobility industry itself is rapidly evolving. The borders between different markets are blurring and not all operators can clearly say in which market are they operating. Also, new services and terms that refer to them are emerging. However, services can take different shapes and change over time and, through this, new concepts evolve. Unfortunately, new concepts paired with old terms can make things confusing and complicated for the customers as well as the service providers themselves. To offer high-quality services, an in-depth understanding of the industry, the customers’ needs, and everything that is happening behind the scenes is needed.

In Car Rental Gateway, we are dedicated to the mission of making car rental as simple as buying a carton of milk. By growing Car Rental Glossary and Terminology and spreading the knowledge, we take steps towards realizing our goal. The glossary continues to grow weekly as new terms are added with definitions in simple English to make it accessible for everyone. Compiling all the information related to the car rental industry, the mobility industry, and new technologies provides customers with the knowledge they need to orient in today’s rapidly changing world. It also enables us, car rental operators, technology providers, IoT and cloud service providers as well as platforms, and comparison sites, to speak to our customers in a unified language and, through this, offer them a service that would correspond to their needs and expectations.

With the Glossary initiative, we want to move towards common understanding and transparency and encourage all of you to join in the discussion! We are looking forward to feedback on the definitions already available in our Glossary and encourage you to suggest terms that you would like to find from there. You can do this easily by visiting the glossary’s website and contacting us through the feedback option on each terms’ page or just by sending us an email to info@carrentalgateway.com.

Contribute to sharing knowledge and let’s create the best customer experience together. Sharing is caring!

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The team behind Car Rental Gateway has been steering e-commerce solutions in car rental distribution software since 2001. Their experience lies in bringing together mobility providers and travel distributors, including online travel agents, comparison sites, airlines, and car rental brokers. They are considered to be one of the leading global technology providers in the industry—they have built the core platform for Rentalcars.com, the biggest online broker in the market, and provide Expedia with unified data and connectivity with all major car rental operators available.