Myles new pricing policy-from bad to worse!

Over the years, despite aggressive growth of Zoomcar, Carzonrent’s Myles had one clear advantage- just pay the fixed rent, use as much as you need, return with full tank.  This was extremely useful for me during long drives. I don’t have to worry about excess km charges (which stand at about Rs 12 to 15 per km, three to four times the fuel cost) Zoomcar’s limited km range was proving to be hugely expensive for long drives, so Myles was my favorite when I didn’t know exactly how much I may use or when I knew I will be using a lot.

Looks like Myles has surrendered to Zoomcar. Myles has now changed its pricing policy, effectively copying Zoomcar’s 120/240/300 kms usage package. Myles car rental now needs to be done in similar package and a per km charge applies if you use additional kms.

Drawbacks of this pricing model are:

While Zoomcar rental includes fuel, Myles rental doesn’t. I can possibly understand a small maintenance fee if used excessively, but 11 Rs per km when customer has to pay for fuel is just insane (With Zoomcar, when you pay Rs 12 per excess km, it includes fuel, which is worth about Rs 3 to 4 per km, with myles, you have to pay for fuel and still pay Rs 11 per km+ tax). Asked Myles on twitter, got some standard response.

Travel plans change- I might have selected 120 kms package, now I might feel the need to drive 500 kms or I might have booked  a 300 kms package but drove only 100. If my plans change and I use only 100 kms instead of 300, I don’t get a single penny back. Ideally rental companies should charge me as per lower package and refund the difference. But no such things. Easy money if customer uses less, more money if he uses more. Now it is my headache to plan exact no of kms I may use and select right package while booking.

With revised pricing, below is the price comparison for some of the typical scenarios, between myles and zoomcar, fuel expense calculated as diesel @ 67 Rs per litre

#	Scenario	Myles	Zoomcar
1	Weekend (48 hours), small car (Figo),500 kms	Figo 5200 (480 kms) +220 excess kms + 350 LDW 2100 fuel=Rs 7870 (possible 40 Rs tax on excess km charge extra)	7290 (480 kms) + Rs 240 excess kms= Rs 7530
2	Weekend, SUV (XUV500), Really long drive-1200 kms, Friday 9 PM till Monday 9 AM	11000 Unlimited kms 7300 fuel+ 1800 LDW= INR 20100	Scorpio, 1200 kms= INR 17820
3	Weekday, Sedan, 100 kms, 24 hours	1812 (Ciaz, 120kms) 200 LDW 420 fuel = Rs 2432	Ciaz @120 kms Rs 2640
4	Weekend, Sedan, 200 kms, Saturday 6 AM till Sunday 9 PM	3900 (Ciaz, 195kms) Rs 400 LDW + 55 Rs excess km 840 fuel= Rs 5240	Ciaz @ Rs 5850, 195 kms + 75 excess kms= Rs 5925

If you notice in above table, Myles now doesn't make sense for weekend travel, particularly long drives. Unlimited km option needs you to pay double the rent and all the fuel, doesn't work out cheaper in most cases.

However, to be fair Myles works out a bit cheaper in case a few scenarios- like say a dinner date with only 50-100 kms usage on a weeday

One good thing Myles has done is to include GST in display price (earlier they would add GST extra in final screen, often making comparisons even more difficult). But they now charge a Loss Damage Waiver fee (which varies from Rs 350 to 1000, depending on car type and applicable per day) or an option of paying Rs 5000 security deposit. (Rs 200 per day for Sedans, Rs 600 per day for SUVs etc). Pay this or pay refundable 5000 Rs deposit, whereas Zoomcar's rental is inclusive of insurance and doesn't include a deposit- easy to work with)

So far I used to use Zoomcar for mainly trying out their new cars and use myles cars for long drive needs. Now with new pricing, Myles has lost its edge on all scenarios (as far as my usage is concerned). I don’t have any motive to rent from them- only cases Myles might be handy is when zoomcar is fully sold out or myles has introduced some nice new car not available in zoomcar fleet.

Let us see....