Our Story:
Start Your Engines, Ready, Set, Go!
“I didn’t choose the industry, but the industry chose me. I realised that this could be my niche” - Ammar Akhtar, the CEO and founder of Finalrentals.
Finalrentals is the leading car rental platform used by UAE ex-pats and travellers. Our technology enables travel rewards credit card holders to earn and spend their rewards in a country centred on cars. Ammar Akhtar, our CEO and founder, founded Finalrentals in 2016. Nonetheless, he began his career in the car rental industry a decade prior when he relocated to UAE to chase more fantastic opportunities. After a decade of working in the car rental industry, he was inspired to start Finalrentals.
Our company was developed to address numerous specific faults in the car rental market revealed by our CEO and founder over his decade of expertise. Before starting Finalrentals, Akhtar worked as a Chief Software Architect at Budget Rent a Car in Dubai, where he developed a website and an online car rental booking system. His work at Budget Rent a Car led to many more stints designing web-booking platforms for over 100 car rental firms globally, including Thrifty, Dollar, and Payless in the UAE.
Even after many years in the industry, our CEO and founder were still determining whether the traditional car rental model had evolved into a wholesome experience for end users. Akhtar launched Finalrentals in December 2016 with very little finance and no investment but with tremendous industry experience and a passion for establishing something more comprehensive in its approach. Finalrentals, which operates on a commission basis and has access to over 400 locations and 98,000 vehicles around the UAE, offers daily, weekly, or monthly car rentals from prominent car rental companies in the UAE, with free delivery to the customer’s home. He saw customer frustration as an onboarding professional and online ecosystems architect for several large organisations. According to Akhtar, this knowledge was used to build Finalrentals and address several common client issues.
As a result, despite a lack of finance and a minimal marketing budget, Akhtar’s own innovation has allowed the firm to remain profitable over time; the UAE has public transportation, but due to the country’s limited geography, longer distances on mass transit are limited to buses and taxis. While metros are available in major cities, the cities were built so recently that driving is convenient and cost-effective. For most ex-pats and credit card rewards travellers, car rentals remain the most suitable form of transportation. Many visitors to the UAE come from countries where cars are the predominant form of transportation, such as the United States and Europe.
After years of working with experienced car rental industry professionals to assist our CEO and founder, we all agreed that our goal at Finalrentals was to provide clients with the best online car rental prices and to empower local car rental companies to go digital and accept more bookings through various online channels, as well as to unleash the power of the internet. We all know that the car rental market is evolving, and nowadays, everyone wants to rent a car at the lowest possible price. Many people spend hours checking prices on numerous websites. Finalrentals’ principal mission is to become the one-stop shop for all car rental needs. You won't need to visit any other price comparison website after arriving at Finalrentals since our experts will pre-compare costs for you and negotiate with several vehicle rental companies in the area to obtain the best value.
But, there was some hesitation when COVID-19 struck, and we spent March to August 2020 figuring out what we could do while all car rental locations were shuttered owing to the on-and-off lock-downs. This was because car rentals were regarded as a non-essential industry. Akhtar stated that he had no idea what to do for the first few weeks. To him, everything seemed hazy. Nonetheless, Akhtar maintained his cool and focused on improving our product and keeping our team united. This allowed us to focus on more remarkable product development, which resulted in the launch of a door-to-door car delivery system and the launch of BLADE, a booking engine aimed at making non-stop booking available through Finalrentals. As a result, despite needing to alter its early growth projections, our company outperformed its targets in 2020 thanks to some quick pivots - the start-up gained 1.5 times more car rental days than in 2019. Yet, the pandemic highlighted one crucial problem in traditional car rental models: the growing irrelevance of fixed locations.
Another crucial component fueling our company's growth is our price. Finalrentals is appealing in a business-oriented rental market that is a frequent travel destination since it eliminates all the guesswork associated with renting on other platforms. We developed our reputation on low prices and continue positioning ourselves as a low-cost car rental platform. Our repeat renters continue to rent global small-car brands, but our site has also incorporated certain premium upgrades. Rather than putting the onus on our consumers to browse through pricing comparison data, we assess costs and negotiate with its many leasing partners on their behalf. We wanted our consumers to be confident that the prices they see are acceptable for the car and rental period they are considering. And they are well aware of this before handing in their keys at the end of their journey.
Many of our customers are from Europe, where debit cards are used, and the distinction between debit and credit cards might be more precise. That is why our company, Finalrentals, thoroughly explains the complexities so that our customers are visible at the counter. After spending some weeks in Dubai, Akhtar determined that our company should relocate to Cardiff. Customers can search, compare, and book from over 40,000 sites worldwide, including airports and downtowns in all major cities. Cars can be picked up at airports throughout Europe and urban locations near the central station.
“We are committed to making car rentals very easy for the users and allowing them freedom of choice, not just in a specific country but worldwide. Our dream is to become the biggest car rental portal worldwide. Based on the current situation, I truly believe that the future of car and car rentals and car ownership is about subscriptions and monthly rentals. People would want to subscribe to a car on a month-to-month basis instead of committing to a lease plan or buying the car cash down, and that’s where Finalrentals global app comes very handy.” - Ammar Akhtar, CEO and founder of Finalrentals.
We at Finalrentals have franchisees and affiliates worldwide, and our brand has now extended to 20 countries and is still growing.
So why don’t you come and drive along with us?
