| Jennifer Merin All things considered, New York is one of the easiest cities in the world for getting around, especially in Manhattan.
It’s easy to get your bearings because, with the exception of the Wall Street and the downtown area, Greenwich Village and several other neighborhoods, Manhattan’s streets are laid out on the grid system.
Basically, if you stand on Fifth Avenue and face south, everything to your left is the East Side, and everything to your right is the West Side. The avenues run north and south, parallel to Fifth Avenue. Streets run east and west, and they‘re named by number, with lower numbers starting in the south of the city, basically at Houston Street, and higher numbers located to the north, up to the northern tip of the city.
Walking is from place to place is not only easy, you can get your daily exercise while getting to work or seeing the sights. If you tire, you can hop on the subway or a public bus and ride to your destination.
Easy, right?
Well, yes, very. Except if you want to go shop hopping and plan to acquire items in packages that you have to carry, or get to a place that’s in one of the far reaches of Queens, Brooklyn, The Bronx or Staten Island, or take a day trip to the beach or into the countryside for some outdoorsy recreation to see Fall foliage or anything ele that’s off the grid.
That’s when you really need a car. Problem is that keeping a car in New York is quite problematical. And most of the problems have to do with expense. Of course, if you have unlimited resources and can afford the high cost of New York vehicle registration and insurance, and of renting a spot in a parking garage, the problems are abated.
But most New Yorkers can’t cover those expenses, or prefer not to, and that’s probably a good thing. If everyone in New York owned a car, there would be permanent grid lock.
Of course, you can rent. But that‘s expensive, too, even if you look to the bargain companies. And, then, there‘s the insurance, and the gas and the parking. Before you know it, the rental fee has doubled -- and it wasn‘t cheap to begin with.
Well, don’t despair. Ever-enterprising New York has a new deal for car use, and if you love deals in the steal category, this one’s perfect for you.
It’s called Mint Cars-On-Demand, and the name pretty much sums up the product. When you become a member of this service, you get to use a car whenever you want or need to -- 24/7 -- and it’s in mint condition. And, the cost for a Honda FIT, Nissan Sentra or Altima, Toyota Yaris, Scion xB or Smart Car Fortwo Passion Coupe is $5 per hour -- yes, $5, and that‘s not a typo -- and that rate covers the use of the vehicle with unlimited mileage, free gas, free insurance and AAA emergency road service -- and the use of a built-in E-ZPass for local bridge and highway tolls.
Okay, the E-ZPass usage is charged to the reservation at the end of the month, but you’d pay that anyway, and it’s mighty convenient to have the gizmo available to you so you can breeze through toll booth plazas quickly, rather than waste you time behind ill-prepared drivers who fumble to find the cash and/or need change.
If you need more luxury, they have a Mercedes Benz C 300 for you, but that’ll cost you $13 per hour. Or if you’ve got some really heavy shopping to do, try the Toyota Tahoma Regular Cab, which is also $13 per hour.
So, here’s how the system works: You sign up for membership at www.drivemint.com. Membership costs $25 per year, but the company also enlists new subscribers with a coupon that’s good for $35 in credit towards rental. So, ask for one of those, and you’re already $10 ahead in the game.
When you join Mint Cars-On-Demand, you receive a car key card. It’s wallet size and looks just like a credit card, and it’s what allows you to unlock a vehicle after you’ve reserved it. To make your reservation, you call a toll free number on your key card, and specify your preferred pick up location and type of vehicle.
There are currently 20 locations -- 18 scattered around Manhattan from downtown to the Upper East and West Sides, and two in Brooklyn. The company is still young, and will quickly grow into more locations for even greater convenience.
The key for the vehicle is kept with the vehicle at the garage where it is parked. When picking up the car, you get the key from the garage attendant. You’re supposed to call the garage half an hour before you show up to get the car, so the attendant has time to bring it to the front of the garage, and you won’t have to wait for it to be retrieved.
There are some special rules that apply. For one thing, the only person allowed to drive the car is the registered Mint Cars-On-Demand member who reserved it.
The other rules have to do with making the car ready for the next driver, and they are really measures to assure shared car courtesy. You are expected to return the car on time, so that the next person using it can pick it up on time. You are allowed to have pets with you, but if you do, they are supposed to be kept in their carriers.
You are also expected to clean out the car before returning it and to make sure there is at least one-quarter of a tank of gas in the vehicle, so that the next driver can get going immediately. There is a penalty for returning the car with insufficient gas -- but since refueling the vehicle is done with Mint Cars-On-Demand’s charge card -- which is left in the glove compartment for your use -- there is simply no reason not to fill ‘er up.
You can also use the car for a 24 hour period, and that costs $69 per weekday, or $99 on weekends.
Any way you look at it, Mint Cars-On-Demand far outdistances any competing share car systems, other types of car rentals, limousines and taxis when it comes to cost. The extras -- gas and insurance and all -- are terrific. It’s an extremely efficient, cost-effective and convenient way to get around town or to escape from the city.
At present, Mint Cars-On-Demand is only available in New York, but the company will expand to other cities in the future. Be on the lookout for this steal of a deal!
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COPYRIGHT 2009 JENNIFER MERIN
Copyright 2009 Jennifer Merin
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