Introduction
Mileage/kilometer and generator fees will be calculating per day regardless of your "charge by day or night" reservation preference settings.
When you set your rates for mileage and generator usage, you can allot a certain amount of unlimited miles/hours and then set the cost to renters when they exceed that amount. Currently, unless you choose to track these per trip, this calculation depends on your day/night pricing reservation preference.
After we make this change, the number of free miles/hours will always be calculated per day, regardless of your day/night pricing setting. If you use pricing tiers for overages, they will also be assessed per day. This will be reflected in the suggested charge we provide after you’ve added odometer and generator hour readings on the reservation page.
Why the change?
First and foremost, calculating free miles/hours by night was causing confusion amongst renters. Outdoorsy consistently received calls from dissatisfied renters, as you likely have as well, assuming their free miles/hours were per day, not per night. Some of this is our fault, as the mileage/generator rates throughout the renter experiences on both Outdoorsy and Wheelbase Checkout say “per day” regardless of your day/night setting. This change will correct that issue.
But on a more fundamental level, calculating free miles/hours per night follows a mental thought process that renters do not share. If they are driving your rig, they are virtually guaranteed to be doing so on the first and last day of their trip. Paying the base price for the reservation on a per-night basis doesn’t change the fact that driving is mostly a day-time activity that renters forecast by day. This led to a further disconnect in expectations.
What do you need to do?
For some of you this means no change at all; especially if you do not charge any Mileage or Generator Fees, charge by day or per reservation only.
For anyone that is charging Mileage/Kilometer and Generator Fees per night, please recalculate your mileage fees based on a per day calculation and edit your Mileage/Kilometer and Generator Fees in your Wheelbase account
You should be able to price mileage and generator usage at the same effective rates, in a way that fits your renters’ expectations, by updating your free allotment and tiers with the understanding that they will be compounded per day, not per night.
If you’re wondering how much you should adjust your figures, we would suggest reducing your free allotment of miles/hours and the size of your tiers by 17-20%. So if you offered 100 free miles per night before and had a second tier of 101-200 miles, you would lower those to 80-83 free miles per day and a second tier of 101-180 or 183 miles. There is no need to change the actual price of your miles if you do it this way. Based on the average trip lengths we see, this would lead to the same mileage pricing you had before.
Example
If you offered
- 100 free miles per night
- 101-200 miles $0.35/mi
- 200-100000 miles $0.45/mi
you would lower those to
- 80 free miles per day
- 81-160 miles $0.35/mi
- 161- 100000 miles $0.45/mi
There is no need to change the actual price of your miles.
Note
Please also consider updating any renter facing documents outside of Wheelbase where you mention that mileage is charged by night.
Why can't I keep calculating miles/hours by night on my website?
The product isn’t currently capable of keeping different Mileage/Generator rates on Outdoorsy vs. Wheelbase Checkout, which are powered by the same technology. Doing so would add upkeep for both you and us, something the small perceived benefit would not justify in this case.
When is the launch Date?
The launch date is September 23rd 2022, after that Mileage and Generator Fees will be calculated and charged per day for any newly created bookings. Previously created bookings will not be affected by the change unless you update the mileage and generator fee on your booking directly via the booking edit page.
Kind regards,
Team Wheelbase