Why did Britz move to Flex Rates?

Once upon a time life was simple. Britz had set rates, they didn't change. It didn't matter if you went from Sydney to Cairns, or Cairns to Sydney. It didn't matter if you booked 6 month in advance, or the day before... the rate was the same.

While this was nice and simple to work with, it was causing some big problems. People were starting to book later and later, which meant Britz could not plan its fleet and relocation's far out. Vans were never where they needed them, relocation costs went up and availability was a real problem - customers wanted a van in Sydney but we had to turn them back. We had thousands of vans, but none of them were in Sydney. Customers and Agents wanted lower prices and more availability, but Standard rates were increasing costs and making availability harder. Then Britz came across the Idea of Flex Rates.

You can make it sound complicated, but the idea is quite simple. Its the equivalent of looking out the window and seeing how many vans you have in the yard. If you have lots, you have a low rate. As the yard starts to empty, you raise the rate. Britz do that weekly, for each vehicle and branch.

It has worked well and Britz has been able to offer lower rates and more availability as a result. While many agents were worried about working with flex rates at first they soon saw how this not only allowed them to sell more, but that once they figured out how to work with flex rates that it ended up being much simpler for them. So that is what this post is for, to help explain how flex rates work, and how agents can work with these in their systems, websites, brochures, etc.

How does the Flex system work?

There are 64 different rates levels offered, ranging from "A1" to "H8", with A1 being the lowest and "H8" being the highest available daily rate. If there is a large number of vehicles available the Flex level listed will be a lower number for example "B1" which corresponds to a lower daily rate. If you make your booking close to your intended date of travel generally there will be less vehicles available so the Flex rate will be higher, for example "G5" which corresponds to a higher daily rate overall. You will need to contact your travel consultant for the actual value of the Flex number when making your booking.
There are also different rates for different pick-up dates, pick-up locations and vehicle types. If you are flexible with your travel dates, vehicle types and pick-up/drop-off locations, you can secure the best deal available.
Britz campervan rentals are calculated on a calendar day basis with the day of pick up being counted as "day one" of the rental, regardless of the pick-up time. The day of drop-off is counted as the final day of the rental.
The Flex rate for the entire rental is determined by the date of pick-up, and therefore will not change throughout the hire period.