Booking Duration, Extension, and Cancelation Policies

Booking Duration

Members are billed for the duration of the hire period. Bookings started before the scheduled start time or returned after the scheduled end time will be expanded accordingly. This prevents another member being stranded at the marina waiting for a late returning vehicle. It also ensures damage cover is extended across the adjusted hire period.

We encourage members to start and end bookings whenever is convenient. But please be aware additional usage will be charged accordingly. Paying more for using more time is the fairest way to manage the platform for all users.

Please note that booking time is calculated in 15-minute increments. Early pickup or late return will add time in 15-minute blocks.

Returning a car early

If a borrower returns a car early, they'll still pay for the unused time remaining.

This policy is in place because once a car is booked, it is unavailable for other potential customers for the duration of that booking. When you reserve a car with us, we ensure that it is available exclusively for you for the entire duration of your booking. As such, no refund is provided for early returns. This ensures that all customers can depend on their reservations not being disrupted by last-minute changes, thereby maintaining a reliable and efficient service for everyone.

Extensions.

Its now easier than ever to extend your booking. Simply tap “extend booking” in the home screen and select the new time you would like to return.

Late Returns and Automatic extensions.

Bay Islands Car Share does not charge late fees. Instead if you are late returning a vehicle, we will simply extend your booking for you automatically. This prevents another member being stranded at the marina for a late returning vehicle.

Automatic extensions are a safety net to prevent inconvenience to other members. We strongly suggest that you return on time or simply extend the booking yourself. This will enable you to select the exact amount of additional time you need. To help keep track of time, the app will send a notification 15 minutes before your booking ends to remind you the vehicle is due back soon (make sure your notifications are on to receive this message).

If you are late returning with no notice the system will auto-extend your booking. If you miss consecutive return times the system will extend the booking by increasing time increments as follows:

The 1st time you are late without notice, the booking will extend by 30 mins.
The 2nd time you are late without notice, the booking will extend by 30 mins.
The 3rd time you are late without notice, the booking will extend by 60 mins.
Vehicles more than 2 hours late without notice will convert to an “All Day” booking and a final $15 extension fee will apply.

Extension fees

There is a $5 administration fee for all booking extensions. This covers the cost of rearranging all subsequent bookings to accommodate the member’s late return.

Cancellation Fees

When you make a booking with Bay Islands Car Share we prepare a number of things to ensure that your car is ready and waiting for you when you arrive at the marina. The day before you go, we will put a vehicle aside for you, move it to the marina parking for your convenience and block out the time on the reservation system to make sure no one else can book that vehicle. We might have to reschedule other bookings around yours or even deny other booking requests because we are saving a specific car just for you. We do this to ensure that you have a great experience- reliable transport at a great price. When a booking is cancelled last minute all this work goes to waste and cars are left sitting idle that could have otherwise been used.

However, we also understand that unexpected things happen, and plans can change.

To achieve a balance between flexibility and economy the following cancellation policy applies to all bookings:

Fee Schedule

For a full list of applicable fees please refer to the Bay Islands Car Share Fee Schedule for more details.