My journey with Kyte, the rental car startup that delivers vehicles right to you

Earlier this month, my best friend and I faced challenges in finding an affordable rental car for a somewhat last-minute birthday trip from Boston to Maine. Given the significant pandemic-related shortage of rental cars nationwide, we were pleasantly surprised to find one for under $400 total for four days in late July.

With the average rental car rate in Boston at $167 per day, securing a car for $362.29 felt like a bargain. The only other similarly priced option was the peer-to-peer sharing platform Turo, but the suburban pickup locations were not convenient for us. Since we flew into Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) from Reagan National Airport (DCA) and planned to work remotely in the city for the day, we opted for Kyte, as it was the most affordable choice that allowed us to pick up a car at a location of our preference after work.

Since its soft launch in 2020, San Francisco-based Kyte, which brands itself as the "leading app-based car rental delivery service," has expanded to eight cities across the U.S. and raised $9 million in January to enter additional markets.

"The secret to our success lies in our fleet operations platform, which connects people with cars in the right place at the right time, effectively managing vehicle movements across densely populated urban areas," said Kyte's co-founders in a press release. "We collaborate with existing professionally managed fleets, allowing us to focus entirely on enhancing the consumer experience and developing technology—rather than managing assets."

Kyte "acquires vehicles from various professional fleet providers, and the vehicles are stored and serviced by Kyte," a representative from Kyte informed me via email.

Booking

The main distinction between Kyte and traditional rental car companies is its emphasis on "doorstep car delivery," allowing users to pick up and return vehicles almost anywhere and at any time in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Kyte truly delivers the car to you.

We reserved our Kyte on July 5 for a total of $362.29, scheduled for Thursday through Sunday, July 22-25.

Included in the total is a $51 fee for both liability and damage protection.

"Kyte is a certified rental car provider, so credit card rental insurance does apply to Kyte," a Kyte representative confirmed via email.

For newer services like Kyte or Turo, we recommend reviewing your provider's terms and conditions regarding rental car coverage offered by many credit cards for traditional rental car companies.

You'll also see a $50 discount for my friend who referred me to Kyte.

When you book your Kyte, you'll choose a 30-minute delivery window and a drop-off time (available every half-hour) at an address within their service area. We arranged to meet our "surfer," the term Kyte uses for its drivers, between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on July 22. Although we were unsure where we would spend the day, we selected a pickup point in the Back Bay neighborhood at the Fairmont Copley Plaza.

Since we were traveling from Boston to Maine and flying back to D.C. from BOS, we aimed for a drop-off location as close to the airport as possible. Although Kyte doesn't currently provide service at any airports, they do recommend the nearest stop to your intended airport, which for us was the Maverick station on Boston's T subway system, just a few stops away from BOS.

The absence of airport service wasn't immediately clear while booking our Kyte, and it wasn't until we made several unsuccessful attempts to enter BOS as a drop-off location that we understood it wasn't an option.

"I understand the reasoning behind not offering airport pickup, but it was still a bit frustrating," remarked Bre Revell, my best friend who joined me on the Kyte experience. "However, their suggested drop-off location was incredibly convenient as it was very close to the T stop and just a short ride to Logan."

We opted for an SUV, and the booking confirmation indicated that we should anticipate receiving a Jeep Compass or a similar model.

Picking up the car

The day before our planned pickup, the Kyte app prompted us to confirm the driver's license by submitting a selfie.

We didn't expect the challenge we faced on July 22 in locating a coffee shop with Wi-Fi to work from. After trying two places, we finally settled on a Blue Bottle before moving to a Sweetgreen to find an outlet and grab lunch. At around 3:45 p.m., we received another notification through the app informing us that our "surfer" Ish was on his way and would arrive between 3:52 and 4:02 p.m., slightly earlier than our scheduled 4-4:30 p.m. window. This was a bit frustrating since both Bre and I were still working and had to quickly pack up to meet him. Fortunately, it was only a five-minute walk.

We quickly approached 138 St. James Avenue and spotted a blue Nissan Rogue. Our "surfer" waved, confirmed our identities and driver's licenses, asked us to electronically sign the rental agreement (which we received immediately via email) on his phone, and inquired if we had any questions before handing over the keys.

He then retrieved a bike from the trunk, likely to ride to his next stop.

As we set off on our trip to Maine, we overlooked the earlier notes about gas and tolls, so make sure to keep those in mind. We knew we would need to refuel the car before returning it, which led to an extra charge of $16.69 for not meeting the refuel level upon return. Additionally, we paid about $20 in cash to navigate several electronic toll booths in Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire (Maine has quite a few).

Driving the vehicle

The Kyte vehicle was clean, comfortable, and spacious. However, during a restroom stop in West Peabody, Massachusetts, we had difficulty figuring out how to shift the car into reverse and had to search for a tutorial on YouTube. This confusion stemmed more from our inexperience with the Nissan Rogue than any issue with Kyte itself.

Aside from the somewhat diluted washer fluid on the front windshield, we encountered no problems with the vehicle itself.

Returning the vehicle

On Sunday, July 27, we planned to return our car near the airport in East Boston by 12 p.m. While driving through heavy rain, we received a text from the app notifying us that "surfer" Jean's estimated arrival time was 11:55 a.m. and that he would only wait until 12:05 p.m., just five minutes after our scheduled time. We replied that we were about 10 minutes away, still aiming for the agreed meeting time.

The drop-off point was close to the T stop, and parking was scarce, so we quickly occupied the first available spot we found at 11:55 a.m. Looking around, we couldn't see anyone who appeared to be Jean (no identifying information was given). Four minutes later, we informed Kyte that we were parked at 35 Maverick Square, only a short walk from the designated meeting area. Eleven minutes later, still without any sign of Jean or an update, Kyte mentioned they would contact him again.

We quickly spotted Jean, who inquired if we had any questions as we unloaded the vehicle.

Final thoughts

While Kyte may not offer the points and miles partnerships found with traditional rental car companies, it certainly compensates with its pricing and convenience. You might encounter some typical user experience hiccups common with startups, but these should improve as the company grows.