car-sharing

Ride review: ReachNow car share to the airport

ReachNow

Seattle, like many hip cities, has a variety of car-share and ride-on-demand services – including Uber, Lyft, Zipcar and car2go.

Back in April, we got another – BMW Groups’ ReachNow, which set up its North American headquarters here and announced plans to expand this car sharing program to three other cities by the end of 2016 and, eventually to 10 North American cities.

The fleet of cars caught my eye, and includes the BMW i3, the BMW 3 Series and the MINI Cooper, but my main question was: Will I be able to drive one of the cars to or from the airport?

Back then, I couldn’t.

But starting August 10, nicely coinciding with a week-long summer trip out of town, ReachNow started its airport service, which allows members to pick up a car anywhere within the Home Area, drive to Sea-Tac Airport and park at the Wally Park Premier Garage in one of the 30 spots dedicated for ReachNow cars. From there, it’s a quick shuttle van ride to the terminal.

It works the other way too – from the airport, back into the city – and, thankfully, the cars are accessible at 2 a.m., which is when my flight home to Seattle from Boston landed and I decided to take my test drive.

Finding the car in the garage and exiting the lot was a snap and I felt safe on the 18 mile ride home in a Mini Clubman, which I could park near my front door.

I had promotional credit to cover the ride and the bill ($0.41 per minute) came to considerably less than my other options at that time of night, which were a taxi, a shared van, an Uber ride, or calling in a favor from a friend.

Want to try it out – now or later? ReachNow is offering free lifetime membership as well as that $0.41 per minute introductory rate through the end of August and they’re landing in Portland, Oregon in mid-September.