Pricing a new airport before you open there

To price a new airport, you need three things before you sign a lease: what the market charges, who you're up against, and when demand spikes. The free Rate Pulse dashboards give you the first two, plus the dates in the next 14 days. Consulting turns that into your opening rate card.

Step 1: read the market

Open the airport in Rate Pulse. The 18 airports with data show market rates by car type and pick-up day. Write down the typical rate for each car type you'd run, and the cheapest offer.

Step 2: read the competition

Go to Every brand, ranked by customers. Count the brands, their desk types and their ratings. Note who sits well below market and how they rate.

Step 3: compare two options

Say you're weighing a second station in Lisbon or Dublin. In the Rate Pulse sweep of 7 Nov 2026:

Rates are euros as the dashboards show them, converted from NZD.

Lisbon is crowded and cheap. A new brand there competes against 23 others, and six of them price at less than half the market median. Dublin has fewer brands and higher rates, but every desk is in the same centre, so a newcomer can't win on location.

Now run your own numbers. Say your cost to run a compact is €20 a day once you count the car, insurance, cleaning and the desk. At a €13 Lisbon typical, you lose money unless you're well above market and rated well enough to hold it. At Dublin's €18, you're close to break-even at market and need to price above it.

That's one 14-day snapshot in a November shoulder period. It tells you where to look harder, not what peak season pays.

Step 4: add the demand calendar

Check Dates to watch for events and holidays. Then read the European holiday calendar for the months a single snapshot can't show.

Step 5: set opening rates with us

This is where consulting comes in. We take your fleet plan and costs, set a floor and ceiling for each car type from your costs and the market, and build a rate card by week. Once you're trading, it becomes normal rate management.

If your target is one of the 20 airports still showing "rates coming", see airports covered.

Questions