For many German travelers, renting a car abroad begins not with freedom, but with queues, counters, paperwork, and a frozen credit card deposit—usually after a flight delay and before a holiday has properly begun.
A new platform called Woop Drive is betting that this ritual has finally outlived its usefulness.
As of February 2, 2026, the company has launched a fully app-based, desk-free car rental service across several destinations popular with German tourists, including Greece, Spain, Montenegro, the UAE, and the Seychelles. The idea is simple: travelers book, unlock, and return rental cars using their smartphones — without counters, keys, paperwork, or mandatory credit cards.
Cutting Out the Counter
Airport car rental desks have long been a bottleneck in otherwise digital journeys. Flights are booked online, boarding passes are available on phones, and hotels allow digital check-in — yet car rentals often remain stubbornly manual.
Woop Drive’s platform removes the counter entirely. Cars are accessed via smartphone, with keyless entry, digital contracts, and no requirement to freeze large security deposits — a frequent point of friction for travelers.
“This marks a new stage for outdated car rental experiences,” said company CEO Ričardas Šukys, who describes the traditional process as unnecessarily stressful for travelers who have already booked everything online.
Broader travel trends back the argument. According to the International Air Transport Association, global passenger numbers have continued to rise since the pandemic. They are expected to surpass five billion travelers in 2026, putting even more pressure on airport infrastructure, including car rental desks.
Time, Stress, and Payment Surprises
Anyone who has rented a car at a busy airport knows the pattern: long waits during peak hours, compounded by flight delays and staff shortages. Industry estimates suggest that travelers can spend close to an hour at rental counters during busy periods.
A J.D. Power study on rental car satisfaction found that skipping the counter alone can result in 36% pickuppick-up times and noticeably higher customer satisfaction.
Beyond waiting time, payment issues remain one of the most common reasons rentals fall apart at the counter. Woop Drive claims its system avoids this by removing large deposit freezes and relying instead on pre-verified digital payments.
“Renting a car right after landing usually adds stress,” Šukys said. “We believed this could be simplified to the level of ordering food through an app.”
Fleet Size and Industry Backing
At launch, the platform connects travelers to more than 15,000 vehicles, with both apickup pickup and hotel delivery available. Woop Drive does not operate its own fleet; instead, it integrates with professional rental companies to ensure insured, keyless vehicles that meet standard rental requirements.
One of the first major partners is Coral Travel, which operates across more than 15 countries and serves millions of travelers annually.
“Tourists complain about car rentals more than almost anything else,” said Olga Belova, Marketing Director of Coral Travel Baltic. “Until now, there were very few simple solutions. This helps holidays start without unnecessary friction.”
Pressure on Legacy Models
The rollout puts quiet pressure on traditional rental models built around physical desks, paperwork, and manual checks — systems that have remained largely unchanged even as the rest of travel has digitized.
Woop Drive’s expansion across high-traffic destinations like Greece and Spain suggests that desk-free, keyless rentals may soon become less of an exception and more of a baseline option, particularly for travelers who value speed and predictability.
Further market launches are planned through 2026, as the company continues testing whether travelers are finally ready to leave the rental counter behind.
