Car Rental Fees

[Rich Riddle]

We returned from vacation and turned in the rental car. We didn't think much about it and they said they would e-mail our receipt. Once we read it, the fees were 80% the price of the car. They had daily registration, convenience, airport, etc. We can afford it, but it would shock those who expected the price initially claimed without the fees. They really ought to tell you the total price and not the "weekly rate." The representative was very polite on the phone but indicated she gets many angry callers.

[Bert Kemp]

I always ask what the total price will be, they will tell you.

[Peter Kelly]

I've been using Sixt recently, very pleased with the level of service and pricing. They're generally more transparent with charges than the others.

https://www.sixt.com

[Tim Boger]

One step away from criminal ...

[Lee Schierer]

I always find out the total price when reserving a rental car. I double check the information at the counter before I take the car and again when I return it. It is also advisable to check with your car insurance carrier to see if they will cover damage to the rental car so you don't pay the high insurance rates from the rental agency.

[Erik Loza]

This happened to us on our first trip to Cancun. It was like $8/day for the car but by the time they tacked all those fees on, it was closer to $40 a day!

Erik

[Rich Riddle]

We have USAA insurance and they did provide me with a proof of coverage for rental cars otherwise the costs would have been about $25 a day more. I also used a Visa Signature card and they provide insurance as well. Most times when I travel the government provides a car or they take care of the rental arrangement so I never see any paperwork. The rental car company blamed the airport authority and city for all the fees, but those authorities don't charge a daily license plate fee, depreciation fee, or many others. I will know next time. Just glad we don't travel on a tight budget. The also put a "hold" on the card for what they anticipated to be twice the rental cost. Luckily we keep zero balances on cards with decent lines or that could have been embarrassing at a minimum.

[Jim Becker]

How you rent makes a difference. Booking direct with the majors or through a service such as Costco (the best rates I've found) pretty much always has a summary of the expected charges including airport fees, taxes, etc. The fees and taxes vary by airport/area and in some places can be quite high. Nature of the beast...

[Mike Henderson]

I've booked Hertz fairly recently and they gave me the total expected price. In fact, I could pre-pay and save some money. The only unknown was the gas. If you don't return it full, there's a charge. Never had a "bait and switch" experience like you describe.

Mike

[Peter Kelly]

Hertz is pretty upfront with total costs but their prices are usually the highest in most cities. Even using my Gold points on a rental is more than some of the others.

You can also do pre-paid gas with them as you pull up to the booth as you leave. Not a bad option if you know you're going to be pressed for time.

[Kev Williams]

I used to work for Budget rent-a-car in the '70's, back then there were no 'fees' nonsense. You had the rental fee, insurance if you wanted it ($2 a day), and you paid for the gas. Period.

Reminds me of the last cheap land line I had installed. $11 a month in big bold lettering. The actual bill was $28 and change, almost 3x the advertised rate.

My most favorite is the 'here, try our stuff for 60 days', where you must CANCEL if you DON'T want to buy. Ever try to cancel? Gee, no humans answer the phone, and next thing you know you have a 7 year subscription to Rolling Stone magazine. (true story)... Every try to fight it? It's cheaper to pay for the magazine... :mad:

The sneaky way companies steal money from us these days is sickening.

[Curt Harms]

How you rent makes a difference. Booking direct with the majors or through a service such as Costco (the best rates I've found) pretty much always has a summary of the expected charges including airport fees, taxes, etc. The fees and taxes vary by airport/area and in some places can be quite high. Nature of the beast...

I used one rental car agency that had an interesting workaround to the airport fees. Their rental office was in an airport hotel a few miles away. They had an arrangement with the hotel whereby the hotel shuttle picked up their customers and brought them to the hotel's car rental office. The fees were substantially less.


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/image.php?u=89866&dateline=1361027524 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/member.php?89866-Erik-Loza) Erik Loza (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/member.php?89866-Erik-Loza)
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/statusicon/user-offline.png Friend of the Creek



This happened to us on our first trip to Cancun. It was like $8/day for the car but by the time they tacked all those fees on, it was closer to $40 a day!

Erik




WOW! Now I don't feel quite so bad about a recent rental at O'Hare where the car was $70 and airport fees were $60.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Rental car fees and parking are the second and third largest source of revenue at most airports. Landing fees and space rental are # 1. If airport only allows THEIR fuel trucks on tarmac, this becomes another player in revenue stream. RDU had a melt down on prepaid exits from parking last year. Held over a hundred people hostage for a couple hours while trying to fix problem. Said they couldn't open the gates as they would lose revenue. Someone should have charged them with kidnapping, as this fits definition of law in NC. It's not just rental cars but hotel rooms Booked our trip to IWF. Room price had added 14% tax, plus a flat $5.00 per night tax. Combined these represent an over 20% total tax on stay.

[Chris Padilla]

This happened to us on our first trip to Cancun. It was like $8/day for the car but by the time they tacked all those fees on, it was closer to $40 a day!

Erik

Yep...same with us to the same place. I had my nice quote but then they insisted that I HAD to buy their insurance and when I balked (I had full coverage from AMEX...great deal from them) they wanted a $1500 deposit and it wasn't clear to me how much if any I would get back of that upon return. So like you, Eric, my (cheaper price like yours) price went up like yours although I don't recall the details. THIEVES!!!! :)

[Chris Padilla]

I used one rental car agency that had an interesting workaround to the airport fees. Their rental office was in an airport hotel a few miles away. They had an arrangement with the hotel whereby the hotel shuttle picked up their customers and brought them to the hotel's car rental office. The fees were substantially less.

This was similar to the car rental I got on our recent trip to Florida. We used Fox Car Rental (Miami airport) and they were easily $200 cheaper for the 10 day rental compared to everyone else and although I was a bit leery, it all worked out fine. It seems they are just outside the "airport tax zone" and therefore do not have to pay the extra airport taxes/fees and they pass the savings on to their customers. They have a shuttle that comes to the airport to pick you up like everyone else so pretty straight forward.

[Wade Lippman]

Assuming you had a reservation, they should have sent you an acknowledgement detailing all the charges. If they aren't the same, except for anything you added when getting the car, then you should complain to the credit card company.

[Dave Lehnert]

Who is "They" so I know to never use them?