Watch Out! Car Rental Fees

This is my second installment of Watch Out!, the Travel Valet tirade. The first post attempted to identify and explain the various fees and taxes that are added to an airline ticket that turns a great $200 fare into a price gouging $350. Today, I'll focus my energy and rhetoric on the car rental industry and its gouging techniques. I will try and break down everything on the rental invoice except insurance (that is for another blog). What am I waiting for?

Car Rental Fees and Taxes

*Disclaimer* Not all of these fees apply to every company or every situation.


Additional Drivers Fee-$25 to $50: More and more of the larger companies are eliminating this fee. Thank goodness.

Airport Concession Fees-10% of total rental cost: also called; recoup fees, consolidation facility charges (CFC), facility usage fees, or concession recovery fees-depending on the company). Don't really understand this fee, but think it is levied to "recoup" costs of conducting a business in or near an airport.

Convention/Stadium/Sports Arena Tax-approx. $10: collected to help build a venue that the city/county/state doesn't want to pay for.

Drop-off Fee- as much as several hundred dollars: Dropping off a vehicle in a location other than where you picked it up can be costly. A few exceptions: Hertz and National eliminated this fee and Enterprise allows for one-way rentals in Florida, Texas and California without fees.

Equipment Rental Fees-rental agencies charge additional fees for equipment such as child car seats, ski racks, GPS systems and cellular phones. Fees are listed alongside the equipment, but remember, fees like the airport concession fee are calculated as a percentage of total rental cost. So you are gonna pay more than list price. Hint: If you don't need it, don't rent it.

Frequent Flier Tax-up to 8% of entire rental cost: This a newer hidden fee imposed by companies. This charge is incurred when earning frequent flier miles for your rental. I call it "the charge back X 2" tax. It is designed to recoup federal, state and local taxes on frequent flier mileage accumulated.

Fuel Charge: Per gallon charges on returns without a completely filled tank. Be very, very wary...we're hunting wabbits.

Late Fee: Car rental rates are charged on a 24 hour clock. So, if you pick up a car at 10am then it must be returned by 10am on return date or be subject to an expensive hourly charge. Not too fun.

Mileage: While more and more of the larger companies offer unlimited miles, some companies cap you at a daily or rental limit and then charge approx. $.50 per mile. Not a good option in states like Texas where airports can be 45 miles from the city.

Out of State Fee: This can be a mondo expense. If you rent a car in Denver and choose to drive to Las Vegas, you better get permission.


Story Time... I know a guy, who knows a guy that rented a car at Denver's old Stapleton Airport. He and his buddies were initially going skiing at Keystone and Arapahoe Basin, but when they arrived there was no snow. So, they decided to trek west into the Rockies to Vail. Well, in Vail ski passes and rooms were too expensive for the miserable snow conditions and amount of trails open. In a last ditch effort to enjoy the trip, the small group abandoned the idea of skiing and drove on to Las Vegas (another 8 hours west and south).

All went great and everyone had a fabulous time until they returned the car to the rental agency back in Denver. Little did they know, but these unsuspecting travelers rented a vehicle equipped with a new state-of-the-art Lo-jack system. This unnamed rental company charged the leasee $500 per day for each day the car was out of Colorado and an additional $100 each time the vehicle crossed a state line. The $350 week long rental turned into a $2250 credit card buster. Come to find out, if they had declared their intentions before they crossed the state line into Utah there would only have been a $75 out-of-state rider to purchase. True story...I know a guy, who knows a guy, who was there.


Parking Tax-about $.45: for parking lot??

Peak Season Surcharge: Not much one can do , but travel in the "off-season".

Reimbursement Fee-3% to 8% of car rental fee: Also called excise tax or vehicle license fee, this goes to offsetting new car purchase costs.

Young Driver's Fee: Driver's under 25 will pay $10 to $75 per day for being young regardless of driving record.

Can you believe there are this many opportunities to get shafted while renting a car? Next tirade will be unleashed on car rental insurance.


Happy renting,
Al , the Travel Valet

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Email me at theTravelValet@gmail.com.

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