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

Tweet me at http://twitter.com/TravelValet or
Email me at theTravelValet@gmail.com.

Pick of the Day(31-7-1)...Phillies

Watch Out! Airfare Fees

We are all aware of the airlines charging random fees for baggage no heavier than lip balm. After a recent debacle which I'm still too angry to share, I decided to make it my mission and expose every hidden fee in travel I can find. I really hope I piss somebody somewhere off. This has gone far enough.

I'm calling my new series of tirades Watch Out!. Today, I will expose airfares, but the series will also include car rental fees(which may be the most difficult to understand), car rental insurance, and anything else I can drag through a gutter of rodent infested raw sewage. Please don't let my animosity concern you. I really have calmed down quit a bit. Onward...

Airfare Fees and Taxes

Domestic Passenger Ticket Tax -7.5%: This is just some random additional tax that we pay when anyone purchases a domestic airline ticket. The proceeds go to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. The AATF was created in 1970 and has been milking us since. Currently the Trust Fund is gouging us for 7.5% of the the ticket price for this Domestic Passenger Ticket Tax.
Segment Tax-$3.40: We pay $3.40 every time during our flight that our plane lands or takes off. Pretty funny, huh. I guess our ticket only pays for actual air flight? Even better...if you change planes, you pay twice. All these funds go to our friends at the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF).
Rural Airport Tax-7.5%: This tax is for regional airport usage. If your flight goes to Boise or Duluth or Reno you will see this tacked on to the ticket price. Some good news, it seems you will not be charged for both the rural tax and the domestic tax on same flight, but you will be charged one. This is even more moola for the Trust Fund.
Passenger Facility Charge-Up to $4.50 each time we visit an airport: Now, I'm going out of my way to utilize every restroom and lounge area I pass. Five dollars is an expensive potty break. This money goes to offset airport maintenance? I guess my question is this, "How does LAX get it's $4.50 from Travelocity?"
Alaska/Hawaii Surcharge-$15:for roundtrip flights. Not really sure why? No one will tell me. But, I know where the money goes...the Airport and Airway Trust Fund.
International Departure Tax-$15.10: We get charged $15.10 to leave the U.S. The funds again go the AATF (the Trust Fund).
International Arrival Tax-$15.1o: And, of course, we get charged another $15.10 to come home (U.S.). Monies go to Trust Fund.

Beginning to wonder if this Paris Hilton's trust fund?

Customs User Fee-$5.50: This is added to your airfare if arriving from outside the U.S. Funds go to Homeland Security.
Immigration User Fee-$7.00: Fee charged if arriving from outside U.S. So, if you get charged for one, you will be charged for the other. Funds also go to Homeland Security.
Security Fee-$2.50 to $5.00: Goes to Homeland Security. If I could find more info on these I would explain, but Homeland Security doesn't seem to have to explain anything.
APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service)-$5.00: Charged if arriving from outside the U.S. Homeland Security gets this money too.

So, we get to pay $22.50 and take off our shoes all in the name of Homeland Security. Cool.

Fuel Charges-charged at airlines discretion: These fees were created to offset fuel costs. READ-The airline charges much as humanly possible and still get travelers in need of transportation to buy the ticket.
Paper Ticket Charge-up to $50: Airlines charge as much as $50 to issue a paper ticket. Some online vendors tack on additional charges as well.
Phone Reservation Charge: Yes, you will be charged to book a reservation over the phone to a human versus reserving online. You don't expect the airlines to have to pay for their own reservation staff, do you?
Change Fees: You will be charged, period. How much is anyone's guess. It is 100% negotiable. Most likely, you are gonna get screwed!

What if...we went to your favorite restaurant and without looking at the menu you order your favorite $6.00 salad and an iced tea for $2.5o. After typical sales tax, you expect your bill to be just under $10.00. At the end of the meal, the server drops off a bill for $27.50. You are shocked. You see you have been charged an additional $17 broken down accordingly: for paper napkin usage $.75; $2.00 for ice; $1.00 facilities charge (restroom); $.95 maintenance fee (parking lot); $9.00 tomato surcharge (because price of tomato skyrocketed due to ecoli scare); $2.00 Animal and Plant Inspection Service-monies sent to Homeland Security; and then charged local sales tax on everything. You locate a manager and flip out. The manager kindly smiles, apologizes and offers to direct you to the last page of the menu you never picked up and in tiny print you'll find the legalese. Is this a fair parallel? Would we ever accept this as consumers??

Pick of the Day(29-7-1)...Marlins, Angels