For someone whose identity is sports road trips, it is surprising that I have never owned a car in my life. Living in Tokyo, Singapore, and New York is the main reason why, and the thousands of dollars I have saved is what allows me to keep going on trips. Of course, I have to rent cars for most of these journeys, but even then, it is far cheaper than buying a new vehicle every few years, not to mention the cost of insurance and maintenance. So over the years, I have become a regular renter, generally choosing the cheapest option of the major agencies (Hertz/Dollar/Thrifty, Budget/Avis, National/Enterprise/Alamo) when at an airport. Hertz is the best of these due to their Gold Plus Rewards program, which allows members with status to choose their car without having to line up and provides free rentals when enough points have been accumulated. The pandemic greatly changed the rental car market, with fewer cars being delivered, thus driving up prices, so much so that at times, it was cheaper to use rideshares than to rent a car for 2-3 days. Prices have dropped since then, but still often exceed $50/day for economy cars (on my 2013 NFL road trip, I paid less than $20 a day for the car).
Over the past couple of years, I have noticed that in addition to higher prices, all rental car agencies have started a series of scams. These are usually minor things that they hope customers don't notice on their final bill or at-the-counter upsells, but in all cases, they are wrong and can be challenged. To be fair, customer support is always responsive and refunds the money, but I suspect many customers don't even notice these extra charges. So I am putting this out there as a public service announcement. In order of most common scams:
1) The Late Check-In: Rental cars are the opposite of hotels as you check-out at the start and check-in at the end of the rental. If you rent the car for an exact multiple of 24 hours, you generally get 30 minutes leeway on your return time, after which you will get charged an hourly rate for a couple of hours, then the daily rate. I always return my car within the leeway but have noticed lately that sometimes, the person at the check-in fails to scan the car in a timely manner. I am usually rushing to the airport and not willing to wait around, but a couple of hours later I will get my bill via email and see that an extra hour was charged. It's only $30-40 and might not be noticed on a $300 rental, which is the plan. If nobody is around when you return the vehicle, take a picture of it with the timestamp. If there is someone around, ask them to scan the car so that the proper return time is recorded and you don't have to waste time talking to support after you get overcharged. And always check your bill against the price that you reserved.
2) The Upgrade Upcharge: When you make a reservation, rental car companies are legally obliged to honour it. But sometimes they try to pull a fast one. On my recent trip to North Carolina, I booked the car that morning as I was unsure about the flight until then. I used the 'Pay it Now' option for a small car. When I got to the counter, I was told there were no small cars available and since I booked at the last minute, I would have to pay an $18 'upgrade fee'. I did not have time to argue, so I paid it. Upon returning home, I contacted support and they refunded it. Always contact support if you feel that you have been unfairly charged; many of these agencies are just franchises and the local managers don't have any allegiance to the brand and are just trying to generate as much revenue as possible.
3) The Early Pick-Up: Sometimes your flight gets to the airport a little earlier than you had reserved the car. If you pick up your car a few minutes early, then the return leeway time is 30 minutes from the time you picked it up, not the originally reserved time. This really isn't a scam and actually makes sense, but it is not mentioned to you when you pick up and your rental agreement might not be modified. I learned this the hard way when I booked a one-day rental from 2:00 to 2:00. I picked it up at 1:50 and returned it at 2:22. Oops, those two minutes were costly. I phoned the company and was able to get some of the $40 charge removed, but now I am sure to wait until the pick-up time before getting the car.
4) The Fuel Charge: This is not so much a scam as a simple rip-off. If you don't return the car with the same level of fuel in the tank, you will get charged $10 a gallon for them to fill it up. Another option is to pay for a full tank of fuel (at rates about the same as local gas stations) when getting the car and returning it as close to empty as possible, but no matter what, you will be paying for gas you don't use unless you are able to coast in on fumes. I chose that option once as an experiment and was able to return near empty, but the final few miles were pretty worrisome as the fuel warning light was on. Now cars have a "miles until empty" indicator, but planning your trip to arrive when that is as close to zero as possible is not that easy. Just fill it up yourself ten miles out and save the stress.
5) PlatePass: Many toll roads are now cashless. Great if you have a personal transponder, not so great if you don't and are in a rental, because there is a daily administration charge if you use the car's transponder, which is managed by PlatePass. Assume you have a five-day rental and you incur a single toll charge of $1.50. Your toll bill will be about $50.50 because PlatePass charges $10 a day as an administrative fee, regardless if a toll is incurred on that day. Best to get your own transponder for local rentals, and use Google's Avoid Tolls option if in an area that your personal transponder is not valid. Even when traveling with your own transponder, you might get charged if your transponder fails to work at a particular toll and then you have to deal with support, either via PlatePass or your credit card company.
6) The Fake Damage Claim: Although this has never happened to me, I have heard of this scam happening, particularly with the less reputable firms. This is where they accuse you of damage to the vehicle after it has been returned (without damage) and you have left the premises with your receipt. You should always take pictures of the vehicle at pick up and drop off just in case something like this happens. It only takes a few seconds and can save hours afterwards. I don't think it is common practice, but a Google search does provide many examples.
That's just a few of the ways that rental car companies try to take advantage of customers who might not pay close attention to their bill. I'm not including the insurance upcharges here because those are more of a personal decision, particularly with liability. Most Americans have their own car insurance which covers rentals, and there is non-owner insurance for those like me. Some credit cards also provide secondary coverage for damages. As well, car rental companies are required by law (in every state except California) to provide the state-mandated liability limits for the rental car. So the insurance is not necessary to drive, but it does provide peace of mind for some. At any rate, always pay close attention to your bill, and if you know of any other scams, please let me know and I will add them here.
Best,
Sean
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