rental car rates

[nphx]

I had a travel adjust and need to leave on day 4 of a 5 day trip. Rebooking the car reservation is $180 more than keeping it a day. I guess i know the answer.. returing on day 4 will cost me more than the agreed 5 day price? Anyone deal with this before?

[dex]

How about parking it in the return lot and asking the manager to check it in for you on the 5th day.

I think they would do it for you.

[travelover]

I ran into this a few years back and they stuck to their guns and charged me more to return it early. I charged it back to my company and just shook my head over the stupidity.

[dex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover I ran into this a few years back and they stuck to their guns and charged me more to return it early. I charged it back to my company and just shook my head over the stupidity.

OK - how about parking it in the return lot and UPS/USPS the keys, contract and parking location for next day delivery.

[ziggy29]

Very little about how travel expenses are priced makes sense to me. It's often cheaper to rent a car for a week than for four days, in effect creating a "negative" daily rate for the last three days of a 7-day rental.

That goes for airfare, too. We'll be going to England in July, and we've noticed that a round trip from Austin is $1120 and a round trip from Houston is about $1300, even though the Austin itinerary is the exact same as the Houston itinerary except with one small extra hop from Austin to Houston. In other words, by taking up a seat on an extra flight each way, they knock $180 off the price. Huh??

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dex OK - how about parking it in the return lot and UPS/USPS the keys, contract and parking location for next day delivery.

Last time I did a rental car return and didn't talk to an agent on check in (late at night), they charged my credit card to top off the tank when it was already full.

I can just imagine the phantom damage charges if I just left it and mailed the keys.

[Animorph]

I rented it at the cheaper weekly rate online and talked them into letting me turn it in early in person after 4 days. It did take a bit of talking though. How the heck is it a bad thing returning it early?

[Moemg]

I know this is off track but it is about rental cars . Make sure to read your car insurance and credit card perks for what coverage is offered for rental cars . They have a few stipulations I did not know about until I was recently in an accident with a rental car . Luckily I am covered but other times I would have exceeded the coverage time limits and not been covered . Do not take the rental car collision as it voids everything else and has more escape clauses than Houdini !

[jimnjana]

I don't recall ever paying more when turning in a car early at the rental car desk. I know when I rebooked for a shorter duration the rates went bonkers.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg I know this is off track but it is about rental cars . Make sure to read your car insurance and credit card perks for what coverage is offered for rental cars . They have a few stipulations I did not know about until I was recently in an accident with a rental car . Luckily I am covered but other times I would have exceeded the coverage time limits and not been covered . Do not take the rental car collision as it voids everything else and has more escape clauses than Houdini !

To continue off track - there was a good discussion on this subject on Bogleheads a while back. My take on it was that it is important to know if your credit cards covers "loss of use" in addition to repair of the rental car. And as noted above, some coverage is for a maximum of 15 days.

Quote:

While all the major credit card companies except Discover say they cover loss-of-use fees (with a log), rental car claims administrators we talked to in three different states agreed that Visa was the most willing to pay up.

Bogleheads :: View topic - Declining collision damage waiver?

Don't always refuse rental car insurance coverage; credit card protections become iffy

[Emeritus]

We always photograph the car when we turn it in. We had an Avis dealership try to charge us for a broken windshield on an after hours drop off. We had the Photos including the odometer. The car had another 100 miles on it.