Posts Tagged ‘rental car fees’
Car Rental Fees And How To Avoid Them
Every company has fees associated with doing business, and they can be quite annoying for the customer. These fees serve a purpose, mainly to allow companies to re-coup the cost they incur when a customer does something that costs the company money. Whether a company should charge a fee for this or that is a different debate, but for now, let’s focus on how to avoid fees in the car rental industry.
Be prepared for paying tolls and knowing their location
Some cities such as New York, Chicago, and Orlando have toll roads, especially near airports where tourists will be driving. Many car rental companies are charging fees for toll violations by the customer, because they are also charged a fee when they are issued a toll violation. Before you pick up a car, check Google Maps to see if your route will be taking you on any toll roads. If so, keep a healthy amount of loose change and single dollar bills in your wallet or purse to pay for the tolls. If you happen to run a toll by accident, make sure you immediately call the rental car company. They can supply you with the number you can call to pay the toll before it is sent to the rental car company as a toll violation.
Always fill the gas tank back to the level it was before you rented it
It costs rental car companies extra time and money to be filling the car up with gas, and they will often charge to fill up gas at a rate double the normal gas price. My advice is to pre-pay for filling up the gas tank. When you rent the car, you can offer to pre-pay for gas at a discount rate. Then, you don’t need to spend the time filling up the tank before you drop it off.
Avoid one-way rentals
If possible, try to pick up your discount rental car at the same location you drop it off. It is always more expensive to rent a car as a one-way rental, and you should avoid it, if possible.
Don’t Be Late!
Time is money for rental car companies, and they will sometimes charge a late fee or an extra day of rental if you don’t drop the car off within a certain time period that you said you would. Rental car companies have hundreds of customers coming to get cars at all hours of the day, so if you’re late, they’re losing money.
We understand that this article is coming from the perspective of a rental car company that does charge fees as part of a contract agreement that you agree to, but to maximize your experience as our loyal customer, we want to help you avoid extra fees as much as possible!