Car rental fees and taxes Are outrageous.

[bumbershoot]

Some places sneak fees in on top of that.

What agencies put extra fees? Let alone sneak them?

Try being from Australia and having to add extra insurance coverage on top!

Like many Americans do when renting abroad? Adding it to our car in Ireland doubled the cost.

The taxes and fees are outrageous. We decided to rent from Alamo at the Car Care Center and it is saving us $100 for the same vehicle and duration.

Remember that for your next trip it might be opposite.

Like second driver fee for my spouse.

If you have Costco and like Alamo, renting with that combo gives you an extra driver for free.

OP there's not a lot of context there to help out with or even just to give other posters an idea of what the context is.

How many days, what car class, what rental car company, are you booking directly through the rental car company's website or through another website, is the pick up location the airport, etc

Agreed.

Two week rental that’s a fine total. Two days, not so much. Unless it’s a Lamborghini. Then it’s fine.

In November 2017, on an 11 night visit to WDW while renting a car for the entire trip, we flew into TPA, and out of MCO. I priced out two rental options: a one-way Avis rental from TPA to MCO, where we would have one car for the entire trip, and I compared that to a one-way rental from the Avis at the Hilton Disney Springs to MCO. While the base rate was the same, the cost was much higher for TPA to MCO (airport to airport) rental.

In fact, the difference was so high that it was cheaper to rent two vehicles; the first was a one-way, one-day (3 hours really) rental from TPA to Disney Springs, and then from Disney Springs to MCO for the entirety of the trip.

The culprit was all of the daily TPA Airport fees that would have carried through the entire 11 day rental period. Picking up the same car from Disney Springs for same duration and base rate eliminated a ton of fees.

On the flip side, we once flew into Tampa and rented there specifically because the flight and rental car were so much *cheaper*. Plus Tampa had a Trader Joe’s and Orlando didn’t yet, so we could stop there on the way.

It's never ever clear to me that the car-rental insurance provided by my credit card that supposedly has car-rental insurance with it (Amex) would actually pay for everything if something happened. DH always buys all the insurance at the car-rental place. It's usually more than the cost of the rental. (We're from New York, not Australia, btw.)

If you’re not clear on your insurance or the cc insurance, are you guys clear on what the rental agency insurance wound cover?

It’s an actual question. I mean, I’m not totally clear on what the rental insurance would cover, though I know when my now-ex used his corporate rate with National that included insurance, they didn’t even LOOK at the car when he returned it.

 

[Anchored]

Airport fees are the WORST. I only do Enterprise off airport now. I will take an Uber to Enterprise and it still is usually a cost savings to do that.

 

[it's kelly]

If you have Costco and like Alamo, renting with that combo gives you an extra driver for free.


Unfortunately, I don’t have a membership up Costco, only BJ’s which doesn’t offer the spouse drives free. I was lucky enough to book Alamo with a second driver free via Autoslash, but I’ll still be watching for a price drop.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

If you have Costco and like Alamo, renting with that combo gives you an extra driver for free.


Unfortunately, I don’t have a membership up Costco, only BJ’s which doesn’t offer the spouse drives free. I was lucky enough to book Alamo with a second driver free via Autoslash, but I’ll still be watching for a price drop.

Avis doesn't charge for the spouse, Budget doesn't charge for the spouse, Enterprise doesn't charge for the spouse, Fox doesn't charge for the spouse.

National does but you can join their Emerald club for free and the spouse will be waived, Hertz does but you can join their Gold membership for free and the spouse will be waived.

I don't like to book with Alamo if I can avoid it because of the additional driver fee. That said yes Costco deals waive the additional driver for Alamo and we've done that before.

 

[Lewisc]

Yes, we do. I'll have to check the policy again. We so rarely rent cars that when we do, we're unprepared with the facts. This thread is prompting me to do my research now! Thanks, everyone.

For NY residents:
https://dfs.ny.gov/consumer/auto/autorent.htm

What agencies put extra fees? Let alone sneak them?



Like many Americans do when renting abroad? Adding it to our car in Ireland doubled the cost.

Many of us check in online or at a kiosk. We don't have an agent "sneaking" in extra fees. An old favorite. Tell the agent you don't want any of the damage waivers. The agent says something like you just want the basic. You say yes without realizing that basic doesn't mean whatever coverage is included at no charge but means a lower level of damage waiver. YES YOU NEED TO READ but agents used to intentionally mislead people. Sneak them in might be an overstatement, but no much of one. One way rental, pickup up in Tampa drop off at MCO. Agent pushed the gas plan. Told me there aren't any gas stations in Orlando. I took a picture of the agent and said I felt sorry for the poor people in Orlando who have run out of gas because there aren't any gas stations. Agent quickly said she meant there aren't any gas stations near the airport. I said I'd take my chances. GPS. Way overpriced stand alone unit. Limited cell data. Download on WiFi maps you'll be needing

Renting aboard? Credit Card companies frequently exclude Ireland. Sometimes a third party travel policy is a cheaper alternative to rental agency coverage. Third party insurance might be purchased as a benefit of your travel insurance. Sometimes a booking agent, or tour operator, will include third party rental car insurance. Occasional a rental promotion or country specific code will include insurance for renters from a specified country.

 

[it's kelly]

Avis doesn't charge for the spouse, Budget doesn't charge for the spouse, Enterprise doesn't charge for the spouse, Fox doesn't charge for the spouse.

National does but you can join their Emerald club for free and the spouse will be waived, Hertz does but you can join their Gold membership for free and the spouse will be waived.

I don't like to book with Alamo if I can avoid it because of the additional driver fee. That said yes Costco deals waive the additional driver for Alamo and we've done that before.

As for now Alamo (with the second driver) is cheaper than Avis, Enterprise, and Budget. Fox wasn’t on the list and I’ve never heard of it.

Good to know about Hertz, I’ll sigbup online just in case. I wish they mentioned it to me when I called.

If Autoslash didn’t include the second driver free for Alamo I likely wouldn’t have booked them either.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[starry_solo]

Thanks, starry_solo. I believe our personal auto policy doesn't cover rentals at all unless it's a loaner when the car is being serviced. The long list of rules, exceptions, etc., on the credit card are what usually drive us (ha ha!) to getting all the car-rental company's insurances. DH would rather pay those fees than have a giant repair bill at the end, if something should happen.

You also need to make sure that when you buy the rental car company's insurance, that is considered the primary insurance and not believe what the sales person says.

 

[keishashadow]

Business as usual, bottom line is car rental prices have been chock full of fees as long as I’ve been booking them

You need to be proactive & watch your bottom line.

In advance, make sure your private car insurance covers rental vehicles...

including the deductible, otherwise you may be paying it OOP if something happens.

Many CC companies offer rental car insurance coverage when you use their card to pay, check with your card provider

As for being pressured into adding expensive services & fees , it’s a business, let the buyer beware. You are speaking to a salesperson who likely either has an upsell quota to fill or gets a commission on it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I guess I'm a little confused why everyone is talking about insurance and add-ons. The OP is referring to all the daily and rental period fees: surchages, sales taxes, county/city fees and taxes, tire fee, convention surcharge, airport fees... https://www.autoslash.com/blog-and-tips/posts/states-with-highest-car-rental-taxes-and-fees

 

[JPTexan82]

Rented a car for upcoming trip.
Car rental cost $292.00

Taxes and fees 150.00 !!!!!

You could with that $150.00 go buy a nice pair of athletic shoes, and see how long it takes you to get around that way. Just a thought.

The taxes aren’t going anywhere.

 

[Dano1182]

The chargers are all taxes .
My Renata is for 9 days.
I got a good rate through Costco
All of f these fees were on original quote.
My point is how much extra fees are added to rental cars in floridia.
Not against the car company.

Keep rechecking rates .
Rental car rates fluctuations are very common on a daily basis.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The chargers are all taxes .
My Renata is for 9 days.
I got a good rate through Costco
All of f these fees were on original quote.
My point is how much extra fees are added to rental cars in floridia.
Not against the car company.

Keep rechecking rates .
Rental car rates fluctuations are very common on a daily basis.

So what kind of car class is it for?

We did a rental car in Sep 2017 for Costco through Avis for 9 days for an Intermediate which was a Chevy Cruze or similar and the taxes and fees came out to $69.40 pick up location the Orlando airport.

 

[Lewisc]

So what kind of car class is it for?

We did a rental car in Sep 2017 for Costco through Avis for 9 days for an Intermediate which was a Chevy Cruze or similar and the taxes and fees came out to $69.40 pick up location the Orlando airport.

What was your total rental cost?
Some of the taxes and fees are a % and some are per day or per rental. My taxes and fees in Orlando run around 40%. A great rate will result in a higher %, since the per day fees become a larger %.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

What was your total rental cost?
Some of the taxes and fees are a % and some are per day or per rental. My taxes and fees in Orlando run around 40%. A great rate will result in a higher %, since the per day fees become a larger %.

$197.99

We had another rental booked just prior to looking into Costco and that was through Alamo through rentalcars(.com) with taxes and fees being $66.26 for a Compact class Nissan Versa or similar same time period as my other comment and same pick up location. Total price was $221.55 and that was because the rate was only a weekly rate and so 2 days were charged at an extra day rate.

I'm not trying to say the taxes and fees should be what they were in 2017. I did a quick check through Costco and if I look at Sep 2019 for the dates that line up with the 2017 dates I don't get anywhere near $150 for taxes and fees for a $250 rental if I put in Orlando airport and for 9 days. But for the OP's situation there's not enough information being told for context. There's no dates, no car class, no company known, no location and is the pickup and dropoff location the same, etc.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I picked a random nine day period in June. Alamo. Compact car:
Price Breakdown
Base Rate $342.57* (weekly rate $261.09, daily rate $43.64)
Customer Facility Charge 3.50/day $24.50*
Priv Fee Recov Chg 10 Pct (10.0%) $34.98*
Fl Waste Tire/battery Fee .02/day $0.18*
Sc Rec - Fl Surchg Recov 2.00/day $18.00*
Vlf Rec .80/day $7.20*
Sales Tax (6.5%) $27.78*
Unlimited mileage Included
Total: $455.21


So I checked Dollar:
1 Week at $202.49 per week. Unlimited mileage. 2 Extra Days at $27.99 per day.
Fees and Surcharges
Cust Facility Chrg($3.50 Per Day) $24.50
Florida Surcharge($2.02 Per Day) $18.18
Energy Surcharge($1.49) $1.49
Priv Fee Rec Chg(10%) $26.45
Tourism Fee(1.77%) $4.57
Taxes
State Tax(6.5%) $21.69

Total Estimated Mandatory Charges $96.88
Approx. Total $355.35

 

[Lewisc]

OP is reporting taxes and fees totalling about 50%. Looks a little high. 40% is what I generally find
Kay redo your Alamo quote for one week
Total is around 40%.

Your weekly rate is around 29 per day. The facilities charge and FL surcharge alome are about 19%

Does it really matter if the fees ar 40 or 50 %?
The point is they are very high.

 

[Dis703]

Oh how I wish car rentals were that cheap for our family. We end up needing a mini van or equivalent and usually it's more like $800-$900 for a week. We've been skipping the car and staying onsite as the cost plus offsite savings don't add up for us typically. Even when we go to Myrtle Beach for just 3 days we end up paying more for a car than for flights. It's insane.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

OP is reporting taxes and fees totalling about 50%. Looks a little high. 40% is what I generally find
Kay redo your Alamo quote for one week
Total is around 40%.

Your weekly rate is around 29 per day. The facilities charge and FL surcharge alome are about 19%

Does it really matter if the fees ar 40 or 50 %?
The point is they are very high.

I don't know that anyone but you mentioned percentages.

I just want full details for context reasons. I remember one time we were in Boston, we had found a much cheaper flight out of New Hampshire. To drop off the rental car across state lines was over $100. If I didn't tell you that you may think "holy moly your fees are high" without understanding that $100 of it was for taking it across state lines.

Picking up in one location, dropping off in another (especially airports as their fees tend to be higher) is an important detail if that were the case.

High is subjective here without understanding the details. When I checked Costco I wasn't seeing close to the fees the OP mentioned until you got into the $600+ range for price for the Orlando airport for September for 9 days. I don't even know if that is accurate location as it was never advised. And I highly doubt it was the right time because the OP never advised exactly when they were going. Maybe it doesn't really matter to the OP but saying the taxes and fees are outrageous when all we know is it's $150 but without giving much details doesn't really help out; at least IMO. I guess that's my inquisitive mind at work.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Rented a car for upcoming trip.
Car rental cost $292.00

Taxes and fees 150.00 !!!!!

HAHAHAHA. Try renting one in LA! Ours for 7 days is $870! I wish we were renting at MCO!

 

[sponica]

HAHAHAHA. Try renting one in LA! Ours for 7 days is $870! I wish we were renting at MCO!

I remember renting in phoenix and a decent rate (130) had 78 dollars in taxes/fees. sure overall not a bad deal, but i remember getting sticker shock when I checked out. "I'M PAYING HOW MUCH IN FEES?"