Other renters have reported seeing a similar surcharge combined with what’s often called a concessio

To get an idea of how absurd costa rica nature travel it's becoming, meet Jim Swofford. He found a mysterious $5 fee on his Hertz bill recently, which a representative described as a cancellation fee. Car rental companies typically don't charge their customers for cancellations, so Swofford, costa rica nature travel who frequently rents from Hertz, said he didn't want another costa rica nature travel car he'd reserved for later.
I asked Hertz about the two new surcharges. Company spokeswoman Paula Rivera told me the cancellation fee, which was added in December, applied only to prepaid reservations and is meant to "reimburse Hertz for the paperwork and billing involved with a prepaid reservation." The fee also covers part of the company's cost of holding vehicles for prepaid reservations. The energy surcharge, which was added in October, bills all rentals in most states an additional $1 a day "to offset the increasing costs of utilities, bus fuel, oil and grease," she said.
It's easy to see why car rental costa rica nature travel companies are taking these steps. The industry is hemorrhaging money faster than oil leaking costa rica nature travel from a cracked costa rica nature travel gasket. Hertz lost $73 million costa rica nature travel the fourth quarter, and competitor Avis lost $121 million in the same period. They fared much better than Advantage Rent A Car, which filed for bankruptcy protection costa rica nature travel in December and whose assets were sold to Hertz for a reported $33 million.
Shocking anecdotes aside, there's a pattern here, and you don't have to be an investigative reporter costa rica nature travel or a conspiracy theory-obsessed columnist to see it. Just read the annual reports issued by one of the publicly traded car rental companies. (Look for the form 10-K and then scroll down to "Legal Proceedings" for an enlightening read.) They're littered with lawsuits over fees, surcharges and add-ons that motorists say broadsided them when they rented a car.
A representative of the American Car Rental Association, a trade group for the car rental business, says these fees are essential costa rica nature travel to the industry s survival . But that doesn t give companies a license to surprise their customers. The car rental company has an obligation costa rica nature travel to clearly and concisely explain all fees and charges at the time of rental, says Robert Barton, the association s president and chief operating officer for U-Save Car Truck Rental.
This is one of the more creative new ways of separating you from your money: charging you twice for the same thing. "Three times now, with three different companies, they have tried to charge me for gas when I've returned costa rica nature travel the car with a full tank and claimed it was an honest mistake," says Sid Savara, a software engineer in Oahu, Hawaii. "It leads me to suspect they are just tacking the fee on and most people aren't noticing or complaining about it."
Boston-based author John DiPietro brought his own E-ZPass toll transponder when he rented costa rica nature travel a car in Massachusetts recently, but Budget billed him for the toll roads anyway. "We're still trying to resolve it," he told me.
Such as tires. Enterprise recently charged one of Edgar Dworsky's readers a $2 "tire fee." (He edits a Web site called Consumer World , and like me, he hears a lot of horror stories from travelers.) What's a tire fee? Enterprise told Dworsky it was required by the state of Florida. costa rica nature travel "I guess the consumer advice is to order a car without tires next time," he joked.
But other fees can't be blamed on the state, including surcharges that cover the cost of oil and grease. It might be interesting to show up at a car rental counter with four tires and a can of Pennzoil, and ask to have those fees waived. You think they would do it? Yeah, neither do I.
Scott Lerman found a "privilege fee" on his last car rental in Florida, which applied to rentals picked up within 48 hours of flight arrival. "Never seen anything like it," says the Livingston, N.J.-based freelance publicist. (The fee covers the costs of operating an off-airport location.)
Other renters have reported seeing a similar surcharge combined with what's often called a concession recovery fee, which amounts to a surcharge costa rica nature travel on top of a surcharge. At best, car rental companies are coming up with new and confusing names for their fees. At worst, they're charging us a fee on top of another fee. Next thing you know, there'll be a surcharge on a surcharge on top of a surcharge. Don't laugh — I'm sure they've already thought of it.
Fees for new stadiums and concert halls are technically not new, and technically they're not even controlled by car rental companies. Except that municipalities keep coming costa rica nature travel up with new ones and car rental companies don't lobby hard enough to have the fees removed. So rental firms are not completely blameless.
Seth Mendelsohn, the president of a food store in Boulder, Colo., found a $4 "downtown arena" fee on his bill when he visited Kansas City recently. "Apparently the city is trying to pay for part of the Sprint Center through car rental fees," he told me.
There are dozens — perhaps hundreds — of these so-called stadium costa rica nature travel taxes across the country. And new ones keep popping up. One of the latest is a car rental tax in Gwinnett County, Ga ., to build a stadium for the Atlanta Braves. And just last week, legislators costa rica nature travel proposed a $2 tax to fund commuter rail service in South Florida.
These aren't brand new, but the way in which they're being enforced has changed recently. When Carol Stevenson and her sister rented a car from Payless in Phoenix, they were asked to pay $9 a day more if Stevenson's sister wanted costa rica nature travel to drive. "And that didn't include their insurance waiver," she remembers.
costa rica nature travel In the past, car rental agents looked the other way when two drivers showed up to rent the same car. But now, with money tight, they're applying more pressure to authorize a second driver. If you don't fork over the money and happen to get into an accident, they warn, you won't be covered by their insurance. Of course, costa rica nature travel that assumes you buy their overpriced collision-damage waiver in the first place. costa rica nature travel Odds are, your credit card or car insurance offers comparable coverage.
Most of these fees can be avoided by pre-paying for your car through one of the "opaque" travel sites such as Hotwire.com or Priceline.com, or by buying through an online travel agency that guarantees its rates. But car rental companies are trying to find a way to stick it to customers with prepaid vouchers, too. I'll have more on that in a future column.
For example: I planned to stay in Hotel on South Beach and took the Taxi (or Airport Shuttle if my flight is in the afternoon). No Rental Car Fees or Parking costa rica nature travel Headaches. The same apply to Fort Lauderdale: a Hotel on the Beach: Taxi or Airport Shuttle. And NYC and even LAX and SFO.
Car rental companies and airlines costa rica nature travel know they can screw us over because we are at their mercy. Me personally, costa rica nature travel they are going to push me to the point of driving everywhere even if it takes me longer. i will be really pissed when the airlines start charging for carry-on luggage. Next, car rental costa rica nature travel companies will be charging us a luggage carry fee. i am sorry, but you don t build brand loyalty by screwing people in an already horrible economy. Why don t executives take a pay cut in their already ginormous salaries?
Just thought I d let you know that renting through Hotwire or some similar site is no guarantee, either. My husband and I rented a car with Hertz though Hotwire last August. When we arrived at the Hertz location, reservation in-hand, we waited in line with everyone else only to be told that because costa rica nature travel we booked with Hotwire, we had to check in with their kisok rather than with a human being. Then, when the kiosk charged me $10/day for insurance plus another $10/day for my husband to be a driver and I complained, their agent said that these higher than normal add-on fees were BECAUSE I d rented with Hotwire. They laid the blame on Hotwire for not telling me what my inexpensive rate did and did not include.
Car rental companies charge additional driver fees for the same reason your insurance company does. It is additional risk, and if you look into the statistics, you will find that the majority of rental car accidents are caused by the additional costa rica nature travel driver. So why do they charge this fee? Because they don t want you to have additional drivers. And if you have someone else drive with out putting them on the contract, they can hold you to unlimited liability. Most contracts costa rica nature travel protect you by law from the state to limit you liability, but by breaking this contract your rights go out the window.
In your comments you said . Car rental companies charge additional driver fees for the same reason your insurance company does. It is additional risk, and if you look into the statistics, you will find that the majority of rental car accidents are caused by the additional costa rica nature travel driver.
Your first statement is far too broad a statement to make without knowing something about the drivers. For example, costa rica nature travel 25 year old primary driver shouldn t pay more to add a 45 year old parent. And in fact, if it were a regular insurance contract, the premium might actually go down.
I suspect that the reason why insurance companies charge more for a second driver is the same reason why they charge more if you drive alot of miles. A second driver equals costa rica nature travel more driving time, equals more opportunity for an accident. However, that s not necessarily true with a rental car, particularly a business rental.
With regards to an unlisted driver, that really doesn t matter unless costa rica nature travel you lost your mind and purchased insurance from the car rental company. As the renter, you are always fully responsible for the car and any accidents. Having someone costa rica nature travel else drive the car doesn t increase your liability. What failing to add an additional renter to the contract does is void any insurance you bought from the car rental company.
I agree that a lot of the car rental companies have hidden fees. So it s is always a good habit to ask for the final amount and whether there are any more additional fees. For instance, some charge mileage costa rica nature travel but did not inform before hand.
My question is this: If she