And where were the terms of this mandatory fee disclosed? In itty-bitty font on a separate window fo

More than 80 percent of the respondents said car rental companies were the place they most expect surprise fees from when they travel. Just over 40 percent said they expect it from an airline or hotel. A fraction of respondents said cruise lines and travel agents were most likely to hit them with surprise surcharges.
What do you think of the results? And are these car rental fees the product of state and local taxes on car rentals, or creative surcharges invented by the car rental companies, like tire disposal fees or license recovery fees?
Most people seem to know about the checked bag fees when flying. Internet fees for hotels aren t a secret either. But trying to rent a car there s a fee for insurance (with different levels), gas, then the local taxes. I think it s the most overwhelming, expensive and the sales people are the pushiest. On top of the pushy sales people, some of these fees are more optional leaving people feeling pressured to pay for something they don t even know if they need.
I get more frustrated with hotels, actually. Whenever I rent a car from a nationwide eagle rent a car vendor, eagle rent a car I can always find an out the door estimated price on the check out page and it s always nearly a match for what I pay at the terminal.
But when I reserve a hotel room, it seems that they always hide the tax percentage (sometimes in the text on the confirmation, eagle rent a car but other times somewhere else) and any resort fees. Why can t the hotels do the same out the door estimate as well. I called a Marriott once and asked, and they said that they did it that way so people didn t get mad if the tax rate changed between booking the travel date
When I was in Maine back in May, I got the hard sell from the Budget car rental eagle rent a car guy for an upgrade (which would have doubled my rate), for pre-paid gas, and for insurance. On the other hand, my hotel was exactly what it said it would be. We didn t get pushed to upgrade to a suite or take out a maintenance contract on the television.
My main gripe with the rental companies isn t so much the insane prices they charge for insurance eagle rent a car (should you be unfortunate enough not to have an alternative), but the charges you regularly find have appeared after a rental
Whenever I book a rental car, I always check back several times before the trip to see if I can get a lower price, knowing that for every $1 I reduce the rental rate I m really saving about $1.50 with taxes and fees.
I rented a car from Budget @ MLI [I'm a long time member of their fast break program] this past weekend. eagle rent a car The estimate from the company was $129.39 the final price was $132.57 a $3 discrepancy reviewing the receipts I noticed an extra fee entitled XP = $3.00 that was not previously disclosed with tax it totaled the extra $3.18.
I called them on the non-disclosed tax/fee and said you cannot charge me a fee that is not disclosed in advance- I never agreed to it. Since I use fast break I never signed eagle rent a car anything at your location.
eagle rent a car They could NOT tell what the fee was but it $1.00 per day was not a licensing, eagle rent a car franchise, airport, vehicle licensing, energy or similar fee because all of those had already been charged. The manager came out and he could not explain what it was for and the franchise owner happened to be there and he came about and said its my fee to which I replied oh, so thats the Xtra Profit fee then?
He gave me a dirty look and I told him that he could take it off, or I could challenge the fee when my statement eagle rent a car came and I would then also send a nasty gram to Budget and tell them their franchise operator was charging non-disclosed fees in violation of their fast break agreement with me which said all fees are disclosed in advance. He took it off, grudgingly. Imagine making an extra $1 per day per rental you do not have to pay over to Budget as a fee nice tidy little extra profit there and probably eagle rent a car one out of a hundred actually notice it.
Unless I m missing something, the poll was where do people *expect* to find surprise fees, not where there actually *are* surprise fees. It might just mean that hotels and airlines are better at hiding them or giving the appearance of transparency.
Traveling in international countries makes a huge difference as well. My significant other and I recently traveled to Costa Rica and had quite the time figuring out the best way to book a car. We re experienced enough with flying, and while they do throw tons of fees at you it s done at the time of booking, so what you pay is your total -right then- (except, perhaps, luggage fees).
However, while closely studying Costa Rican fees we discovered that even if we paid, for example, ~$350 for a 4 4 rental for 10 days over the internet and were covered by our auto insurance, we would STILL be required to purchase eagle rent a car a mandatory eagle rent a car insurance issued by the government of Costa Rica, to be paid at the time of car pickup, for a total of ~$20 per day. That makes the sum fee $550, not the $350 we would have originally been charged at the start.
And where were the terms of this mandatory fee disclosed? In itty-bitty font on a separate window found by clicking on a small indiscriminate link. This was the same practice for company after company big ones, too, like Avis and Hertz and others. It was amusing, certainly, but also appalling.
(Our research seems to have paid off, by the way we went with a company eagle rent a car that operates solely in CR and receives rave reviews, and also disclosed all fees up front. No surprises when we arrived at CR!)
I was stunned to find that our 2 day rental in spain a few years ago cost us $900! So, yes, I d agree with that survey! We picked up the car in Granada and drove to Seville, so I suppose there was as usual a fee for picking up/dropping off in different places. That was factored into our initial price however. We were an hour late in returning the car, but we called the company from the road and they said no problem. Unfortunately, I can t remember why it cost that much something ridiculous but I am MUCH more careful these days
I usually reserve online, and in general, the companies are pretty good about disclosing the whole ball of wax, fees and all, in the confirmation e-mail. Since I m not at the rental counter, itching to be on my way, I have the time to look over the fees and see if they have me down for anything I didn t request, like insurance.
Oh, Alamo has a new twist in the you d better buy our insurance game. The agent told me there was a new policy in place that said, if I didn t buy their insurance, and there was damage to the car upon return, they would soak me for my insurance deductible at the counter. Good luck with that one holding up in court. You have the car and can take it up with State Farm and/or Visa. Have fun.
I ve noticed Avis has started a new scheme. If you enter a coupon code when making a reservation on line, you get a message, Notes: Coupon deductions are not included in the estimated total and are calculated at the rental counter.
So, you do not know how much your coupon will save you, or even if they will honor it, until you get to the rental counter. That s pretty darn sneaky! So if you rent from Avis and have a coupon, in addition to your confirmation be sure to bring to the rental eagle rent a car counter a copy of the coupon, conditions associated with the coupon, and your own calculation of how much the coupon will save you. Otherwise, you may be paying more than you should be. I think this is more than a little underhanded.
When I book hotel rooms on the Marriott, Hilton or InterContinental website, the taxes and fees are clearly listed and disclosed BEFORE I hit the submit button. When I book my rental cars on the Hertz or Budget website, the taxes and fees are clearly listed and disclosed BEFORE I hit the submit button.
I have been booking rooms on the Marriott website (over 75 nights a year) for over 8 years. The taxes and fees are disclosed on the webpage. It is also disclosed clearly on the confirmation. I print my hotel confirmations to .PDF files and I have several years of these files and I can't find a hotel reservation from Marriott, Hilton, InterContinental, Best Western, Omni, Choice, etc. where the taxes and fees were NOT disclosed. eagle rent a car It is my guess that Mrs. Kruse call the hotel or the 800 number and asked for the room rate was told $ 100 per night but the taxes and fees were not disclosed until she received her confirmation.
I try to avoid franchisee locations because they are NOT owned or managed by corporate so some locations can be 'wild cards.' If I can't avoid a franchisee location, I will spend more time in takeing pictures, reviewing paperwork, etc.
@ Adele "I've noticed Avis has started a new scheme. If you enter a coupon code when making a reservation on line, you get a message, "Notes: Coupon deductions are not included in the estimated total and are calculated at the rental counter."
That is good business. People will use codes from expired coupons. People will write down the codes from coupons that they have already used. People will use codes that they get from their friends, websites, etc. Since there are some people that want to cheat the car rental companies out of revenues, the car rental companies are now asking people to present their coupons in person so that the coupon eagle rent a car can be verified. If you have a coupon for 10% off, a coupon for a free day, etc., I think that a person eagle rent a car can estimate what their final bill will be.
Software at the rental car companies knows if the coupon is expired. If you try to use the coupon code, the web site will say this coupon no longer valid. This is how things used to work at Avis. Even still, you do not need a coupon- paper coupons no longer exist. You just need the coupon code.
Just as I am inclined not to trust Nigerian bankers who send me emails offering to help me, I am inclined not to trust a company that says, Don t worry, your discount will appear on the statement at the counter after it s too late for you to book anything else. By saying that, I trust that they