Rental Cars

You’re at the rental car check-out counter and you’ve just been told that the total cost for the vehicle will be 35% greater than the daily rate you were quoted when you made the reservation. What happened?

I'm Shirley Rooker for the Federal Trade Commission.

The daily of weekly rental rate is the first thing most of us ask when we are renting a car. But that number is only part of what you’ll actually pay. When you make the reservation, ask for a complete accounting of all the charges, including rental sales tax, airport tax, surcharges, and so on.

Consumer Reports Travel Letter surveyed 16 cities and found that a car rented at Logan Airport in Boston had the highest add-on fees and New York City the lowest. In Boston, the final cost for a vehicle was 38.6% above the initial rental fee, whereas in New York, the charges came to 12.9% above the daily rate.

In order to avoid an unpleasant surprise when you arrive at the car rental counter, ask for all charges, no just the daily rate, when you make the reservation.

I'm Shirley Rooker, director of WTOP radio's Call For Action for the Federal Trade Commission.

January 2002

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.