This pertains to my recent Budget car rentals, but I decided to post it here because it addresses a larger issue that has always bothered me with all the rental car companies :
(moderators please move to a more appropriate forum if there is one)


I needed a car for 4 days in PNS, so being the points junkie that I am, I made 2-two day reservations using the Dekta 5k bonus promotion. Each reservation was exactly the same as the other, except that one was for noon Monday-11am Wednesday, and the other was for noon Wednesday-11am Friday. I made the two reservations at the same time (within 2 minutes of each other). Both used the V053900 BCD and MUAZ015 coupon. Both were for compact cars. Both gave the exact same rate of $52 base rate plus $25.53 in taxes and fees for a total of $77.53. Again let me say that these two reservations were without question exactly the same (except for the days of the week).

So when I returned the first car on Wednesday I got charged $79.32 which was a few dollars higher than the estimate, but it always comes out like this I think because they don't include FF charges in the estimate. But then when I returned the car on Friday the charge was $85.39! Granted it is only 6 bucks more, but that's almost 10% and even if it were only 50 cents more I want to know how they can be different when they should be exactly the same!

So I went to the counter and asked, and after spending 15 minutes going through every line to prove to them that the two reservations had been exactly the same, they finally accepted that fact. Then all 4 of the agents got together to try to figure it out. From this whole thing it became very clear that none of them actually understands the taxes and fees that they charge, but rather they just accept what the computer spits out. I would expect at least the manager to be able to explain every single fee added on to a reservation, but clearly even she had no knowledge of where the fees come from.

So finally one of them did manage to find where the extra charge came from, and it was indeed the FF charge. On the first receipt I was charged "FTP SUR $0.75/DAY" for a total of $1.50. On the second receipt I was instead charged "7.5% TAX ON FF MILES" for a total of $6.58. First I'll point out that that $6.58 is actually more than 7.5% of even the total charges. But ignoring that mathematical fraud for the moment, I'll get back to the fact that they "decided" to charge different FF fees on the 2nd rental. What the hell is that? They have the right to just make up a differnent set of rules for each rental that goes out?

These "seemingly" random fees have bothered me for years, and finally here is proof that they aren't just "seemingly" random, but in fact truly random. (Unfortunately I'm not sure what to do with this information now that I have it other that post it here so I can rant!)

Oh, and by the way I did get my 5k miles on each rental.

 

I never put an FF number on rentals, and just claim retroactive credit. That way, there's no charge at all!

 

I always thought that unless you provided your FF # up front, you were not eligable for the points, because as the OP said the car companies charge an extra premium for rentals booked that earn FF miles. You would have to call the car company after the fact and get them to credit your FF account for the rental and i'm 99% sure that wont happen without a fight.
I found that unless it is a special promo the average FF award for a car rental costs more than its worth....usually you can book the same car for a lot less without the promo code for the FF miles.
what car company does retroactive airline credits without fees?

 

I've gotten it from Hertz and Avis.

 

I don't know that it proves they are random. It could prove codes get entered incorrectly, it could be evidence someone is entering some fake codes to increase prices and then skim ...lots of possibilities. If it bothers you, I'd have it checked into further. Interesting to see if those taxes collected are going where they're supposed to be going.

 

Both Thrifty and Budget have done it for me.

 

Perhaps random is the wrong term to use. I would like to find a word to describe more accurately that these fees don't seem to follow consistent patterns, that they seem to always be different even at the same locations at different times, that different rental companies at the exact same locations typically charge different taxes and tax rates, and that nobody at the counter or when I call in can ever really seem to explain each tax and fee on a receipt.

And I'd bet money that all these "taxes" don't go to the gov agency that is supposedly collecting them.

 

How 'bout we go with "arbitrary"?

 

you know what cracks me up, everytime I book with Budget on-line I pay the "total" but then, for return/check-in, they always charge me another buck something? I asked and the CSR remarked that EVERYBODY complains about it and that she, too, didn't understand. Shouldn't this be a congressional inquiry? (joke). Good news: All the 5K and bonus 50% miles posted up (plus a few hundred more for the standard ff miles).

 

I smell class-action lawsuit..

 

It could happen, but the results might not be beneficial. Maybe 10 years ago there was a class-action lawsuit (about rounding errors in home mortgage interest, IIRC) in which the homeowners each had to pay a few bucks to compensate "their" attorneys.

 

I smell class-action lawsuit..

+1