Rules for Rentals

PHOTO: Car rental companies often offer discount coupons so that you might find a deal that will put your clients in a BMW for the same price as a Malibu. (Courtesy of Europcar)

These days, travel involves fees.

But you know that.

You know all about government taxes on airline tickets, fees for checked bags, fees for seat selection, fees for changing seats, fees for changing flights, and more. You know all about city and state tax on hotel rooms, daily usage fees for amenities you might never use (the gym, Wi-Fi, etc.), resort fees and more.

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Car rentals are no different, so we’re here to walk you through some of the pricing structure and offer some tips that you can pass along to your clients when booking a rental car.

VEHICLE SELECTION
Like the airlines, the car rental business has been consolidated so that three major companies now control virtually all of the market, and by “all” we mean about 90 percent of all available rental cars. Enterprise is the world’s largest car rental company — and it owns National and Alamo. Avis is still its own major brand but it also owns Budget and Payless. And Hertz owns Dollar and Thrifty.

No matter where you go, rates are generally going to be in the same ballpark for similar models.

So start with the obvious — that Chevy Malibu is going to cost far less than a BMW as you look at the scale of cars from compacts to sedans to minivans to luxury vehicles. However, you might find a deal that will put you in a BMW for the same price as that Malibu.

Many car rental companies advertise coupons in everything from city guides to hotel guides to flyers to weekly circulars. In fact, some of them even have discount coupons available on their own websites if you look hard enough and sift through some of the clutter.

Also, be aware that it’s cheaper to rent a car at one of the company’s neighborhood or city locations than it is at the airport. Is it easier to just get your bag, take a shuttle bus to the rental car lot and go? Yes, but you end up paying for that convenience with higher rates.

A quick look at a rental car company’s locations on its website or a phone call to its 800 number should net you enough information to find out how much cheaper it would be for your clients to rent at an off-airport location and how far it is from their hotel or wherever they are staying. You might be surprised.

If their hotel offers a free shuttle from the airport, and if the off-airport car rental location is close enough for a cheap cab ride, your clients might find that they’ll be netting out in the positive rather than renting at the airport. It’s worth a few minutes of research time.

Also, advise your clients to check their own credit cards or affiliation cards, all of which might offer deals on car rentals. Being an AAA member for instance will not only get you savings on a rental (not to mention hotel rates), but sometimes, if you book directly through AAA, it might be cheaper. Check every available card, too, including AARP and even Sam’s Club or Costco.

Check to make sure what kind of credit card clients have as well. Be aware, too, that some car rental agencies do not accept debit cards to rent a car; only as payment when the rental is complete.

PHOTO: Advise clients to inspect their rental car for any damage — ANY damage — before driving off. Even the slightest scratch can set them back a couple hundred dollars. (Courtesy of Hertz)

Also, be sure to tell them about “holds” on their credit card so that if they have a certain limit they know what they have available. For example, let’s say there is a $1,000 limit on your client’s credit card and it’s completely paid, and they plan on using it on vacation. They’re spending $500 for a week to rent a car, meaning they have $500 left on the card, right? Wrong. Like hotels, car rental companies put a hold on the customer’s credit card to assure payment when they return.

Not only can the hold be just as much as the cost of the rental, but even if the car is returned on time and in good shape with no additional charges, the hold can sometimes take more than a week to be restored to your credit card.

FEES AND INSURANCE
There are certain things that are out of your control — the local tax rate, tourist taxes, higher rates for weekend and holiday rentals, for instance.

But there are some things that you can control.

For one, car rental companies sometimes tack on a fee for drivers under the age of 25. Some renters have gone so far as to keep making calls — first to the car rental location, then to the regional office, and then to corporate headquarters — to challenge the legality of such a fee, even throwing around words like “discriminatory” and “unconstitutional.”

Laugh all you want, but some have been successful in getting the fee removed. So, if you have clients under 25, at least it doesn’t hurt to ask.

And then there’s the all-important question of insurance.

Do you need it? Absolutely. You would no sooner drive your own car without insurance, would you?

Do your clients need it from the car rental company? Absolutely not. Purchasing insurance directly from the car rental company can sometimes double the cost of renting the car.

There are two schools of thought here. One is to have clients check with the credit card company. They may already have it as part of their agreement, but be sure to find out what type it is. Many credit card companies offer only secondary car rental insurance coverage, meaning they will cover any expenses incurred via damages only after your primary insurance covers whatever it covers.

Two, ask clients to check with their own car insurance company. Many people who have full insurance coverage on their personal cars already have insurance for rental cars. People who have limited liability personal insurance should check how that applies to rental car coverage.

RESPONSIBILITY
Look, we all know the last thing anybody wants to do after getting off a plane after a five-hour trip is to spend 10 more minutes inspecting a rental car.

It’s 10 minutes worth your clients’ time.

Tell them to inspect the car for any damage — ANY damage. Even the slightest scratch can set you back a couple hundred dollars. Clients should not only inspect the car before pulling away with it, but should take pictures with a date and time stamp to show that, yes, they looked at the car and took it in good faith.

If they notice even the slightest hiccup, alert the car rental counter agent. They don’t necessarily have to go through the process and paperwork of getting a different rental car if it’s something small, but obviously it should be noted on your rental agreement.

When returning the car, again, clients should take pictures with a date and time stamp. This is just a precautionary measure against finding out that they were charged for a small dent below the door handle on the passenger side when they get their credit card statement a month later.

Also, they’re getting the car full of gasoline — return it filled. And tell them to fill the car up at a gas station well off the airport grounds (but obviously not so far that it takes them a quarter-tank just to get to the airport).

Otherwise, one of two things is going to happen. They’re going to pay slightly higher per gallon for gas at a station near the airport, much as you would pay a little higher for a gas station right off the highway exit instead of, say, driving a few miles past the exit for a cheaper rate. Or, if they leave it to the car rental agency to refill it at the airport, they might be looking at double the normal cost of a gallon of gas.

TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS
Renting a car is a wonderful thing. If clients are hell-bent on driving the coast in California, wandering down the most crooked street in the world in San Francisco, covering the entire length of Route 66, by all means they should go for it.

But also keep in mind that if they’re on a business trip, especially, or staying in a major city like New York where the sites are fairly condensed, clients should consider that most cities have well-constructed and easy-to-understand mass transit.