jackal

I was waiting for someone to comment on that. (I wasn't sure if I should redact that information, but I wanted to get a response to it, since the general attitude I seem to get from FTers is that whatever fees the rental agency collects is pure profit, and anything over, oh, about $15 per day is price gouging ). Just to clarify, though, that is what the location pays to DTAG HQ (which may pass it directly on to Emirates; I'm not sure what that cost is), not what the customer pays. The customer's charge is nothing, at least for Emirates and other foreign flag carriers (except NH, for some reason); a tax recovery surcharge is charged to customers for most U.S.-based carriers.

It does seem to be a large charge in comparison to other mileage partners. I believe the cost to each location for most other airline partners is in the $4-7 range, though that information might be out of date.

Between the various and sundry costs and fees paid by each location for doing business (fees to HQ, concession fees/annual guarantees, staffing costs, maintenance costs, etc.) and the risk that renting a car carries to a location, a $10-per-day weekend rate is almost not worth doing. It would almost cost less money to just have the cars sitting on the lot and not exposed to the risks of unfound/uncollectable damage (at least at most franchises; corporate locations might calculate damage costs differently--I know Enterprise locations' books don't necessarily get dinged for the full cost of uncollectable damages if they follow certain proper procedures or the customer bought LDW). Almost. (Otherwise, rental agencies would probably skip out on weekend rates and just do that...)