On an upcoming trip, I am flying to Chicago and returning home via Columbus, OH. I booked a car and got hit with a $90 fee.

I went to Avis to double-check, and lo and behold, there is a new

Go to www.avis.com
Click on Programs & Services
Click on One-Way rental
The rentals are "zoned" - between two cities in the same zone are no charge. Fortunately, Chicago and Columbus fall within the same for me.

Hope it helps.

------------------
"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

I recently rented a Budget vehicle (the Ranger pick-up, which I rent on my travels wherever Budget has them)in Seattle, and drove south deep into Oregon. After a week of touring that state, I turned the pu in at Portland. No charge on the one-way.

This is rather new for me.

It happen I could take a car in LAS and drop it in LAX (one time) or SFO (one time) w/o any surcharge.

But the trip CVG-DAY, both in OHIO (5 or 6 times makes me pay an additional 40 to 100 US $

Same for Columbus-DAY
and Detroit-DAY

Four PAWS UP tip JON TONER (and good to see you here again! )

I guess you also posted on the Avis board as well, but great tip!

Question: Do the other car rental agencies have the same policy?

I've had excellent luck with National for pick-up at one location and drop at another.

Actually, I just had to book a 10-day, one-way car rental from Boston to Rochester. Called Hertz, Budget and Avis. All three quoted comparably sky-high rates, but said they'd waive the drop-off charge.

I asked the third of the companies, out of curiosity, what the rental would be for the exact same time-frame if I picked up and returned the car in Boston. The company in question (can't remember which one) quoted a rate that was $45 less. When I said "so, in effect, I'm being charged a $45 drop-off fee" the agent tried to explain that it was a different type of rental. Eventually, she acknowledged that it did appear to be a drop-off charge, just not shown as such on her screen.

Bottom line, I'm not sure it matters whether there's a drop-off charge or not - just whether the overall rate (and the miles earned!) are the best.

$45 is extrememly cheap for a drop-off charge, in my experience. I have seen those charges run $200-300 with the major car rental companies. In addition, many of the privately owned franchises will NOT permit one-way rentals under any circumstances.

Last summer I did a one way from Jackson Hole,Wyoming to Phoenix with Alamo. I had to call there in advance, there was a $750 charge listed, but they did wave it for me in the end.

Thumper

In general I think I'd like to see (at least know) of the dropoff charge, if there is one. However, having it be incorporated into the rate (I've also seen this) has 2 advantages:

1. You get an accurate estimate of the rental charge. A lot of booking engines (think ITN is a major one) don't seem to automatically include a dropoff charge in their estimated rate. That leaves you having to manually call the rental company or travel agency to find out which company really has the lowest OVERALL rate.

2. If the dropoff charge is incorparated into the rental rate, then any discount coupons you use (ie. 1 free weekend day) also deduct a portion of the of the dropoff fee.


I haven't figured out yet weather dropoff fees represent a real cost to the rental companies, or just an apparent cost that is easy to pass of to people who only are driving one way.

Jeff

May I be even more basic? I would like the price quoted to be the price that I pay. I am sick to death of discovering all these hidden charges that they add on top like registration charges, airport pick up charges ( I am speaking europe here), and all the other little extras which then attract tax. The day that I pay the price quoted will be a red letter day in my book.