National - Returning car late

I ended up changing my return flight on an upcoming trip and am now looking at my rental car reservation. Originally, I was picking up the car around 2pm on arrival day and returning it around 11am. Now I will be picking it up at 2pm and returning it around 3:30pm on our departure day. When I change the reservation it charges me a whole extra day for that time beyond 2pm.

I was looking through the National FAQ's and it stated that if you are 2 hours late, you will be charged for 2 hours. If you are more than 2.5 hours late, you are charged for an additional day.

So.... I am wondering if I should book the ressie with a 2pm return time and just return it late at 3:30. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks!!

The time of your actual return overrides anything on your booking. If you give a return time of 2:00pm, but you don't actually return it until 3:30pm, you're still going to be charged for another day.

If that is the case, then I am wondering why this is on the National website:

Will there be an additional charge if I am late returning the rental vehicle?

The Grace Period for National is as follows:

You will not be charged for the first 29 minutes that you are late.

You will be charged for one hour if you are 30-89 minutes late.

You will be charged for two hours if you are 90-149 minutes late.

An additional day is charged if you are 2 1/2 hours or more late.

Additional fees are based on the daily rental rate.

While those terms are technically correct, generally your "hourly" rate is actually about half your daily rate.

For example, a rate I have right now shows:

$83.74/Day
$41.87/Hour

41.87 * 2 = 83.74 :)

So if you're 30 mins late, you'll get charged 41.87. If you're 90 minutes late, you'll already be charged your "daily" rate even though its just 2 "hours"

Makes sense. Thanks!!

Take caution when dealing with rates that have a 96 hour maximum (many weekend rates, for example). If you run into 96 hours and 30 minutes, you might end up paying rack rate for 5 days or a weekly rate. This can be the difference between a $55 rental after taxes, fees, discounts, and coupons, and a $200 rental.