National - Revolt against taxes!!!

I travel to PHX on a regular basis and I'm absolutely disgusted by the airport taxes.

Customer Facility Charge $6.00/day

Concession Recovery Fee 11.11%

Vehicle License Surchase 5%

Stadium Surcharge $2.50

Trans Priv Tax 11.30%

Not incl. the $2.50, that's 27.41% tax + $6/day!!!!

I encourage you all to do what I do:

Rent car at PHX, returning in Scottsdale.

The next day, return car at Scottsdale and pick up a car with a new rental on a one way back to PHX.

If we all do this, National might drop the $6 fee or the concession recovery fee!

In Scottsdale, the taxes are as follows:

Concession Recovery Fee 8%
Vehicle License Surcharge 5%
Stadium Surcharge $2.50
Trans Priv Tax 8.950%


In other words, and excluding the stadium surcharge, the taxes are only 22%.

Please join me in my revolt!!!!!!!!!! :D

I frequently rent from all three major rental agencies. I found Avis usually have the lowest extra fees. National and Hertz are a bit higher. I doubt National will read the posts here and lower their fees, it's one way for them to get some extra income.

Before I start, car rental surcharges to sock it to the travelers (e.g. pay for our stadia) are disgusting. That being said...

IMO there are several types of car rental "surcharges"/"fees"/"taxes", going from acceptable to disgusting...


A per rental (or per hour/day/dollar/etc.) fee that, by law, must be a line item on the bill. For example, sales tax in the US. If a car rental company (CRC) does this, then it's off the hook (as long as the fee is disclosed a priori).
A fee that is billed to the CRC for every rental w/o the mandated line item requirement (e.g. license fees, but not sure about that).
A surcharge/ that the CRC charges to offset normal operational costs (e.g. a fixed annual payment for space at the airport, a "buying cars surcharge", "employee surcharge", etc.).
A fee to ofset more general costs of doing business (e.g. a "legal compliance fee", i.e. a "not burn our competitors' cars fee" or an "employee minimum wage surcharge".)


If two CRCs charge different "taxes and fees" for identical rentals (taking into account any % based fees), that most likely reason is that at least one is being deceptive.

IMO: If all is disclosed when the reservation is made (i.e. your real total will be $xx.xx") then the CRC is largely off the hook.

Overall National has been very good about the last part. My receipt almost always matches my initial reservation to the penny. Lack of this kind of transparency turned me away from Avis. In the end I care about what I pay, not the silly way they subdivide it.

My point is that it shouldn't be $110 more/week to rent from PHX than from Scottsdale, when the rates themselves are identical. Sure the shuttle buses cost money, and some other things do too, but I bet that charging everyone $2/ride on the bus, would cover that cost, and a few bucks more for the other stuff. But $110 (on a fairly low priced corporate rate, is simply outrageous). And if more people start renting from Scottsdale instead, National might stop gouging us.

My point is that it shouldn't be $110 more/week to rent from PHX than from Scottsdale, when the rates themselves are identical. Sure the shuttle buses cost money, and some other things do too, but I bet that charging everyone $2/ride on the bus, would cover that cost, and a few bucks more for the other stuff. But $110 (on a fairly low priced corporate rate, is simply outrageous). And if more people start renting from Scottsdale instead, National might stop gouging us.

At the risk of stating the obvious, politicians institute taxes at airports because 99% of renters there can't vote the rascals out since they don't live in the area.

If you think Phoenix is bad, try going to Kansas City.

Most airport rental car taxes and fees are not from the rental company. They are from area politicians. So the companies can not do much if anything about those fees, regardless of consumer behavior.

If you think Phoenix is bad, try going to Kansas City.

Picked up a "free" car at National last week for the day to drive one way. My "free" car costs $12 in taxes and fees.

At the risk of stating the obvious, politicians institute taxes at airports because 99% of renters there can't vote the rascals out since they don't live in the area.

Maybe airport car rental fees should be federally regulated like the Passenger Facility Charges on airline tickets; the taxes/fees should only be spent on the airport facilities, improvements, etc. A car rental from an airport is just as much interstate-commerce as the flight leading up to that rental.

A car rental from an airport is just as much interstate-commerce as the flight leading up to that rental.

One doesn't have to be a fervent states' rights type to know that statement is just silly, on its face and in the law.

Of course you could always rent from a company that offers of airport locations and save a ton of money.
enterprise and Hertz have lots of these offices.
But what the airport and the taxing authorities know is that most people suffer from inertia and will pay the charges no matter what so as to avoid even the least inconvenience to themselves.

I think that car rental companies should be forced to incorporate all this junk into their initial quote instead of hiding it 'til you get a few screens past.

I mean, is it legit that there should be a six-buck-a-day charge for the car rental facility? Well, *somebody* has to pay the rent for that thing. If it were built into the price rather than billed separately then it wouldn't seem so ridiculous. I mean, if I go to McDonald's I don't pay two dollars for the burger and then one dollar for the franchisee's rent.

What I find truly annoying is all these "stadium" fees. Buddy, I'm not going to the stadium. I don't care about the stadium. Let the goddamn team pay for the goddamn stadium.

Most airport rental car taxes and fees are not from the rental company. They are from area politicians. So the companies can not do much if anything about those fees, regardless of consumer behavior.

I think you might be mistaken... These three sure sound like they are from the company, and certainly the last two are:

Customer Facility Charge $6.00/day

Concession Recovery Fee 11.11%

Vehicle License Surchase 5%

The vehicle registration for my 2012 Ford Escape rental says $450 for vehicle registration... I'm pretty sure they make a big profit on that, and the concession recovery is all profit too (or at least pays for the rent)

I think you might be mistaken... These three sure sound like they are from the company, and certainly the last two are:

Customer Facility Charge $6.00/day

Concession Recovery Fee 11.11%

Vehicle License Surchase 5%

The vehicle registration for my 2012 Ford Escape rental says $450 for vehicle registration... I'm pretty sure they make a big profit on that, and the concession recovery is all profit too (or at least pays for the rent)

Sorry Ted... The Concession recovery goes 100% to the Port Authority... the facility charge pays the rent (again it goes to whomever 'owns' the facility where the cars are stored/rented from)... You can see all the fine print from some of the contracts if you look up the various port authority websites (I think sunshine laws apply)
The VLS, well... that may be a different story. Not sure where the extra, if there is any, goes.

As one of the above posters noted, even if you don't like the fees at least you know up front that you need to pay them. I know that as far as the "travelers" taxes are concerned, the car rental companies are wholly opposed to them and spend alot of time/money in lobbying against them.

I personnaly agree with your rant, and I've dropped a few 'F'-bombs when I see my bill from DFW, but the majority of your angst should be directed at the taxing authorities that think up ways to pad their coffers...

One doesn't have to be a fervent states' rights type to know that statement is just silly, on its face and in the law.

Please explain (seriously). The Federal Government has at least some authority to prevent state regulation of the car rental business (Graves Amendment). Courts have upheld this (the SCOTUS recently denied review), even for ZipCar.

Interestingly enough the Graves Amendment was sponsored by a Rep. whose top campaign contributor was Enterprise (see ref. 46 here (http://www.floridalawreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Steinberg_BOOK.pdf)).

A car rental from an airport location would almost always be a continuation of a trip that includes air travel. The fees charged by the airport for that trip are subject to federal regulation (even if the flight is intrastate). Federal law regulates state taxes on flights (even intrastate) (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/40116). Why should the federal government's authority to regulate taxes & fees for cars departing the airport be any different?

On a related note, how many of the rental cars at an airport location are actually registered in that state?

BTW: I am not a lawyer, and it is quite likely that I do not understand the law correctly. If so, please correct me. Be gentle. :) Also, I do necessarily think that the feds should have the power to regulate car rentals.

I personnaly agree with your rant, and I've dropped a few 'F'-bombs when I see my bill from DFW, but the majority of your angst should be directed at the taxing authorities that think up ways to pad their coffers...

Except that the taxes are targeted almost exclusively at people who do not have representation in these matters. The whole point of these fees is that they are one of the few ways to directly tax non-residents without explicitly excluding residents.

Sorry Ted... The Concession recovery goes 100% to the Port Authority... the facility charge pays the rent (again it goes to whomever 'owns' the facility where the cars are stored/rented from)... You can see all the fine print from some of the contracts if you look up the various port authority websites (I think sunshine laws apply)
The VLS, well... that may be a different story. Not sure where the extra, if there is any, goes.

The Port Authority doesn't have any authority outside of NY/NJ!! :D

But in all seriousness, the word "recovery" makes it clear IMHO that National is trying to recover the rent it pays at PHX by imposing it on us.

And after having typed that, I searched National's website, and I'm right!!!

"Concession Recoupment Fee:

At some locations, National has elected to impose "recovery fees" to recover or recoup all or a portion of its expenses related to a type of overhead. At certain airport locations where National is an on-airport concessionaire, National has elected to impose a charge, often referred to as a Concession Recoupment Fee or Concession Recovery Fee, to recover all or a portion of the concession fees which it is obligated to pay to the airport.

Further, many airports impose a fee on revenue from off-airport rental car transactions (typically when the customer exits the airport using the off-airport company's shuttle bus) at locations where National is an off-airport concessionaire; National elects to impose a charge to recover all or a portion of this fee from customers.

This fee, which varies by airport, will appear separately in the charges section of the rental agreement as Airport Fee, or the like."

https://nationalcar.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2187/kw/concession%20recovery

And!!!

"Other recovery fees that National elects to impose at some locations include, without limitation: a vehicle licensing and registration recovery fee, often called Vehicle License Recoupment or Recovery Fee or 'VLRF', which is the recovery of National's average annual cost to license and register its fleet in the applicable jurisdiction calculated over the estimated annual utilization rate for that locale; certain tax recoveries not mandated to be charged to the customer by a governmental entity; a hotel concession recovery fee, which is the recovery of concession fees National is obligated to pay to some hotel-based locations; and a tire and battery recovery fee, which is the recovery of certain fees related to tires and batteries which National must remit to certain jurisdictions."

https://nationalcar.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2185/kw/concession%20recovery

The Port Authority doesn't have any authority outside of NY/NJ!! :D

But in all seriousness, the word "recovery" makes it clear IMHO that National is trying to recover the rent it pays at PHX by imposing it on us.

And after having typed that, I searched National's website, and I'm right!!!

"Concession Recoupment Fee:

At some locations, National has elected to impose "recovery fees" to recover or recoup all or a portion of its expenses related to a type of overhead. At certain airport locations where National is an on-airport concessionaire, National has elected to impose a charge, often referred to as a Concession Recoupment Fee or Concession Recovery Fee, to recover all or a portion of the concession fees which it is obligated to pay to the airport.

Further, many airports impose a fee on revenue from off-airport rental car transactions (typically when the customer exits the airport using the off-airport company's shuttle bus) at locations where National is an off-airport concessionaire; National elects to impose a charge to recover all or a portion of this fee from customers.

This fee, which varies by airport, will appear separately in the charges section of the rental agreement as Airport Fee, or the like."

https://nationalcar.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2187/kw/concession%20recovery

And!!!

"Other recovery fees that National elects to impose at some locations include, without limitation: a vehicle licensing and registration recovery fee, often called Vehicle License Recoupment or Recovery Fee or 'VLRF', which is the recovery of National's average annual cost to license and register its fleet in the applicable jurisdiction calculated over the estimated annual utilization rate for that locale; certain tax recoveries not mandated to be charged to the customer by a governmental entity; a hotel concession recovery fee, which is the recovery of concession fees National is obligated to pay to some hotel-based locations; and a tire and battery recovery fee, which is the recovery of certain fees related to tires and batteries which National must remit to certain jurisdictions."

https://nationalcar.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2185/kw/concession%20recovery

I think the part of your original post that I disagreed with was the contention that these "fees/surcharges/recoveries" were created to extraneously generate 'profits'... in almost all of the cases you outlined the fee is is being passed through to the customers(us) to offset the expenses that the rental companies have imposed on them.

Either way you slice it we'd end up footing these bills (whether they are line items that inflate the overall cost or they are buried in the 'rate' that the company charges). Personally, I would rather have the line items so some clarity/transparency existed in the process.

Sorry if I confused the topic with my initial post... I wasn't trying to say that the rental companies weren't recouping expenses, that much is clear, but instead saying that the pass-through of certain expenses was unavoidable and not necessarily a profit driver... (I know, any expense they don't pay out of pocket means an extra dollar in the corporate coffers).

But realisticly, I'll stand by the fact that one way or another we(the customer) would end up paying.

just for fun...DFW...
Base Rate - Fullsize (USD)
(3) Time & Distance ($24.56/Day) $73.68
Inclusive Rate Items
Taxes, Surcharges and Fees
Facility Charge 4.00/day $12.00
Customer Transportation Charge $6.60
Concession Fee Recovery 11.11 Pct $8.19
Euless Sports Venue Tax 5 Pct $5.23
Texas Reimbursement Fee 1.35/day $4.05
Motor Veh Rental Tax (10.0%) $10.45
Subtotal $46.52
Total $120.20
Tax/Charge 'Rate': 63%
WOW

If you think Phoenix is bad, try going to Kansas City.

+1. I had seen Kansas City listed on the weekly specials with crazy low daily prices ($11) and thought it was just a really business oriented market. Now that I am going there I looked at rentals and my first thought after seeing the total was what am I doing wrong? 60% of my total price is taxes and fees. Interestingly you can not avoid them by going off airport either.

San Diego's $10 per rental fee also stung me in the past. My free day rental was going to be $25.

I think the part of your original post that I disagreed with was the contention that these "fees/surcharges/recoveries" were created to extraneously generate 'profits'... in almost all of the cases you outlined the fee is is being passed through to the customers(us) to offset the expenses that the rental companies have imposed on them.

Obviously they manage to do fine in Scottsdale without all those crazy fees. Their expenses are the same if I rent PHX to Scottsdale, then Scottsdale to PHX, but doing it this way, the customer saves $100+/week. And my corporate rate is crazy low to begin with $169 + tax/week, so for someone paying full fare, I could see them easily see them saving $150 and some may even save $250/week on some of the more expensive classes (Full size SUV, convertible, luxury, etc.).

If we all start doing this, National might reconsider!!!

But people here are trying to say it's not up to National!

Scottsdale, being a neighborhood store, does not have all the airport fees, because

1) Expenses are lower.

2) Locals probably rent there, too, and would not likely vote exorbitant 60% taxes on themselves. It's the out of town airport renter they're trying to soak.