Hertz - How To Avoid Airport Fee?

I am not arriving via air. Is that any way to skip the charge? Btw, I am talking about "Transportation and facilities fee" @SFO.

Thanks for your help!

Could you pick up the car at one of the non-airport locations? There are 3 locations in the SFO area which are advertised as HLE-Hertz Local Edition, which sometimes has good rates too.


However if you need to drop at a different location that can affect the rate, so beware.


http://www.hertz.com/special_07/Suburbanlocations.jsp?ex=0

http://www.hertz.com/special_07/aaahle03.jsp?ex=0

[This message has been edited by CMW (edited Feb 19, 2004).]

If you pick up at the airport, you get hit for the airport fees (here in SEA, it's pretty pricey).

If you pick-up at a Local Edition, you save all that cash. Even if you drop-off at the airport.

I am renting tomorrow at my local edition and dropping off at SEA (I need to catch a plane). Same price as if I rented and returned at my local edition.

I only use SEA if I want Prestige Collection. My local carries Premium and Luxury, which are my usual rental types and it saves me 30 minutes on transit time.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SEA_Tigger:

If you pick-up at a Local Edition, you save all that cash. Even if you drop-off at the airport.

</font>


Does this hold true for all Local Editions and their appropriate aiports? What do you specify when you rent the car? Return back to the same location and just take it to the airport? or return to the airport?

I think it can vary so you want to try and specify the exact location for pick-up and drop off when making your reservation. See what rate is returned when you change your drop location.

I use Hertz's web site and select my Local Edition as the pick-up and SEA as the drop-off.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SEA_Tigger:
I use Hertz's web site and select my Local Edition as the pick-up and SEA as the drop-off.</font>

Same here. I just booked an HLE to MDW and a week later the MDW to the HLE segment. The return (same car and day of the week) is about 30% more (Chicago taxes).

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"I was once dissappointed that I didn't get an upgrade, then I saw a homeless man without shoes. Somehow, the upgrade didn't seem all that important."

In the US, I don't think there is any way around the airport fee if you pick up at the airport.

In the UK, I once rented from an agency that was one tube stop in from LHR (it wasn't Hertz - I think it was Kenning or something like that). We had a two-week rental that would have had a 10% airport fee, but the lady said "If you ride the tube and don't take our shuttle bus, I don't have to charge you the 10%." Cha-ching! Saved about 20 quid and probably didn't lose any time at all...

FWIW, I am sometimes (maybe half the time) charged the airport fee when picking up at LE and dropping off at airport. I never got around to asking Hertz HQ whether this is correct (maybe at some airports?) -- wonder if anyone else has asked? Of course, the dropoff staff always say it's correct.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by pinniped:
In the US, I don't think there is any way around the airport fee if you pick up at the airport.
</font>

For sure. There is no way around the taxes even if you didn't fly into the airport.

I'm not sure this one wouldn't be worth looking into.

I had a rental at SFO a couple of weeks ago (w/Avis). I noticed there was a box you could check on your contract to state that you a)didn't arrive by air and b)didn't use the airport transportation facilities (AirTrain or whatever the terminal shuttle was called). So it MIGHT... MAYBE... be possible to dodge at SFO. It's probably worth a phone call anyhow...

Some CDP numbers include the Airport Fee, prepaids are another example.

Does this hold true for all Local Editions and their appropriate aiports? What do you specify when you rent the car? Return back to the same location and just take it to the airport? or return to the airport?

What you need to do is call the local edition office and ask how they get the cars. If the airport gives them the cars, then you will be alright.

I know for all the stores in the San Diego area, they get the cars from the airport.

I recently booked on Hertz.com for a rental at PBI. When I didn't include my flight arrival info in the reservation search, I was not quoted the airport arrival fee. I actually didn't use the bus either (was meeting family and taking sis up to Universal so they drove us to the lot). Maybe if I did get on the bus, when I checked in they would have added the charge. But it still wasn't part of the quoted rate, so I wouldn't have let them get away with it. I don't see why I would ever be required to put in my flight arrival info, for privacy purposes.

Hi folks,

A little more than a year ago, I made a reservation at the Denver airport location. I distinctly remember that removing the flight information from the reservation took off a % fee from the entire reservation. I don't know if it was an error, or by design.

-RG