Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - Avis Charges "Airport Fee" On PL Rental At LAS

The "airport fee" was $3.25, and they also charged me another $10.50 for fuel although I showed my gas receipt to the guy at the return lane. They deleted the fuel charge after I waited in line to dispute it.

PL had already charged taxes and fees totaling 50% of the one day rental.

I've never been charged any extra fees of any kind on PL car rentals, at least by the RAC, how about you?

That is strange.... I was under the impression that all fees were included in car rentals.

I would go back to PL and see what they say.... and then possibly challenge the charge with your CC.... small amount of money... but the principle is important.

Avis sucks. I used to use them exclusively and now I avoid them like the plague. That whole "show us your gas receipt" gimmick is a scam. Why do I need a receipt when there's a fuel gauge in the car?

That whole "show us your gas receipt" gimmick is a scam. Why do I need a receipt when there's a fuel gauge in the car? The OP stated he had a gas receipt but that it didn't make any difference. It was clearly an error. I was only asked for a gas receipt once (by Thrify at BOS) and was warned in advance that it would be required. Gas gauges can be a problem so I suppose having the receipt can be used in your favor in a dispute. But the receipt doesn't state which car received the fuel anyway. The extra charges by Avis at LAS are not in place at other sites in my experience. All charges are presented when you accept the rental - get it clear before you take the car out. If there is an airport fee, point out that it is included in your Priceline contract.

Exclusively use Avis....never had any big problems. Only problems I've had lately are off airport dealers not having my class of car ready for me..seems like Avis reduced its fleet size in major centers with less demand. GM dealer said Avis sold down the fleets quite a bit.

The receipt must be important to them but I can't understand why. You could put in just enough to reach the full mark or you could really fill the tank until automatic shut-off and beyond. Don't they top off each car as part of the preparation process? If so they would learn if it is really full or how many gallons are lacking. I recently rented a car off-airport at Kalispell and filled the tank on the way to return it. Six miles from station to Dollar rental. Then a Dollar employee drove me in the same car to the airport, about 4 miles, and I assume back to the rental location. I hope they topped it off for the next rental.

The receipt must be important to them but I can't understand why. You could put in just enough to reach the full mark or you could really fill the tank until automatic shut-off and beyond. Don't they top off each car as part of the preparation process? If so they would learn if it is really full or how many gallons are lacking. I recently rented a car off-airport at Kalispell and filled the tank on the way to return it. Six miles from station to Dollar rental. Then a Dollar employee drove me in the same car to the airport, about 4 miles, and I assume back to the rental location. I hope they topped it off for the next rental.

If a person does their homework, its very possible to return a car that will show Full even digitally, and when the next person drives it say 5-6 miles it will fall to 7/8 or 1 bar will drop off if its digital. Meaning theres room in the tank for 2+ gals

Ive had the gauge drop a few times after having left the lot , drove back and they filled it up. I guess with gas so high they want to avoid having to pay for the topping off of 2-3 gals per car

A couple of times when I didnt have the receipt handy :rolleyes:, they told me to go fill it up all I said what good does that do I can put 17 cents in and say it stopped and yet I could still have put another few $$ in. He let me go w/o getting the receipt

The receipt must be important to them but I can't understand why. You could put in just enough to reach the full mark or you could really fill the tank until automatic shut-off and beyond. Don't they top off each car as part of the preparation process? If so they would learn if it is really full or how many gallons are lacking. I recently rented a car off-airport at Kalispell and filled the tank on the way to return it. Six miles from station to Dollar rental. Then a Dollar employee drove me in the same car to the airport, about 4 miles, and I assume back to the rental location. I hope they topped it off for the next rental.

True, but most people don't try to scheme the system like that. The receipt is a quick and easy way to sort of remind people they do need to fill up within a few miles and to sort of enforce that requirement.

To answer your question, no, they don't top off each car as part of the preparation process--especially when things are busy, that's an extra 3-4 minutes per car (maybe a 20-30% increase--or more--in the time it takes to clean the car), and the fuel pumps are sometimes way out of the way (they can't be placed in the cleaning bays themselves because of hazmat regulations). If the gauge shows full, then the detailers take the gauges' word for that so they can speed on to the next car. It's not a scam--it's just how it is. That's why you sometimes drive off the lot and the gauge drops immediately, as craz said. (But if they do fill the tank up, you can better believe they're going to charge the previous customer--there's no way they'd eat that money themselves! Of course, then the previous customer starts cussing up a storm at them, so it sort of puts them between a rock and a hard place...)

Does anyone else recall a scandal when rental car companies were "unfilling" tanks to the point where the gauge showed full but they could siphon out a gallon or so if a customer had filled it completely? I think that even today when agencies "top up" they do it to the full mark, not the top of the tank.

I think that even today when agencies "top up" they do it to the full mark, not the top of the tank.

No. That would take too much time. The detailers don't have the time to put a gallon in, stop, wait for the fuel gauge to catch up, put another gallon in, stop, wait for the fuel gauge to catch up, and then repeat until the gauge just barely touches the full mark. It'd make the fueling process go from 2-3 minutes to 10-15 minutes. In that time, the car could have been out on the road and making far more than the $5 that would save.

I could see some small-time, no-name local agency run by an unscrupulous guy doing that (the kind that has a 15-car fleet and helps 3 customers per day), but certainly not a major agency. It'd be ridiculously time consuming and not worth the effort of even the greediest franchise owner.

The receipt must be important to them but I can't understand why.

I believe Avis has a new "feature" where they charge a fixed price if you drive the car less than 75 (?) miles. If you go to the counter, there is a tent card that says that this "convenience" is available, and if you happen to fill the tank yourself on a short-mileage rental, you would need to show the receipt. My guess is that the OP drove less than the minimum and Avis just automatically populates the fixed-price gas charge. I've had it happen with me several times, so I always watch it closely.

The OP stated he had a gas receipt but that it didn't make any difference. It was clearly an error. I was only asked for a gas receipt once (by Thrify at BOS) and was warned in advance that it would be required. Gas gauges can be a problem so I suppose having the receipt can be used in your favor in a dispute. But the receipt doesn't state which car received the fuel anyway. The extra charges by Avis at LAS are not in place at other sites in my experience. All charges are presented when you accept the rental - get it clear before you take the car out. If there is an airport fee, point out that it is included in your Priceline contract.

It is not an error. It has happened to me on several occasions, which is one reason why I avoid AVIS now. I sincerely believe they are making money off the people who don't check their receipts or don't take the time to complain.

Back to the OP's original comment on an "Airport Fee" on a PL rental, I think PL is really putting their business model at risk by allowing these fees to leak in. Already I don't use PL anywhere near a resort area since I don't know what my total cost will be. Does this really benefit Priceline?

PL should get all the hotels that use its service (and I guess now car rental companies too) to agree to accept the winning bid as full payment. Otherwise PL is just allowing some of them to hoodwink its customers. And I know that is not in PL's interest.

The majors now charge a flat fee for fuel (gen $12.99) when the rental is <75 miles. They will "refund" (actually delete) the charge IF you show them proof of fuel purchase AND ask. This means going back to the counter instead of simply leaving the car in the drop-off lane.

The majors now charge a flat fee for fuel (gen $12.99) when the rental is <75 miles. They will "refund" (actually delete) the charge IF you show them proof of fuel purchase AND ask. This means going back to the counter instead of simply leaving the car in the drop-off lane.

The agent in the drop off lane usually asks if you filled it up and is supposed to verify anyway. For locations without outdoor agents, I am usually asked at the counter and about 25% of the time have to show the receipt. It is programmed in the software to automatically charge the fee if the mileage is less than 75 miles, so make sure the agent doesn't forget to delete it before they close your contract. I usually remind them by asking if they need to see my gas receipt.

PL is another company that discovered profits through fees. I gave up on PL when they started the resort fees. Depending on location, AVIS, and I guess other major car rental companies also add fees after the fact. That is why I pay $0.84 per day for a "free" rental day or $1.68 for the two "free" weekend days at RDU with AVIS issued coupons.

-outoftown

The majors now charge a flat fee for fuel (gen $12.99) when the rental is <75 miles. They will "refund" (actually delete) the charge IF you show them proof of fuel purchase AND ask. This means going back to the counter instead of simply leaving the car in the drop-off lane.

I've never seen this policy or had it happen to me with Hertz. I switched to them after I got tired of the hassle with Avis at the end of every rental.

I'm not sure who else does this, but it's not all of the "majors".

You do not have to go back to the counter with Avis. Show your receipt before they enter it into their hand computer.
Trying to stay on topic, I remember paying "resort" fees with some PL hotels after checking in. I believe that those fees were "options" that were hard to refuse. "The fee includes parking, phone, walking on the property and breathing," is a paraphrase. "If not, you will have huge add-on fees each time you park, pick up the phone, walk and breath."
If memory serves me right, most of these backfired and went away.
This Avis fee could be isolated.

Well, did you dispute the other Avis fee (not the fuel fee) with either Avis central OR Priceline?

For example, many of the non-airport mandated energy surcharge fees that Hertz and others are charging retail customers are not part of the PL contract with the agencies, so you could theoretically have lower PL fees than the major direct even considering the PL commission that is built-in.

Rasheed

PL is another company that discovered profits through fees. I gave up on PL when they started the resort fees.


PL doesn't charge resort fees, the hotels do, and they typically charge them to ALL guests not just those booking on PL. I can see it as a reason to adjust one's bid downward, which hurts PL and the hotels...but not to hurt one's own wallet by foregoing PL altogether.