FlyingFilmGuy

Hi all,

I've got a rental at the moment out of LAX. It was originally a 23 day rental (total cost £397 / $596, booked through Avis.co.uk - I'm UK based). I need to extend the rental by a couple of days, and I'm truly amazed at the cost!

Original drop-off is 11:30 am Saturday, and I want to return 7:30 pm Monday. Original pick-up was 9pm, so it's an extra two days (total of 25 day rental, rather than spilling over into 26th day). The automated phone system quoted $187 inclusive for the extra two days!!!

I got Avis LAX on the phone, and they quoted me less, but still $39 per day, plus the $10 change fee. I checked the rental agreement, and sure enough it lists extra days at $39. I've never extended with Avis before, so never knew just how much their extensions cost, and had never bothered to look! Are these high rates usual for extensions like this?

My other option is to return the car and grab a new one for the last two days. It's a hassle, but when I can get a two day rental for £46 / $70, then I'm happy with a small drive to LAX for the swap.

So my next question is, if my original drop-off time is 11:30 am, and I extend to drop-off 6:30 pm, this falls within 7 hours of the original time, so am I charged an hourly / daily rate for only a 7 hour extension, when I'm not tripping over into an extra day? What about an 8 hour extension?

Next, for the new 2-day rental, how lenient are Avis on returns that are slightly late, but trip over to a new day? If I book a 48 hour rental, but return after 49 hours, do they charge the extra day?

Thanks for the help folks!

Often1

As you have a non-US rental, you will need to look at the rental contract for the terms applicable to your specific rental. There should be an hourly and a daily charge. Typically the hourly charge is fairly stiff so that at approx 3-4 hours, the daily charge becomes cheaper. But, you will have to look at your contract to be certain.

As I read the numbers you have, it will cost you $88 to extend for 2 days or $70 to exchange. Are you certain that driving out and back is worth $18?

IAHtraveler

Not surprising. If you try to change the rental after booking (just like airline or hotels), it re-prices the itinerary at the current price. Sometimes that's higher; sometimes it's lower; sometimes it's a wash.


Yup. That $39/day is the current price that you're paying for your rental when you first reserved it. A weekly rental is typically much lower than a single day (excluding weekends) so you can't just divide your original rate/23 and assume that's your daily rate. You're probably actually paying 3x weekly rate + 2x daily rate.


Depends on your contract, you'll have to read through it and see what they have about late returns.


I've seen a 15-min grace period before. But never a full hour. You'll most likely be charged 2 x daily rate + 1 x hourly rate. The hourly rate is often 40-75% of the daily rate, not 1/24th of the daily rate.

FlyingFilmGuy

Thanks all.

Just to clarify, the total cost of extension seems to be around $124, vs. $70 for a new rental. So for a saving of $54, maybe I'll take the drive to LAX. It's just the excuse I need to stop at Randy's Donuts. :-D