am1108

+1 Thats why I rent from Hertz. Not I can say that Hertz will always be my choice, but so far they have been ok.

YVR Cockroach

Had the same with Thrifty at YYC.

Tony10s

Just rented from Dollar at ATL
The agent made sure to tell me they require a receipt for gas fill up within 10miles of the airport.
I filled up within 2 miles, got the receipt , went to return the car left the receipt on the dash, the return check in agent looked at it and that was that.
Easy.
( for my peace of mind, I took a picture of the receipt with my iPhone)

BillyBaloney

I can agree it isn't that hard. But I feel that it is something I should not have to do, or even think about.

If the needle is on "FULL" then my job is done. That is my opinion.

So I will not be renting from Dollar or Thrifty. Pennywise, pound foolish.

InkUnderNails

I always get a receipt for expense reporting, so getting the receipt is not a big deal. However, I usually have the first flight out and I fill up the night before. I can drive a long way in 12 hours even if I fill up close to the airport.

I usually rent from National, but I picked up from Dollar tonight and got the speech about the required receipt. I got the hard sell for insurance. It is part of what is expected when you save $200+ on a 4 day rental.

BillyBaloney

Yeah, sure it is. I stopped drinking the Kool-Aid, thanks though.

ChinaShrek

Why the obsession with contracts and policies? People sign a ton of things everyday without reading them. There are also many policies and rules that defy common sense. Give the OP a break.

StevenSeagalFan

Exactly, I wonder how many people read the terms & conditions and privacy policy when signing up for flyertalk?

bmw745ion19s

LOL @ them asking for receipts, look at the damn needle on F and stop trying to screw people on the fine print. I bet they dont tell most of the people of this requirement.

LOL@ the ones that allow 60 or 75 miles? how the hell can you go that far and the needle still be on full?

jackal

^^

I, too, pick Hertz/National (and less so Avis) if the price is reasonably close (within ~10-20%, depending on the length/cost of rental), but someone mentioned being penny-wise, pound-foolish upthread, and the same applies here: to spend $30 more per day with Hertz (which IME is often the case) to avoid having to show a receipt to save $10 worth of gas certainly strikes me as penny-wise, pound-foolish.

You may not recall, but Avis Budget group had an even harsher policy on this subject (gas) not all that long ago. I think they finally relaxed it, but "premium" brands like Avis sometimes have harsh policies just like any other rental company.

It's displayed on the gas signs, shown on the rental contract, and often (although admittedly not always) verbalized by the rental agent. It wouldn't be a problem if everyone were honest and returned the car with a completely full tank, but sadly, that's not the case. I've actually gotten screwed more by Hertz than by Dollar Thrifty on the gas issue: I often pick cars up with Hertz that are "full" but not really (needle drops off of F within 5 minutes of leaving the lot, whereas it stays well above the F for 50 miles after I fill it up), whereas due to this policy, the cars I pick up from Dollar are always well above F and never take more than 0.2 gallons if I stop at the first gas station I see after leaving the airport.

Happens in my own car all the time (needle above F until 90 miles after fill-up) and in the majority of rental cars I've driven.

BillyBaloney

My comment on penny-wise, pound-foolish was in respect to the rental companies which go to this extreme. It was not in respect to the renter. In this tough economy, a company cannot afford to lose business. Even an amount as low as 5% can be drastic, and it only takes about 30 seconds to lose a customer. Pissing customers off isn't the answer to a good bottom line.

Now as you state, the customer is "penny-wise, pound foolish" if they do not consider Dollar? I think not. Or perhaps you are writing that just to try and be clever. There is a plethora of car rental companies with which to obtain good pricing. Cutting out one or two in the search will not cause the rental to be $30 higher like you seem to suggest. One can live without "Dollar rent-a-car" and not pay higher prices. Can't buy your argument there...

Tony10s

In ATL recently , Dollar/Thrifty was significantly less than all others.
For a three day rental, it was a total of 65 dollars vs 98- 150 dollars with the others
For a minimum 33 dollar savings, it's easy to produce a receipt.

BillyBaloney

Wow, that is amazing. Just think - they were cheaper than Advantage, Airport Rent a Car of Atlanta, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, EZ Rent a Car, Hertz, National, Payless, and Sixt? I've got to hand it to you - you sure must have spent a lot of time checking into this. Can't believe that only the gas knit-pickers are the only two cheap ones! Badgering the customers for receipts must be good policy. I for one will not use them. I can find cheaper prices in the hoard above, or at least very close.

jackal

It's not just Dollar Thrifty you'll have to avoid, then. Be sure to avoid Avis and Budget:

(https://www.avis.com/search/SearchMa..._box=refueling)

(http://redirect.avis.com/services/fso/index.html)

(http://www.budget.com/budgetWeb/html...lServices.html)

Dollar Thrifty is frequently cheaper than most the "hoard" [sic] you listed above. You may find cheaper rates at Payless, EZ, and "AIrport Rent a Car of Atlanta," but those don't really count. (I will avoid Payless like the plague; I haven't heard as many complaints about EZ, but I'm holding off on them for now. No idea who "Airport Rent a Car of Atlanta" is, but they're not a national chain.) DTAG is either price-competitive or cheaper than pretty much the rest of the ones you mentioned.

A random sample of rates in July at ATL:

EZ: $236.92 (discount brand)
Sixt: $241.92 (newcomer)
Advantage: $242.51 (value brand, but I've had many problems with them so would avoid)
Enterprise: $307.40 (value brand, but their rental process is irksomely slow)
Dollar: $308.95 (hey, look at their price!)
Thrifty: $308.95 (hey, look at their price!)
Alamo: $336.86
Budget: $338.44
National: $397.51
Hertz: $398.85
Avis: $501.34

If you'd like to spend $27.91 more to rent from Alamo to avoid showing a receipt, feel free. Or better yet, spend $29.49 more to rent from Budget and *still* have to show a receipt. Or better yet, spend $192.39 to rent from Avis and STILL have to show a receipt!

You are more than welcome to avoid Dollar, Thrifty, Avis, and Budget. I, however, applaud them for taking steps to cut down on return refueling fraud. As I mentioned above, I have not had any issues with getting cars from Dollar or Thrifty that aren't completely full on gas. I therefore have no problem filling the car up right before return and taking the 5 extra seconds to print out a receipt.

BillyBaloney

What if I get a receipt, but don't fill it all the way, and just pee in the gas tank? Do you think it would work?