As an additional note to my original post, had an interesting telephone call today. I have corporate accounts at all of the major car rental agencies, including Budget. I got a "courtesy" call today from someone at the Budget corporate desk, who wanted to know why I've not used Budget since January of this year. I laughed and told her I had in fact rented from Budget probably 25 times this year, but why would I use my corporate BCD (they send you $2/day rebate) when I found I could get cheaper rates using other BCD codes, like Costco. She acted surprised (uh, right). Not wanting to waste the opportunity, I told her about the $504 weekly rate I found for an economy car at SJC the other day, and why on earth would I rent from Budget when I could get the same car for under $100 (or substantially lesser rate) elsewhere. She said she doubted I could find cheaper rates than at Budget, so I told her where to go (now, now, where to search for a cheaper rate). Her only reply was that the site I directed her to, didn't initially reveal the additional taxes... then I laughed, when you're talking hundreds of dollars difference in the base rental rate, that would be the least of my concern. My point was, how could "she" justify having that type of crazy rental rate posted on their site, and what about those unsophisticated travelers that just bring up the site and book the rate, not knowing any better? I never did get a satisfactory reply, just that Budget is very competitive. Uh, sure. That's why when I plug in my corporate BCD even taking into consideration the $2 rebate, I get higher quotes than using my gold star Costco card. I shudder to think of the number of unsuspecting unsophisticated travelers who book that $504 rate for an economy car who don't know better, and the Budget folks who say nothing and take their money.
Just not right.