Originally Posted by
jwhite4
By the same logic, would you ask an airline why you just can't get off at 'B' on an A-B-C itinerary when A-B-C is cheaper than A-B? By the same measure, why should the airline punish you for a higher A-B flight, when they can sell B-C for additional money?
Often, travel pricing just doesn't make sense.
Jeff
There is some logic to your argument, but the rental car industry's pricing models are not nearly as sophisticated as the airlines. Having been on the inside, I can assure you that the issue raised in this thread is purely unintentional, and if it were brought to the attention of the rate management department, they'd probably fix it (I'll even go so far as to state that most pricing in the rental industry is unintentional and haphazardly instituted--having worked extensively with rate management folks, it's all a big guessing game and rates are just thrown out there with little understanding of the actual mechanics of how they're applied).
Rental car agencies do want to get the highest rate possible out of you, yes, but they don't want to encourage you to keep the car longer than you need by actually charging less for long rentals (less per day but still more overall, yes, but not less overall), as they would view that as lost potential revenue from additional rentals.