pinniped

In my experience with one-ways, the more popular model these days is a higher daily rate for a one-way rental. That could be why you aren't seeing a line-item fee for the drop-off.

I still see a drop-off fee once in a while, and rarer still is a regular (low) daily rate and a per-mile charge. So those pricing models are still out there... It's just that usually, I pop in my two cities and see a higher daily rate and that's it. The pricing already bakes in a drop fee, kind of... For two cities within a day's drive of each other, there's sometimes an incentive to make the trip quickly and car-swap to a regular local rental if necessary when you get there.

I was surprised in Europe when I priced a BCN-NCE one way rental and noticed a 300 euro drop charge!! It was very clear that they did *not* want their Spanish rental cars getting dropped off outside the country, even a short-ish drive away in France. In the U.S., at least for most of the regional one-ways I've done, the pricing is usually sane. It's completely normal to get a rental car with out-of-state tags for a local rental, so it's not like the receiving location has to immediately send it back to its "home".