Hertz used to not charge it if you select the "Not Arriving by Plane" option when booking, but they stopped that about 2 years ago.
Originally Posted by
returnoftheyeti
That being said, there is a Budget rent a car at Tanforan at Sears. One BART stop away from SFO and the rental fees are significantly less.
Budget and Avis (few hundred meters from BART), as well as Hertz (a bit further - just outside of the Tanforan carpark), although obviously their hours are more limited than the airport, and their prices can be higher (or on occasion, cheaper) than the airport so it doesn't always work out cheaper to rent from them.
Avis at least generally allows one-ways to the airport, so you can return there. The airtrain fee is only charged when renting from the airport, not when returning there.
(And yes, it's $19 now. Until a few months ago it was $20)