<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Kremmen:
That depends on your purpose. I assume Congress could make it mandatory for rental companies to quote the full daily rate in all advertising and all quotes. That would make it much easier to compare rates and stop the misleading practice of adding on all manner of taxes and charges later.
Indeed, a decent blanket consumer protection law that prevented misleading advertising in any industry and prevented charging any amount that wasn't fully disclosed in advance would do it.</font>
Would it be fair to single out the rental car industry? For example, few retail stores that I'm aware of posts their prices inclusive of state and local sales tax. The only exceptions I can think of are alcohol served in a bar or restaurant (in many states) and gasoline. Well, I suppose airline tickets are quoted with the federal taxes included, but not the local PFC's or federal or foreign fees for international travel.
I agree that certain fees that rental car agencies add on to the bill should be included in the quoted price (such as the car registration fee - this should be a cost of doing business that's included the price), but most of the fees are government taxes on the customer directly related to the price charged.
For things such as state sales tax, airport tax, stadium fee, etc., I think it's important that these be broken down on the bill, so that consumers know how much the governments are hosing them.