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Old Jan 23, 2002 | 7:05 pm
  #4  
ILTE_Miles
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 617
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MatthewClement:
I just tried to book a rental car in Hawaii. Here are the applicable rules for the rate:

VEHICLES CAN ONLY BE DRIVEN IN CA, AZ, AND NV

I'm going to have an awfully hard time getting the car to any of those states... I hope they're insured for water damage...
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Oh, that...yes, there's a lot of confusion regarding this moderately cryptic & terse expression. Actually, having assisted in its composition when working on the U.S. Rental Vehicle Contract Language Standards Committee (& member of the Verbal Obfuscation & Contradiction Special Teams, High Risk Specialty Rentals SubCommittee), we put this gem together as a salute to all of those adventurers whose daring (we thought) deserved some recognition.

You probably noticed a pretty high rate associated w/ this one, right? Well, it's the "Hawaiian Excursion & Reckless Adventure" rate, for which a special exorbitant rental charge is applied, & Collision Damage & Loss Damage coverage are required, jacked, & essentially end up equating to the cost of the vehicle. These rentals help us to accelerate replenishment of our inventory, & indirectly assist in a stealth form of insurance fraud. If nothing else, it keeps our accountants pretty busy (Enronized calculations notwithstanding, these rentals truly help them "earn their keep").

You probably thought that the aforementioned CA, AZ, AND NV reference pertained to U.S. states, a mistake which happens a lot (for whatever reason). As it turns out, the fully translated contractual constraint, when read in its entirety, is as follows:


VEHICLES CAN ONLY BE DRIVEN IN Crowded Areas, Around Zoos, AND Near Volcanoes


(I know...you're probably doing one of those hand to forehead maneuvers...a classic physical expression of "D'OH!"..."I don't know HOW I could have made such a silly mistake!" is something we hear all of the time...)


Hope this helps!
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