Originally Posted by
bdjohns1
Ah, but there's an easy way to gain economy of scale - the car carrier. How do cars get from the factory to the dealer? ~10 at a time. Even with the high NYC-area tolls, once you're hauling 10 cars, the price is a bit more reasonable. What does it cost for a few hours of use for a car carrier?
Oh, and for what it's worth, when I returned the car at EWR on Thursday afternoon, the guy didn't even blink. And, even better, I don't appear to have been charged for the miles...just my usual contracted daily rate.
I'm guessing a car carrier costs a lot more than you might think. I think that no matter how you do the math, it isn't cheap moving cars from one location to another in the NYC metro area. Even ORD-MDW would be easy in comparison.
That being said, I think a better argument in your favor is the overall volume of rentals a company like Hertz does in the NYC area. There must be dozens of potential one-way rentals every day. Right now Hertz is probably losing a lot of that business. But as long as not everyone does a one-way in the same direction (unlikely), it should all work out "in the wash". Then again, the suits at Hertz have probably crunched these numbers too, and figure the extra income they'd make from one-way rentals (you'd still charge an extra fee, natch) isn't worth the hassle.
But think of the marketing edge you'd have if your said "Rent with Hertz (or whichever company) in the NYC area and return your car to any airport location at no extra charge." I think a lot of people would jump at that and Hertz would pick up new customers.