wise2u

AA's new program to use your points for car rentals is a ripoff!!
I wondered why the cost in miles was much less than with United or Delta, now I know. In the fine print of the AA site they say that miles dont cover taxes and fees. Other airlines only exclude add ons like insurance, GPS, extra drivers, gas...optional additions. This is standard with all airline miles redemptions.
AA's booking partner not only wants you to pay for those, but also excludes sales tax, airport concession fees, customer facility fees, road tax fees.
After booking a weeks rental in KOA I found out this could add up to over $100...the sad part is nobody can tell me exactly how much I will owe.
Budget wouldnt talk to me and told me to get AA to call them, then they told the AA rep anywhere from $70-$120 when I asked for a solid number and not a broad estimate AA called back and were hung up on, and then budget wouldnt answer and let their calls go to voicemail... a week later and I still have no response. AA does not disclose what you will owe after the miles and expects you to pay whatever total the car rental agency makes up when you get to the counter. They do however make clear, in all caps, that once booked your points and money are Non refundable. Other airlines include all the taxes and fees and only make you pay for add ons...beware.
I hate the phony fees car companies hit you with at the counter, everytime I get a different total than what I was originally quoted. I usually have to produce an itemized total of the taxes and fees printed from their site beforehand to get what I was quoted...desk agents NEVER give the right total....are they pocketing the difference as commission?
I can get a rough idea from budgets website by punching in my dates and looking at the taxes and fees, if the miles payment was done on current retail rates it should be around $89...but that total inludes a $21 mystery fee which I would love someone to explain, but doubt anyone will. It is in addition to $9.67 in taxes, 19.40 airport concession fee, 31.50 customer facility fee, 6.58 car tax. The sad part is I know when I get to the counter, half these number will be different. They know they have you over a barrel when you at the counter with your luggage with a non refundable points reservation...I am tempted to write the hawaii tourism board, BBB, hawaii state attorney generals office for consumer affairs or consumer protection, but first I'm going to warn everyone I can to stay away from AA car rental bookings that rip people off with extra excluded fees!

Happy

Shouldn't you book with United or Delta then? So you would not be ripped off by AA or irritated by undetermined fees?

Since it is much less than other airlines, common sense would tell anyone that the formula of calculating cost might be very different as well...

Do you really think there is "free lunch" in the industry? Either way you pay, be it by miles or by cash.

One more thing I could think of, is that if paid by miles, you may want to seriously consider purchasing insurance because most likely CC for the taxes / fees alone, would NOT provide insurance coverage.

You may want to research that front as well. Else you would cry about being ripped off by the CC company when and if you need to file a claim. Hawaii, BTW, is a high risk location to incur insurance claims with various reasons in case you haven't thought about that.

masonp123

Data point: 3 day rental of a large SUV (big Jeep Juggernautadore) out of TPA was a total of 9500 AA miles PLUS:

$17.86 Airport access fee
$6.00 Florida surcharge
$0.06 Tire/Battery fee ?????
$1.80 Vehicle License Fee
$13.70 Sales Tax (7%)

I purchased the fuel service (full tank at $2.70/gallon; gas in Venice was $2.78/gal)

Seemed like a good deal to me...

wise2u

Had i known, I would have booked with DL or UA instead, but silly me thought that AA was just being competitive because their rental car option is new. How naive' of me to think a greedy airline would offer a car rental for less points than the other greedy airlines without having an equalizer hidden in the offer.
If I had been my cynical self for a moment and read through the pile of fine print, I would have found the limitations. One thing they do make clear in the only part of the fine print in ALL CAPS, is that there are no changes or refunds once booked.
Not looking for a "free lunch" but just standard inclusions of taxes and fees for your miles, like all the other airlines that offer this option for miles.
You have a point about the insurance coverage through CC and I had thought about that...it is worth a call to AMEX or whoever I intend on using.
I'm used to the everchanging and long list of non standard fees imposed by rental car companies, don't like them but I'm aware, I just wish it was mentioned somewhere in the booking process that AA miles DONT cover these fees.

videomaker

So you're saying this was disclosed at time of booking, but you didn't read the fine print?

I certainly wouldn't assume that AA's redemption program was just like other airlines.

Happy

Here is your downfall - NEVER EVER ASSUME programs work the same way. There is NO Standard Practice. It goes without saying that each program has its own rules and restrictions and whatnot. Generalization or being lazy to assume things at your own peril. This is nothing about greedy airlines or whatever name you want to call it - it is a common sense in virtually every aspect of life - Read the Fine Print, Dont assume anything. It is called "Disclosure" and it is your responsibility to go through it.

I am almost certain that if the rental itself is not paid by the CC, you would not get coverage - fees and taxes DONT count. Some cards say at least ONE Day must be paid by the cards, some wouldn't provide coverage at all when you use a discount certificate or a gift certificate. It is a very tricky matter.

Personally since the insurance is a major concern of mine, I would not use other forms to pay for my car rental other than the CCs. Years ago I did have to go through claim process with MasterRental and they came through for the damage part ($2200+ worth or repair, weather-related, hailstorm damage in Yellowstone NP), but they would not pay for the "Loss of Revenue" part no matter how many proofs submitted by the rental car company. Now I would only rent it with AMEX and use the $19.95 per rental provided by AMEX when pay with AMEX card.

gizmodell

I sympathize with the hidden fees... I did just bite and do a hotel and rental car combo- I saw the additional fees may be charged but assumed that it would probably be minimal taxes. Now I'm a little concerned that it may devalue the miles I used even more when I get to the airport and have to pay the airport concession fees- which in the case of Budget on the dates I'm renting appear to cost more than car rental. I've never rented from Budget, so I'll wait until January to find out what my damage is...

McFlyPHL

Let me get this straight... You paid fewer miles, the fees were disclosed, and you booked anyway. Now you're being ripped off?

btwayland

the value/lack of value of this offer is already being discussed in another thread; a new thread shouldn't have been started about this.

looks like the OP missed that as well.

dfwflyguy

It is not worth to use the miles for Car rental. Instead you can book your car using hotwire . It will be much cheaper.

qazw1

Where do you rent your cars? Every time I do an online reservation for a major rental company like Avis or Hertz, I am quoted pretty close or exact to what I will be paying including all fees and taxes. Are you saying that because of miles redemption, they going to quote you taxes and fees different from the standard? Seems far fetch to me. The airport and recovery fees can be easily check. I cannot believe a major rental company will try and rip you off just because you are doing miles redemption.

alfagirl

+1. I rent with National and I have never paid more than what is shown in my confirmation when I book on-line. The Entertainment book has great discounts - I usually end up paying no more than $60 (excl. fuel) to rent for three days and the weekly rate is always under $200 (excl. fuel). I use the Executive selection and the smallest car is a 'Standard.'

gemac

Sometimes some fees can be a percentage rather than a dollar amount. If you check using a retail booking, you will get the taxes based on the base dollar amount of that booking. If you book with AA miles, you will get taxes based on the base dollar amount that AA is "paying", which is almost certainly less, so the taxes could be less.

formeraa

Perhaps a short, concise email to AA customer service would be a good idea. It seems that the AAdvantage program was trying to give members a good deal by allowing redemption at a lower level but having the members pay the taxes. However, it may be more of a nuisance because it is difficult (if not impossible) to figure out the taxes.

Don't send a long email with a lot of emotion! Stick to the facts and let them know. There may be a way that Budget corporate could provide a more precise estimate of the taxes in advance for AAdvantage redemptions. But AA management needs to be officially informed of the issue.

Happy

The complaint of OP stems from that - AA quoted a much LESS mileage cost to rent the car versus DL and UA, so he thought he was getting a "bargain". Then he found out AA's mileage does NOT include the taxes and fees while the much HIGHER cost of DL and UA mileage cost include the taxes and fees - hence his original thought of getting a "deal" now is not so much a "deal". So this is the majority of the basis he proclaims this is a Ripoff.

Then he tried to find out how much the taxes and fees are because now he would have to pay ACTUAL Money for it, instead of paying it by miles, neither AA nor Budget could tell him the Exact amount, until he actually at the rental car counter or so it seems. So this adds fuel to the fire of the outcry of "being ripped off by AA".
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