Different Dropoff Location?
 

Hi guys:

Great forum - my commendations to you all for such an informative place.

I rent from Avis quite a bit, but have a question for you for what I am not experienced with. If on my rental contract I am to return to the same location as I took the rental (say, San Diego), but instead I return the vehicle to LAX - same state (ie no tag problems), and only 100 mi away, I know it will be OK, but will the computer automatically tack on extra charges or will the contract be just closed out without any additional fees (hopefully)?

Anyone with experience doing so?

Thanks!!

Alex

Hello and welcome!

You would be best to check with Avis about this. Sometimes they charge one-way fees and other times they don't. I tried to get a one-way rental from Dublin to London once and they wanted a 1000 Euro fee... :(

I've done one-ways from LAX to Bakersfield and the other way around a couple of times with no problems. In all cases I've reserved the car specifying the one-way and have not had any additional charge. YMMV.

FWIW

DLM

It would recalculate your rate to a one way rate - I'd tell them up front what you're doing so you're not surprised.

It has nothing to do with tags or ownership of cars - it has to do with the fact that one way rentals are normally more expensive (because one way renters have fewer alternatives so are willing to pay more) and they aren't going to let you get a one way rental for a cheaper price because you decided to lie about your return location.

That said, often intra California one way rentals are fairly reasonably priced, I've had great luck with National and Budget.

Thanks all for your replies!! I got a chance to talk to the avis agent today when I returned my car while waiting for a ride back to the office. He confirmed that yes, if you return it to a different location, even if it is intra-california, it recalculates the entire rate on the contract. So if you want to avoid any surprises, then actually enter the one way rental when booking, and it will save you a lot of money at the end of the day.

Great forum - keep it up!