SealBeach

Perhaps. But costs of doing business at the airport should be covered in theory by the cost of renting the car. If the airport doesn't require the fee to be assessed to people not arriving by plane, then it raises some flags to me. If a local government tacked on a "climate control" fee to cover air conditioning costs generated by people opening the door to do business at a public library or police station or courthouse, people would howl. But the airport concession fees are easy to jack up because nobody who pays them (i.e. business travelers from out of town) can vote in the jurisdiction where the fees are imposed.

pkerr

So technically, if I leave the airport, walk around the block and come back in to get my car, then I have arrived at the airport w/o a flight and I can get the car w/o the fee? Right?

ejmelton

If you are willing to sign a statement that you did not arrive by plane (it's in the contract) and the Hertz people do not see your luggage, then yes you can. Or...you can take a cab to an offsite location. Or have a franchise HLE pick you up.

underpressure

I think it was CLE, the taxes and facility fees are two or three dollars more than a mid-sized one-day rental.

dhl

Not quite, some Airports charge on "Local Rentals" too so even if you didn't fly in and actually did drive in from town you will still be charged the ACFR. It is all based on the Concession Agreement that Hertz signs with the Airport and most of the rules usually will be applicable to all rental agencies at the airport.

kuntrychic

Attempted Hertz reservation not logged into my account out of SFO and returning to downtown location 2 1/2 days later. Chose option that I'm not arriving via airplane of train. Rate INCLUSIVE ITEMS:
Airport Concession Fee Recovery On Flight Arrivals
Vehicle Licensing Cost Recovery

Logged into my Hertz #1 Gold account and attempted same reservation using same CDP and rate code. Chose option that I'm not arriving via airplane or train. Hertz gave me same low daily rate , but anyone know why it charged me 11.10% for Airport Concession Fee Recovery On Flight Arrivals?

I understand why it would charge me if I checked arriving via plane or train, but just for being logged into my Hertz #1 Gold account? I even tried changing the address in my profile to one in San Francisco, and it still charged me the concession fee. Needless to say, we booked the rental under my boyfriend's name without a hertz #1 gold account to save the large fee. But I'd still like to have the rental credited to my #1 gold account and be able to take advantage of the #1 gold service. ????

CrazyOne

I know this may be a stupid question, but are you sure you chose "Not arriving via airplane" when you were logged in? There are a number of things on Hertz.com that can make it default back to "I don't have my arrival info" (I think that's the default).

The other thing is that there are often two large-ish (10% or thereabouts) fees/taxes relating to airport rentals. Sometimes they're both charged regardless of whether you fly in or not. If anything changes when you don't arrive by plane, it's usually only one of those that is removed.

I rented from SFO last year, logged into my Gold account to make the res, and there was definitely some charge that was not levied that would have been if I had been flying in. (Picked the car up after already staying in the city for a few days.) So it should not be a function of just being logged in. (There have, I believe, been reports of odd rate quotes where logging in got a worse rate vs not logging in, but that is not what you are describing here.)

vurban

This is funny. There is a thread about the problems the Hertz in SEA has. Apparently, being a Gold member and giving flight information does little to secure your reservation.

MarkXS

I had this problem with Hertz in BOS in early May. I had flown into BOS several days earlier when selling my house there. Days later, I arrived by T (the subway) at Logan to pick up my rental for my drive back to Colorado. I had "not arriving by plane" on my confirmation and a lower "total estimated amount" than when I tried it with a flight number. However I needed to have the car switched due to them giving me a Jeep Liberty (15MPG) vs. the expected Ford Escape (19MPG), given the upcoming 2200 mile drive. When they reprinted the contract for the swapped same-class vehicle, the airport concession fee appeared and both the clerk and manager claimed there was nothing they could do. When I showed them the confirmation from the reservation made in March for the May rental, they claimed "Logan airport just changed its policy and now requires it on all rentals".

I think I got scammed but since I had serious miles to go that night, I couldn't waste much time arguing about it.

seamarie

Is the concession fee recovery based on days of rental or is it a flat fee? Same question applies to Customer Facility Charge. I need to split the cost of a rental for business & personal use.

KevinMD

it depends on airport. Each one is different. At TUL the CFC is $4 a day while the concession revocery fee is a percentage of the total.

giceh

Some good news if anyone rented a car in 2007 from a California airport. I just got this e-mail notice today about a class action lawsuit settlement regarding the airport concession fee:
http://www.acftcasettlement.com

So fortuitous, that just happened to be the year I rented the most times too!

djs

I guess if the tax was less than $123 you came out ahead (at $4 per gallon).

I think we also have fees in Boston for the Convention Center and various other things that our esteeemed leaders deem important.

Mary2e

hmmmm... on a rental I never input my flight information as it wasn't confirmed yet. I got an email a few days before pickup stating that it was imperative they have my flight information in order to make sure my car would be ready.

Since I was arriving at nearly 11pm, I provided the information in the event something might go wrong.

Apparently, it was so they could charge me this fee. Next time, I won't fall for it.

Oh, occasionally I stay the night in hotel located right in the terminal - I guess technically I'm exempt from that fee, right?

Elola

The request to input your flight information is indeed solely to ensure your car is prepared on time. Hertz's rental software monitors flight statuses and a Gold contract is prepared when the flight shows as "Landed". If you don't input any flight info, contracts are prepared generally 10-30 minutes prior to the pickup time, but if availability is limited, customers who have entered flight info are considered to be more of a "sure bet" of actually picking their car up and are given priority.

As others have mentioned, the Airport Concession Fee Recovery charge is a passthrough tax (usually 11.11111111%), the rental companies retain none of that fee, it simply goes to the airport authority. Most airports require the tax on any rental where the renter flew in during the past 24 hours so if you land at night and pick your car up in the morning you should still be taxed.