return of rental: airport versus off-airport
 

The company I work for is in Atlanta and whenever I can I try to not rent at the airport due to the killer concession (and etc.) fees.
So this week I rented at the perimeter marriott which is easily reached by Marta...but when returning the car my brain fogged and I returned to the airport rather than the renting location...I figured that I would get nailed for the extra fees but no...I paid the original rental price which was non-ATL pickup and dropoff...so my question is...are the killer fees only related to where you pickup the car or was I just lucky this time.

looking at a couple recent receipts and one pickup at GSP and returned to ATL shows the fees are from the pickup point and not the return. Understand the off airport pickups but sometimes convenience overrules the $ saved by having to run further to get the pickup, even if by Marta.

Hertz at SFO appears to add a $17 transportation fee for rentals that I pick up at SFO. If I pick up at a HLE and return to SFO, they don't charge that fee.

I've been wondering if I can talk them into not charging that fee since I don't use airport transportation (train) to get to the airport rental location (I live in the Bay Area and have someone drop me off). I know I had this argument with another rental company a few years ago when the fee was around $10 and a manager agreed to waive it.

The fee is based where you pick-up the car and it has long been a trick to use a nearby HLE to beat the airport fees and return the car to the airport

However, many of the best deals require you to return the car to the original location rather than a one-way rental to the airport so make sure you compare prices.

There are some airports that have figured out this loophole and therefore assess the fee for pick up and/or drop off (AKL in particular comes to mind... and in the case of Avis the fee wasn't even disclosed on my confirmation because I was picking it up downtown).

But in most cases, taxes are based on pickup location... and many rates (not involving coupons) allow intra-city drop off at no cost. For example, I rent frequently from ORD and various HLEs in the Chicago area, and while the rate and tax varies by where I pick up, I find that drop off location doesn't change the rate as long as it's in the Chicago zone. I was once told by my HLE that I could even change my drop off HLE after pickup at no cost... but I'm sure this doesn't apply to all rates or coupons.

I have aranged with SBP AVIS to do that for me. I "rent" from the Embassy Suites in town, and since they share cars with the airport I just pick up my car at the airport when I arrive. Not only do I not get hit will all the fees, the rental is usually 10-15 dollars less per day. So my total for a 3 day weekend rental is only about $75 instead of $160.

I had a Hertz agent in Las Vegas tell me that the company has a three-tier rate system for rentals there:

Agreed, however my above example was talking about SBP... I have seen the same thing as HLEs are less than the airport (by at least 50%) at SFO as well.

My experiences tell me that Hertz usually treat airport locations and nearby (<10 miles maybe?) locations as the same for drop-off. Some examples:

1. When making reservations (pick up from both airport and HLE), the quoted rates were always the same whether I pick PIT or an HLE as drop-off location.

2. Reserved HLE-1 pick-up / HLE-2 drop-off. The contract indicates the drop-off location as PIT. Drop-off HLE (HLE-2) says nothing and I was charged the quoted rate.

One Way Rental from HLE to Airport
 

I have a related question.

I am trying to rent a car from HLE in the Des Moines area to drive around for the weekend then return it at the DSM airport as I am flying out of town on Monday. This way I won't have to pay for the cab ride to the airport. :)

The only problem is that if I select DSM as the return location, I get the rate of $154.49 for 3 days and can't use the $35 off weekend rental coupon. On the other hand, if I return at the HLE, I get the rate of $29.61 (w/ the $35 coupon) for 3 days. Can I just pick the HLE as the return location when I reserve and return the car to the airport anyway w/o incurring extra charges? Both locations are corporate, if that matters.

Thanks for your help!

NO - You will get charged the higher rate

Bummer, this is unfortunate! There goes that idea.

Even with the cab ride to the airport you still save a lot of money by renting at the HLE. I'd just go that route.

Update
 

I was able to return the car to the airport just fine. The HLE assured me that I would be charged the same rate whether I returned it there or to the airport. At the airport, when the guy w/ the express checkout scanner (or whatever it is called) did the checkout in the parking lot, it gave me the rate of $195. But when I went to the desk inside, the lady was able to adjust it to $46. ^

So I suppose this depends on the area. If anyone is considering doing something like this, I recommend calling the location beforehand and making sure.

Airport charge is only applied when pickup at an airport.