Vehicle swaps at major airports and their rental car taxes/concession fees
Sep 20, 2020, 2:20 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: LAS - Las Vegas
Programs: Southwest
Posts: 131
Vehicle swaps at major airports and their rental car taxes/concession fees
Suppose you were to have a rental agreement for a one way trip that was from an off airport rental location.
If circumstances such as lack of vehicles at the off airport location or a defect in your rented vehicle compelled you to have to go to the major airport location (with the consent of the rental company) to find or swap a vehicle, would you be subject to the hefty on airport rental taxes and concession fees? Or would your rate remain the same as the original agreement ?
If circumstances such as lack of vehicles at the off airport location or a defect in your rented vehicle compelled you to have to go to the major airport location (with the consent of the rental company) to find or swap a vehicle, would you be subject to the hefty on airport rental taxes and concession fees? Or would your rate remain the same as the original agreement ?
Sep 20, 2020, 10:07 am
#3
Company Representative - AutoSlash and HotelSlash
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: autoslash.com | hotelslash.com
Posts: 5,665
That is correct. Doing a vehicle swap at another location will not cause your rental agreement to be re-written or your price to be adjusted in any way assuming the location does it correctly. as a swap and not a return and a brand new rental.
Sep 20, 2020, 2:24 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: LAS - Las Vegas
Programs: Southwest
Posts: 131
What about a scenario where the Hertz Local Edition tells me they do not have any cars on site and I offer to go to the airport to get a rental car from their office there? Would the original contract still apply?
Sep 20, 2020, 2:32 pm
#5
Company Representative - AutoSlash and HotelSlash
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: autoslash.com | hotelslash.com
Posts: 5,665
That all depends on whether the local office initiates the contract or the airport does. Our guess is that you would not be able to just pick up a rental at the airport with a reservation that states a pickup at the HLE since the airport likely won't be able to open a contract from a different location, and any contract they open themselves is going to include any relevant airport taxes and fees. Our recommendation, to be on the safe side, is to request that the HLE transfer the car from the airport to the local office and then check out the rental from there.
Sep 20, 2020, 4:34 pm
#6
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York suburbs
Posts: 4,210
Our recommendation, to be on the safe side, is to request that the HLE transfer the car from the airport to the local office and then check out the rental from there.
That could take several hours. It might be much faster to go to the car yourself.
That could take several hours. It might be much faster to go to the car yourself.
Sep 20, 2020, 5:45 pm
#7
Company Representative - AutoSlash and HotelSlash
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: autoslash.com | hotelslash.com
Posts: 5,665
Agreed, but the question was about avoiding airport fees. We've had customers who were told to go to the airport when the local HLE ran out of vehicles and then they ended up paying a higher rate because the airport had no way of completing the rental contract as if the vehicle were picked up at the HLE. Just something to be aware of.
Sep 20, 2020, 9:12 pm
#8
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York suburbs
Posts: 4,210
I was once told to go to a northern NJ location across the border from New York State when the local HLE abruptly closed. The telephone agent originally suggested a location further north in NY, but an hour out and in the wrong direction of my one-way cross country trip. As you might guess, NJ taxes are different, notably a taxable $5/day security fee. The location was able to manually create an adjustment that made the total match my confirmation printout. I assume they just ate the difference, which for 14 days was $70. The rate for a new reservation booked directly with them was, not surprisingly, much higher.
Sep 21, 2020, 1:11 am
#9
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHX, SEA
Programs: Avis President's Club, Global Entry, Hilton/Marriott Gold. No more DL/AA status.
Posts: 4,422
I have a somewhat relevant note... Sign up for Hertz Gold (no membership fee). I had an HLE tell me they were out of my reserved category car, and it would be a significant wait, "except as Hertz Gold I can authorize an upgrade to the car we have on the lot for you".
Sep 21, 2020, 2:15 am
#10
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: UA Million Miler
Posts: 1,358
This happened to me once. I reserved a small car (compact/economy) at a downtown Washington DC office. All they had were a large SUV and a massive pickup. I took the pickup and drove directly to DCA airport and they swapped out for a small car. There was no change in pricing or anything.