One way car rental is a rip off. I can understand car companies would like the car to be returned to their bases. But is it necessary? After all these are mostly national chains and why can't they move their car around? I noted recently at MCO car rental place, quite a few cars had georgia plates. I very much doubt that they were all one way rentals that the customers left behind!
Last week one way from MCO to ATl was around $20-48 for a compact for travel during the last week of December-It has jumped to over $150 now.

By what - magic? The Free Car Shipping company?
I don't. MCO is one of the most popular destinations, and one-way driving destinations, in the country. Every spring you can rent cars one way from MCO to many locations for $9/day so they can redistribute the cars (and avoid paying the Absolutely Not Free Car Shipping companies).

So $20-$48 is a rip-off? Or did you mean "when the price goes up due to supply and demand, that nasty free market is a rip-off"?

The drop off charge is a big factor especially on inexpensive rentals..

I wonder why MCO is such a popular destination for one-way car rentals. Do they fly back? Are they moving to Orlando?

the same thing happens with air fares....you can see a deal & while you are scratching your head, the deal goes away....you are talking about a 1 day 1 way i assume?

I believe it may have to do with the fact that Orlando is centrally located to several major tourist destinations. For example, someone can fly into Miami...vacation in South Florida...then drive 3 1/2 hours to Orlando and fly out from there. Same thing with Tampa, Jacksonville, Atlanta, etc. You are talking destinations that all have major international airports so it likely adds up.

It's the same here in New Zealand. Lots of tourists fly into Auckland, hire a car / campervan, drive south and fly back. The result is that some very cheap or even free rentals are available for people who want to do the reverse journey.

You don't have to be rude to post a reply

Supply & demand. High demand services subsidize low demand.

There are some misconceptions here.

Most rental locations are corporate-operated, using a pooled fleet that randomly circulates the country. So that car in MCO with GA plates might have started out in Atlanta, but came to FL from TN, for instance.

Cars are usually not "sent back" after a one-way, unless an independent licensee is involved. That's why you see so many out of state plates at rental lots in large cities, where a lot of people visit, move to, etc.

Rates are based on supply, demand, and minimum estimated mileage. Ex, It's usually cheaper to rent one-way from a small market to a larger one than vice versa. What matters is flow. Seasonal demand shifts are another part of that.

Why is it a rip off? You should be lucky you were able to get in on it when it was $20 last week instead of waiting for it to go to over $150.

Most everybody knows the week between Christmas and New Years is one of the busiest travel weeks of the year, and most everybody knows that there are way fewer people boarding planes this year than past years, which means many more are driving.

Unless of course you thought the price would drop and didn't snag a car when it was $20, in which case not really sure why it's the rental companies fault.

The degree to which they are a rip off is proportionate to your own travel costs. For example, even though it is more expensive for me to do a one way rental from St. Louis to Kansas City, it is cheaper than making two trips..two flights, two cars. I still have to cover both cities either way and if I land in one I am not going back to it just to catch my flight home and return the car.

There are expenses incurred by the rental companies for one ways, including on the state taxes, emisions, inventory control side. Like everything else you just have to run the numbers to see if it's still cheaper for you across all accounts rather than in comparison to a standard rental.

I'm with you. I think the one way fee is a bit absurd. A "because we can" fee more than anything else. But, they can, so they do. Thankfully most markets I've run into this in also had reasonable bus/train/plane options.

In all fairness, I felt the same way before when there was a deal, and when the deal changes to becoming a no deal status.. I think we all felt that way inside one way or another on different deals.. and maybe on the surface, we say yeah its' ok..

But inside, the guts are saying that's not ok. We learn and capitalize on the deal the next time..

The low rate you saw probably had a negative (built-in) drop fee. It's not unusual for car rental companies that need cars moved from (for example) MCO to ATL to (approximately) pay for your gas if you take a car in that direction for them.

I once got $60 off a rental for picking up in town and dropping off at the airport. That kind of deal only lasts as long as the fleet needs repositioning, so if you see a drop fee <$0, act fast.

Your first assumption was probably right: those Georgia plates were on left-behind one-way rentals.

Car rental companies occasionally offer scheduled drive-in and drive-out deals where you can get a car very cheaply if you go in the opposite direction of most one-way renters. (Seasons between most of the US and Florida, or weekends between EWR and Manhattan.)

In most other situations, the cost of one-way rentals on routes drivable in one day often (approximately) tracks one-way airfares. Those are about $150 MCO-ATL right now.