Renting a car? Watch out for these traps

Renting a car for pleasure used to be straightforward: pick out the model, determine whether to add insurance and fill the tank with gas on the way back.

Today, a multitude of charges, fees, taxes and fine print on rental agreements confront travelers. Neglecting them can make for a nasty surprise at the end of the rental period.

While business travelers rely on corporate travel departments to master the maze of restrictions and fees, leisure travelers must be sharp to contend with an industry in flux.

"The current economic climate is having negative effects on all aspects of the travel industry - from airlines to hotels to rental car companies - as staffing and operational cutbacks have resulted in diminishing levels of customer satisfaction," Jim Gaz of J.D Power and Associates, which conducts an annual survey of leisure and business rental car customers.

Here are some points to keep in mind about rental car trends gathered from a variety of sources.

Watch out for no-show fees

Until recently, a rental car booking was one of the simplest items to arrange on a trip. All that was required was a telephone or online reservation.

But the same practices and penalties that airlines have adopted for changing reservations are creeping into the rental car arena.

While rental car companies are not expected to enact widespread reservation policy changes before 2011, be sure to check reservations guidelines when booking a car.

To minimize customer no-shows, for example, Avis requires a valid credit card to make a reservation for "select specialty car reservations during peak periods." Avis imposes a non-cancellation fee if a reservation is not cancelled 24 hours before the reserved pick up time, or is not picked up at the pre-reserved schedule.

The company won't charge a non-reservation fee, however, if travelers provide the flight number and airline information in the reservation for a specialty car.

And try not to turn in the car late. For all rentals, if you change the time you will pick up a car - for example at 11 a.m. rather than 8 a.m. - be sure to discuss the change with a reservations clerk. Some will not extend the drop-off time. That means if you drop off the car at 11 a.m. rather than 8 a.m. the following day, you could be charged with an extra day rental fee.

Rent off-airport cars, generally

While rental car costs vary by location, airports are frequently the most costly location of all. Travelocity reported in a 2007 survey that U.S. airports added on average 28 percent in fees and taxes to rental car charges.

For example, additional fees and taxes to rent an economy car at San Diego's airport recently were $18.76 a day, compared with $2.65 for an off site hotel location four miles away. That makes a courtesy van ride from the airport to the offsite location for a rental there a bargain.

But using a non-airport location doesn't always save money.

For example, an economy car rented from Budget at Philadelphia's airport showed airport taxes and fees at $9.06, compared with $7.80 for renting a car at a downtown hotel. Yet the base rate at the airport was $25.99 for a total of $35.05 compared with $36.99 at the downtown location for a bottom-line price of $44.79.

Do your price shopping ahead of time. Carefully check out airport vs. non-airport locations since both fees and base rates can be quite different.

Beware one-way rental charges

Leisure travelers frequently fly into one city and arrange a road trip with a rental car to another city, from which they'd fly home.

It pays off to check out one-way car rental costs before making a final itinerary and booking flights. Even picking up a car at a downtown location and dropping it off at the same city's airport can result in heavy drop-off charges.

These days, rental car companies tack on $100 to $400 or more for the privilege of dropping off a car at a different location than where the car was picked up.

For example, an Internet travel agency search for a one-way, one-day, weekday economy car rental in mid-September from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to downtown New York showed daily rates of $46 for Thrifty and $169 for Hertz. However, Thrifty imposed a $300 drop off fee. With all fees included, the Hertz total was $210.90 compared with $426.04 for Thrifty.

Hint: Here is where checking car rates on Internet travel sites like Travelocity, Orbitz or Expedia can pay off as they quickly show comparative rates. Regardless of what site you might use, be it Priceline, Expedia or others, be sure you are certain that drop-of fees are accounted for before agreeing to a contract.

Avoid other traps

You might think returning a car earlier than planned would be a good thing for the customer, but not necessarily. Not only can returning a car early invalidate a less expensive weeklong rate, for example, some rental car companies charge an additional fee - usually about $15 - for an early return.

Drivers with recent accidents on their records can be denied rentals. If you fall into this category, be sure to find out what the rental car company policy is on drivers' records.

Don't assume you know the operating hours of a rental car office - even those at major airports. Check all office hours before a trip with a phone call, if possible. Information posted online, especially for off-airport sites, may be out of date.