I rented a car in Florida about a year ago and shelled out considerably more than my travel agent said I would. After paying off the state and local authorities, I struggled to make sense of the dizzying gibberish at the bottom of my bill. Rental companies are coming up with more creative ways of extracting money from travelers. In the past year, for example, auto franchises have quietly imposed a concession fee ranging from 2 to 10 percent on customers who rent from airport locations. The fees, which work something like airport taxes, were once absorbed by the companies.
Airports look at car rental companies as a revenue source.
The car rental companies look at their customers as revenue sources. He expects to see more fees in the future as additional auto franchises migrate to airports. A charge that covers registration expenses for rental cars. An additional transportation tax imposed by the state. You can't blame the car rental industry for trying to squeeze more out of travelers.