Surprise! You get to the car rental counter only to find your $37.50 a day rental car rate has just been jacked up to…
Surprise! You get to the car rental counter only to find your $37.50 a day rental car rate has just been jacked up to $65.63, and it`s mostly because the local town leaders want you to foot the bill for some local pet project.
Taxing out-of-towners has proven to be a widely used fundraising tactic for many communities, and a new study by Travelocity reveals that the average car renter pays an additional 24.4 percent when they rent a car at a major U.S. airport. Travelocity, the company where customers can see the Total Price for Cars before even choosing a car, also determined what airports had the biggest and the smallest mark-ups.
It`s important that our customers know before they go, and we`re glad that our industry-leading `Total Price for Cars` feature makes us unparalleled in our ability to help customers know about these add-ons, said Sam Gilliland, CEO of Travelocity. This study indicates just how much of a surprise travelers can face when they rent a car after landing in their destination.
Among the study`s findings:
Texas is Tops: The next time you travel to the great state of Texas, be sure to have some extra cash on-hand not only for that 10-gallon hat, but also for your rental car. That`s because Texas surprises its visitors with higher add-on car rental fees than any other state.
In fact, six of the top 10 airports with the largest difference between daily rates and the total price are in Texas. At top Texas airports, consumers pay an average of a 51.7 percent mark-up on a rate quoted by the rental car company. Houston Bush Intercontinental, at 71.7 percent in additional taxes and fees, was not only the highest in the Lone Star State, but across the country as well.
10 Airports with Largest Jump in Price Between Daily Rate and Total Price
*(averages only include the top 100 U.S. airports):
Airport / Percentage Jump in Price
- Houston Bush Intercontinental: 71.7%
- Dallas/Ft. Worth International: 61.1%
- Austin Bergstrom: 55.8%
- Cleveland Hopkins: 51.7%
- Houston Hobby: 51.7%
- Kansas City: 48.1%
- Phoenix: 48.0%
- San Antonio: 44.1%
- El Paso: 42.9%
- Albuquerque: 41.6%
California Cruising: California is the state least likely to surprise its visitors with car rental add-ons. Eight of its major airports landed among the 10 airports with the lowest amount of additional rental car taxes and fees. Because California`s daily rates already include many of the car-rental company and airport fees, the average mark-up for top airports in California only amounts to 11.5 percent. Car rental add-ons at Sacramento, at 7.7 percent, were the lowest among the top 100 airports nationwide.
10 Airports with Smallest Jump in Price Between Daily Rate and Total Price
*(averages only include the top 100 U.S. airports):
Airport / Percentage Jump in Price
- Sacramento: 7.7%
- Palm Springs: 7.8%
- Fresno: 7.8%
- Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena: 8.3%
- Long Beach: 8.3%
- Los Angeles: 8.3%
- Orange County: 10.2%
- San Diego: 11.6%
- Syracuse: 12.4%
- Buffalo/Niagara: 13.1%
These taxes and fees may not change where you choose to go on vacation, but they are important to know about ahead of time as you budget your trip, said Amy Ziff, Travelocity`s editor-at-large. Consumers should think holistically about pricing. Mark-ups can significantly add on to the car price and wouldn`t be quoted initially unless you`re getting a `Total Price` estimate.
Rent a car and pay for a stadium:
Where does all this money go? Perhaps the favorite thing for local communities to do with your money when you rent a car is to build a new professional or minor league stadium … and it may even be for your hometown`s biggest rival.
Among those currently adding taxes for a local stadium/team are:
- Minneapolis – 6.2 percent mark-up
- Reno – 6 percent mark-up
- San Antonio – 5 percent mark-up
- Phoenix – 3.25 percent mark-up
- Cleveland – Flat fee of $2
About the Travelocity Car Rate Study
The Travelocity study was fielded in June 2003. Three lowest-priced full- size cars and three lowest-priced compact cars for a three-day period (Aug. 1 – 4, 2003) were priced at all airports. A comparison was made to determine a weighted average difference. The airport list was taken from the top 100 airports in the United States in terms of passengers, according to Airports Council International.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
