Railfan Technology > Alamo rental car surcharges

Next weekend I am heading up to Montana Rail Link with Mason to shoot some video. I am flying into Spokane and I was appalled by the surcharges at this Airport. Take a look at the enclosed screen shot.

Spokane Transport Fee, Concession Recovery Fee, Vehicle License Recovery Fee, State Tax, Washington Rental Car Tax. What more could Alamo Rental car come up with. . How about tire wear recovery fee, engine oil recovery fee, and seat fabric depreciation fee?

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

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Todd-

I think those fees would apply with any car rental company. It is a lot cheaper to rent from a neighborhood car rental location. I know if you rent a car from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport the taxes are around 50% of your bill.

John Benson

http://www.mr-slides.com

In Portland,OR. you can avoid the PDX airport tax by renting in Clackamas or Washington county. Last year I rented a Ford focus (35mpg) from Budget and put a huge amount of miles on it on a 10 day trip! CJ

Rip off the out-of-towners. The states would just love to get their hands on the internet but so far congress has resisted. But with a new regime likely, who knows.


TO membership. - 29.00
CA internet access fee 5.00
CA greenhouse gas
recovery fee 3.00
IL non local access fee 2.00
Rural area internet
subsidy adjustment 1.50

add your favorite here

38 cents a day license recovery fee equals a yearly registration fee of $138.70. As a Washington resident, registration on a typical rental car should be about 45 dollars a year. Something doesn't match up....

As for the rest of the fees, they're typical for up here - SeaTac is even higher than this.

Oh well, whatcha gonna do, walk? They sort of have you over the barrel....

-Rick

Rick Selby
Redmond, WA
Pacific Northwest RPM

Almost any airport will nail you. In Memphis when you have a rental car, you pay Shelby County Tax, Memphis Tax, I believe a state tax and airport tax and drop off fee. I also believe there was some type of tourism tax there too. I rented a car for 3 days there a couple of years back. Basic rate was 29.95, but when I got finished with the taxes the three day rental was about $140.

One thing you have to be careful about now, is that you should let them know where you are going, especially across state lines. Most rental cars have a GPS device in them now and if you go out of territory the computer knows and you loose that special rate and get nailed with a steep daily rate and surcharges.

AJ

In SE Wisconsin (Kenosha/Racine Co.), the pols want to raise taxes for new commuter rail by charging a fee on car rentals.

Chico
http://www.heartlandrails.com

Those of us of a certain age recall the Beatles' lament in "Taxman."

Somewhat younger members may remember the tax collector scene in the movie: "Popeye."


My favorite is a tax on telephone service only repealed a few years ago that was enacted to

pay for the Spanish-American War. If memory serves, this temporary tax was in effect for nearly

a century!


Anyone remember the "temporary" 5 cent increase in federal gasoline taxes designed to "reduce the

national debt?"


Be Well,

Tim Colbert K3HX

Todd, you're learning something about flying to Northwest Montana and eastern Washington.
Spokane will always be the cheapest place to fly, because it's a Southwest town. I tried to book a flight to Kalispell recently and found Spokane $200 cheaper. But it's the worst of the worst when it comes to nickle-and-dime car rental fees.

I've rented railfanning cars in just about every airport in the region--GEG, FCA, MSO, HLN and GTF. Nobody piles the fees on like they do at Spokane...that's what paid for the new terminal and other upgrades to the old Geiger Field.

My suggestion: find one of the off-field places and see what they will charge. Enterprise and others have a pretty good racket going in the greater Spokane area catering to people who are fed up with the airport facility fees.

Be sure to get an unlimited miles deal. I once rented a Lincoln Town Car for chasing MRL on Mullan Pass. Wonderful, roomy car with great off-road capability. Turned it in (at MSO) with something like 3300 hard railfan miles, and spent $12 in quarters at a self-service wash, getting rid of the mud and footprints on the roof...and all the other stuff that sustained 100mph driving wouldn't remove automatically. Good thing about the $12 wash job--the rental manager said she was trying to keep that particular car in good shape for the boss' wife. If she only knew...

BTW, if you get over to Missoula, take Mason to the USFS Smoke Jumper center at the airport...just a loud belch from the MRL main line at DeSmet. They have a museum there--open to the public--that has a world-class tee shirt and hat emporium with the Missoula Smoke Jumpers logo stuff. Right down the street is the Big Sky Brewing Company brewery and gift shop. Mason might not want any of the free samples, but he could earn some points taking Mom a "Moose Drool Ale" tee shirt or hat. They also sell cool MRL stuff at the general office building on Reserve Street.

ajy6b Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> One thing you have to be careful about now, is
> that you should let them know where you are going,
> especially across state lines. Most rental cars
> have a GPS device in them now and if you go out of
> territory the computer knows and you loose that
> special rate and get nailed with a steep daily
> rate and surcharges.
>

In this part of the world, (MT-WA-ID) it's only a big deal if you go to Canada with your rental, and you have to declare your intentions when you rent.

webmaster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Next weekend I am heading up to Montana Rail Link
> with Mason to shoot some video. I am flying into
> Spokane and I was appalled by the surcharges at
> this Airport. Take a look at the enclosed screen
> shot.

Look at your hotel bill some time. Municipalities have learned that they can shift some of their tax burden from their citizens to visitors (or, more accurately, their visitors' employers). On the other side of the coin, your local taxes are subsidized by convention and tourism in your area.

I recall a big sign at one of the car rental counters in Stapleton (Denver) pointing out how much of the rental cost was taxes and fees. Apparently the manager wasn't on particularly good terms with the airport authority.

JAC

johnacraft Wrote:
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> Look at your hotel bill some time. Municipalities
> have learned that they can shift some of their tax
> burden from their citizens to visitors (or, more
> accurately, their visitors' employers). On the
> other side of the coin, your local taxes are
> subsidized by convention and tourism in your
> area.

I dunno about that. Here in Pittsburgh, we pay 1% sales tax which was mostly used to pay for new sports stadiums. To me that is an example of a private enterprise that doesn't need my taxpayer subsidy. I'd rather (barely) have that 1% go to the ridiculous overpriced light rail expansion that goes from downtown to the aforementioned stadiums (stadia? :)

The billions being spent on extending light rail 2 miles could have gone a long way towards new light rail corridors in the area that definitely need it... but I digress!

-Alex

This is how they can advertise the low rates and sell from high rent locations. Downtown Spokane locations probably are free of some of these fees but then you have to pay someone to haul you from the airport to their location and the same to return to the airport. The return is the risky part since if they mess up the connection you might miss a flight. I am not sure I can offer any insight to the dilema with the rental cars other than to shop the competition in Spokane's airport and apply any discounts you might have like AAA or from your credit card to see if anything else comes in cheaper.

Be REALLY careful to inspect your car for subtle damage (like a rock chip in the windshield) before leaving the rental car area and have them NOTE it on the rental agreement. Although OPR has an Emerald Club account with National I have been hasseled over a pre-existing condition when returning the car and only prevailed when I produced the inspection slip INITIALED by a supervisor when I rented the car noting the rock chip.

ALSO, check your credit card bill that the amount charged is what you agreed to and there isn't any additional charges a day or so later for extra charges for damage ( I once was attempted to be charged for fixing a tire that went flat a day after I returned the car!!).

It's a jungle out there!!

Dick Samuels Oregon Pacific Railroad

Thanks David. Mason is a huge USFS firefighter fan. He even has models of the trucks and buses.

As for the rental car I found that rental cars are about $40 cheaper for my period off of the airport. I called a couple of them and none of them will pickup at the airport because of contract issues. The closest they said they will come is the Hampton Hotel. What are the Taxi rates? I don't want to burn up my $40 in savings in a taxi.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

If you have an overnight at either end of the trip at the Hampton or other motel the motel shuttle should make a free pick up and delivery to the motel where a remtal might be delivered. I believe there is one of the Hampton facilities just off the airport property on the way into Spokane just west of Sunset Jct. That might be more expensive than one closer to downtown or east into the Spokane Valley.

On my last trip to Spokane the car rental folks advised my choice of vehicle (mid size) was unavailable. I was saddled with a gas guzzling Mercury Mountaineer , albeit for the same rate. I hate to fill one up today at 4 bucks a gallon! Just another trick they pull on you after a long flight.

Here is a trick I have used...

Rent the car at the airport. Drive to an in-town station for the same car company. Turn it in, and rent it again. On your way home, just return it at the airport.

Hertz recently advertised some very good rates at their "Local Edition" sites, for weekend rentals. I may have gotten that notice only because I rent a zillion days a year from them.

trkinsptr Wrote:
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> In Portland,OR. you can avoid the PDX airport tax
> by renting in Clackamas or Washington county.

FANTASTIC! You're one of the few people I've heard of that have actually done this in Portland. I know you said Budget but you can also do Hertz. The Hertz downtown location is about three blocks from the MAX Red (Airport) Line.

jb

Except that downtown is still in Multnomah County, same as the airport. But the downtown sites are still cheaper than the airport, for at least Hertz and Budget.