USA Car Rental Companies to Add an Extra Fee

30th of November

One of the newest ways that the car rental suppliers are planning to charge people is through the fee for a no show. Hotels and Airline companies have been practicing the charges for years now and it is likely to become common place in the USA car rental market. Although it is already being done in many European locations, the United States have not yet adapted the no show car rental fee. The reason that USA car rental companies have not yet been charging for no shows is because they do not have an adequate way of applying the fee. Check our FAQ page for more info about car rental company fees.

Hotels and Airlines require your credit card information at the time you make a reservation. If you do not show up for the room or the plane seat, your credit card is still charged accordingly. The only thing you can do about it, in most cases, is get some credit towards your next ticket or hotel stay. It is likely that Avis and Budget will be the first companies to make this new move to charge people that do not show up for reservations.

Bob Barton, president of the American Car Rental Assn., applauds the move by Avis and Budget, saying it's time that the rental car industry got in line with hotels and airlines that charge customers who make reservations and fail to show up. It is estimated that about 30% of people that make a reservation fail to come and pick up the car. This leads to unused inventory and a lot of problems for the independent car rental companies.

The way they will start to collect these fees is by requiring that potential renters leave their credit card information before they come to get the car. This way, if they do not show up, they will be charged the no show fee. The charge for not picking up the vehicle will not be extremely expensive, but it will get some money back for the car rental companies if the person fails to come.

With these new changes to the car rental industry, it is important that you are 100% sure you will want to use the car rental if you make the reservation. Maybe one of the biggest effects that will stem from the new fee is that people will be more careful when booking a car rental. They cannot simply make a reservation on a whim anymore. Unless of course they are prepared to pay the fee for being absent at the time of pick up.