This is where it pays to give yourself some extra time at the airport. When you return the vehicle,

When it comes to rental cars, you can't really live with them, and you can't live without them. Despite weird pricing methods, overpriced gas charges car rentals at lax and shady insurance tactics, sooner or later you'll show up somewhere in need of a vehicle.
Thankfully, most rentals will make it from start to finish without any problems, but eventually, you are going to find yourself face to face with a rental company that claims you damaged apartments los angeles their car, kept it longer than agreed upon or forgot to fill up the tank.
Logical tip, right? Rental car companies are extremely punctual. When you enter your rental information online, car rentals at lax you'll apartments los angeles be asked for the exact times you need the vehicle. This is where they'll get you - show up early, and they'll add a few hours to the rental, show up late, and they may even charge you an extra day. The funny thing is that if you add extra hours when you place the rental order, the cost almost never goes up.
So - make sure to add a few hours to the front and end of your rental to allow for flight delays or early arrivals. Always print your online rental agreement and bring it with you. If you used a discount code when making the reservation, be sure to bring the coupon or page showing you are entitled to the discount.
When you arrive at the rental desk, take a close look at the contract, and compare it with what you printed at home. Do not let the rental company change car rentals at lax the contract without discussing it with you. If you are offered an upgrade, make sure that any overages are charged at the original rate - you wouldn't be the first to get a free upgrade, but be charged the upgraded rate for returning it an hour late.
If you are using an elite desk to pick up your vehicle, you'll usually bypass the desk and drive straight to the gate - but even here, you'll be given a rental apartments los angeles agreement before driving off, so take a minute to go over the fine print here, and be sure to mention to the agent any damage you noticed on the vehicle (more on that in a moment.)
When asked whether you need insurance, apartments los angeles you'll usually be offered apartments los angeles several different policies - most of which are already included apartments los angeles in your own auto insurance policy or credit card. Be sure to check this before you arrive at the airport. Don't pay for any insurance already covered by your own policy or card.
If you have a major credit card, chances are it'll come with a variety of insurance protections built in. If not, consider upgrading to a card that does. When I was faced with a $2900 bill for a quarter inch scratch on a Mercedes I rented in Europe, car rentals at lax American Express took care of the whole thing, and all I had to do was sign one piece of paper. Without the card, I would have been on the hook for the entire car rentals at lax bill.
What takes 30 seconds, and can save you $3000 on your insurance? (Hint: it does not involve calling apartments los angeles car rentals at lax Geico.) It is the rental car walk-around. apartments los angeles Before driving off the lot, always do a close inspection of the entire care. Renting at night? Pull out your flashlight. Make sure you report every single ding, dent, scratch, scrape or missing body panel to a car rental agent. Then, get them to note it on your rental agreement and make a note of the name of the agent that witnessed the damage.
I know how much of a waste of time this is, and I'm sure you just want to get the hell away from the airport and check into your hotel, but damage to rental cars is big business car rentals at lax -and if you can't prove you did not damage the car, you will be charged apartments los angeles to get it fixed.
I know of one major international airport where the gas station is owned by the largest car rentals at lax rental operator - making for a perfectly legal racket. When you rent your vehicle, you'll be asked how you plan to fill its tank - you'll either car rentals at lax fill it up yourself, have the rental firm fill it up for you upon return (pre-arranged) or just ignore the whole issue and pay $7/gallon when they realize the tank is half empty. apartments los angeles Pre-paid gas is a scam because no matter how much you use, you'll pay for a full tank of gas. The only way to make this work is if you know in advance that you'll arrive at the airport running on fumes.
Whatever you do - don't just return the car with an empty tank. Of course, if you are running really late for the last flight of the day, you don't have a choice, but if you let the rental company take care of filling car rentals at lax up the car, they'll fill it with special apartments car rentals at lax los angeles Unicorn juice that costs three times the current gas price at the local station.
One word of advise: always keep your gas receipts, and make sure you use a local station no more than 2-4 miles away. I've experienced a firm that claimed the gas station I used was too far away to let the car qualify as "full" apartments los angeles - so they charged me $15 for what they claimed was two gallons.
Funny how the rental company lets you drive off the lot without checking their car, but insists on checking every corner of it when you bring it back. Even if they don't do an immediate inspection upon return, rest assured that they will check it out, and charge car rentals at lax you for any damage that was not reported on the rental agreement. And don't think that they'll ignore a single thing - even the smallest scratch is enough for them to charge you.
If you return a car and the inspection uncovers damage, always apartments los angeles check against the rental agreement to see whether the damage was already reported. If the damage is new, and you had not seen it when you inspected it yourself, car rentals at lax you are out of luck - and will have to pay for it. If possible, make photos of the damage from all angles and write a clear description of the damage the rental company claims you caused. This will prevent them from adding other damage to the repair bill that was not caused by you.
And get this - they'll also charge you the full non-discounted rental price for every day the vehicle is out of commission while someone repairs said scratch. This means that the kind of damage you can get fixed at the local body shop for $200, could cost the rental firm $2000 to fix. Rental car damage is big business car rentals at lax - and you could end up being the one that funds it.
Now, there are of course incidents car rentals at lax where the damage is not only your fault, but also quite evident. In those cases, you'll apartments los angeles want to contact the rental firm before returning car rentals at lax the car and contact your own insurance apartments los angeles firm or credit card company. car rentals at lax If the vehicle is no longer drivable, ask them to bring a replacement.
This is where it pays to give yourself some extra time at the airport. When you return the vehicle, wait for an agent to do their inspection, hand them your gas receipt (unless you want them to fill it up) and ask for a final rental receipt. Yes - in many cases you can just drop it off, leave the keys in the ignition and walk away, but if they overcharge you, you'll have a hard time fighting this. Like with rental car damage, car rentals at lax they'll simply charge your card without contact you about overages.
My first hand experience recommendation is NEVER rent a car with pre-paid gas. On my last trip, I did this because the fuel advertised by the rental company with "pre-paid" was $2.63 while the area gas station car rentals at lax average price was advertised as $2.83 (which was true.) So I thought it was a good idea. Well guess what? I got screwed. When I brought my car back on empty (because I ran it down to the fumes) apartments los angeles I was charged for the full tank of gas at the time I rented the car, which was approximately 16 gallons @ 2.63 = $44.00. However ALSO tacked on to the FUEL BILL at the end of the trip was a $7.95 Airport Fuel Usage Fee! PLUS $5.50 for an Airport Fuel Sales Tax (at 10.25% per gallon) So, my total was: $57.45!! If I had fuel up outside the airport 16 gallons at $2.83 my total fuel bill would have been $45.28, so instead of saving $3.20 (16 gallons at $2.63) I was taken for $12.17!
Good to know Carl. After reading all the fees and surcharges on rental car contracts one would definitely car rentals at lax feel they are being scammed. One quote given to me over the phone for a one week rental ballooned car rentals at lax to an additional 200 dollars car rentals at lax at the rental desk once the fees were figured in. Another time my chosen class was not available so the rental apartments los angeles officer announced how lucky I was to be offered a double class upgrade. After I called my insurance company I found out MY insurance definitely would not have covered the car fully. I did a whole lot of complaining and ended up getting additional insurance coverage beyond what my policy covered for free. It really boils down to experience, paying attention, asking apartments los angeles question apartments los angeles and THINKING before you act. Cutie Aug 31st 2010 8:21PM
If you rent a car in Orlando watch out. They have unmanned toll booths on smaller roads. apartments los angeles I threw the coins and one got stuck in the metal, I drove off the lights flashed red , and no one to talk to. Fine, $25.00. EZPASS apartments los angeles does not work in Florida they have their own system, so if you go through the EZPASS lane with your unit you will get fined. apartments los angeles Also they separate the lanes differently, disconcerting to people who drive from Maine to Georgia with EZPASS lanes on the left. Its different just be aware and have change. Reply Otown Aug 31st 2010 8:46PM
I grew up all my life in Orlando. I never realized it until after I moved to California and started traveling apartments los angeles a lot for business, but Orlando apartments car rentals at lax los angeles has one of the worst highway toll systems in the country. E Aug 31st 2010 10:04PM
Same thing in New Jersey. Trust me we experienced the same thing, only in NJ and we contested it but to no avail. We almost got tacked on an additional fine i