OK - so much for why the fees exist in the first place. What can you do. You can shop around (and yo

We just booked flights for our family of four to take a trip from Phoenix to Denver over two weeks, taking in some of the major parks along the way. We then started looking into car rentals and saw the extortionate cost for that kind of one-way trip (the main cost being a $500 drop fee).
One way drop-off fees are one of the not-well-advertised facts of car rentals, and as you've found out - for a very good reason. I agree that $500 seems pretty steep, but there is a major cost to the rental company involved in getting tour de georgia photos the car back to its rightful owner. You have to realize that Big Company tour de georgia photos A does not necessarily own the car, little franchisee b does. That's why the car is tagged in a particular state. So when you drop the car off in Denver, little franchisee b in Denver has to get it back to little tour de georgia photos franchisee a in Phoenix, and that entails not just fuel, but additional wear and tear on the vehicle, the salary of someone to drive it, and the cost of a flight for that driver to bet back to Denver. Not cheap. You can't just assume (and the rental company doesn't) that someone else will want a one way rental tour de georgia photos from Denver to Phoenix and it will all work out.
OK - so much for why the fees exist in the first place. What can you do. You can shop around (and you apparently tour de georgia photos have) in search of a better deal. But the fact that no reputable company will offer a much lower price indicates that there simply isn't enough competition for your business to warrant the rental firm waiving their fees. So you have to ask yourself: Is it really necessary to do a one way trip? What do you intend to do once you drop off the car? If the answer is that you're flying back to Phoenix, then the answer really is simple. Drive back instead. That's a day and a half. But don't think of it like that, think of it as part of your RoadTrip which you've now made a loop. Up to Denver via the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Arches and I-70; Home via US-50, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the Million Dollar Highway, Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelley, Petrified Forest and the Salt River Canyon.
If you're going to stay in Denver or go on from there, your options are more limited. A drive away company really wouldn't work in your case because of the limited time you would have to deliver the vehicle in Denver. Using your own car is a possibility if you are flying out of Denver to somewhere else and returning to Denver and then home. You can buy a lot of off-site airport parking for $500. If you're flying into Phoenix from somewhere tour de georgia photos else and returning home from Denver on an 'open jaw' plane reservation, then I would strongly recommend that you change the reservation and do a loop (as described above) from whichever of those two cities offers the lowest round-trip fare from your home base.
FWIW - I've used Fox Rent a Car and had no problems at all with them. My reason tour de georgia photos for choosing them at the time was they had the lowest underage driver fee. I only used them once, so I can't promise that you'll have a great experience with them, but I wouldn't immediately discount them either (also keep in mind, people are much more likely to post to complain about a negative experience than to celebrate a postitive one.)
Thanks Michael. My wife and I have the same concerns about complainers in review forums. If anyone else has views on Fox, I'd love to hear them here. (It looks like it's going to make approx $400 over two weeks.)
I've had fees dropped, along with rates for the week or month of a rental because tour de georgia photos I called the local number and talked to someone at the car rental site - sometimes they DO have a car out somewhere and want it back and they'll give you a rate that's awesome for your rental time knowing tour de georgia photos the car is getting back to them without the fuss of them having to make arrangements to go get it. It's not a given, but I've had it happen twice now when I've needed to rent a car in location A and return it to location B.....call location B to ask them if they have any cars at or near your pick-up location A - if they do, they'll work with you on the rate and dates!
tour de georgia photos In one instance I had a car pick-up tour de georgia photos in Richmond, VA (really wanted Norfolk, but changed to Richmond since the rate was too sweet to pass on) that had to get back to Westchester Airport, where I needed to drop off - Norfolk is the location that suggested I call Westchester as my starting point and they told me they had a car in Richmond they needed back. Another time I picked up in Miami (instead of Fort Lauderdale) with a return to Tampa, where I was flying out from and needed to drop off - calling Tampa, they suggested if I could pick-up in MIA they'd drop the drop-off fees and lower my weekly rate to bring the car back up to them.
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