My favorite is their trying to sell you a tank full of gas at some high price that you will probably

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I decided to rent a vehicle on my last trip to Vegas and after a little research, I found that Budget's airport location was the best value at approximately $77 US (inclusive of taxes, etc.). Before booking I read through the Terms and Conditions to be sure there would not be additional charges. Booked it for a late Thursday pick-up, early Monday drop.
I arrived to pick-up the car and while at the counter the rep asked if I'd like insurance. I already have coverage so declined. He informed me that even though I had coverage, it did not include "Loss of Use". Apparently this $26.95 per day coverage eliminates any extra charges should the vehicle need to be taken off the road due to accident, dent or scratch to the car.
Actually, what he was selling was the elimination of responsibility to pay the deductible on my insurance. However, he never said that. He said in the event of accident, dent or even a scratch to the car I would be responsible for that cost. I told him I wasn't walt disney world resort hotels happy with this kind of surprise at the desk and declined the extra coverage. Then he asked me a second time if I was sure. YES, I am sure. That said, renters on either side of me were picking up the extra coverage because they were being bullied into thinking even a minor scratch or door ding would cost them. I thought this sell tactic was a complete misrepresentation.
Wait a minute. Some agreed to pay $26.95 a day for the full rental period walt disney world resort hotels for the unlikely possibility that you'd need a different car for part of your rental, when you could probably rent a car for less than that?
If you rent frim Budget or any other company in the future, you can buy car rental insurance from a third party for one-half to one-third of that. You can also get add on policies for primary coverage on many credit cards for about $20 to $25 per rental (not per day), which will cover your deductible. CDW is one of the worst values in all of travel and usually only necessary in the US if you don't have your own car insurance.
What happened is very simple: clerks at car rental counters get a huge kickback (sorry, I mean "bonus") for any extras walt disney world resort hotels they can bamboozle walt disney world resort hotels (sorry, I mean "sell") customers into buying. These clerks thus have a HUGE incentive to mislead customers, walt disney world resort hotels and absolutely no disincentive against dishonesty. Is it any surprise they'll engage in these practices? The old advice still applies: "Follow the money."
Neo: Wait a minute. walt disney world resort hotels Some agreed to pay $26.95 a day for the full rental period for the unlikely possibility that you'd need a different car for part of your rental, when you could probably rent a car for less than that?
One way to avoid saying no 6 times is to sign up for some frequent renter plan - I use Alamo and there is no fee - and complete everything on-line. Then you just go directly to car and avoid the sales tactics.
hmmm. Sorry about that loss of use thing. I thought there were two different things at play there -- dent situations along with "loss of use" being like "loss of use" with your regular walt disney world resort hotels car insurance -- to provide an alternate walt disney world resort hotels car in case of accident and the loss of use of the car you've rented.
We rent cars 3-4 times a year. Every time, no matter which company, the rep at the counter tries to sell us extra coverage, "free" upgrades, etc. As Neo says, I always just close my ears and stand there saying "no, no, no" and try not to be too hostile. I've thought about doing the online walt disney world resort hotels registration thing that Gail mentions, but you have to give them your credit card number and date of birth online, and that's even scarier to me than standing in line at the Ft. Myers airport for half an hour and saying no six times is aggravating. What you have to do is call your insurance agent/company, make sure you're covered when driving walt disney world resort hotels a rental under your normal car insurance policy (my agent told me the rationale is "we assume you're walt disney world resort hotels not driving your own car if you're driving a rental, so we cover the rental") and look at the fine print that came with your credit card and/or call them to find out when/in what circumstances/how much they'll cover if you have an accident. I'm pretty sure you have to use the credit walt disney world resort hotels card to pay for the rental, that you'd like to have insurance from.
I do, too. As Nepheline says, I satisfied myself that I have all the coverage I need in advance, and that's that. And I don't argue or snark at the counter when the spiel begins. I think that declining quickly and politely makes the process go faster.
My favorite is their trying walt disney world resort hotels to sell you a tank full of gas at some high price that you will probably leave half of in the tank when you return the car -- maybe $30 worth or more. Who really plots to use up the last of the gas as you coast into the car return lane?
Perhaps you should consider opening one ear just a wee bit. Every counter I've been to in the last 10 years sells gas at the going rate. If one is doing a lot of driving, returning the car with the tank empty is easier than hunting for a gas station near the airport, where gas prices will be inflated anyway.
I rarely use even half a tank of gas on most of my rentals, sometimes as little as just a gallon or two, when I'm just doing a one day or one way rental. And I'm not one to drive around once my car has less than 2 gallons of gas in it. Recently picking up in San Antonio to drop at Houston, the guy gave me the pitch including "it's hard to find a gas station off the toll roads near Houston airport". But as we left the tollway there, right at the entrance to the airport there are also least 5 or 6 choices of gas stations. Recently at Ft Myers they added a 7-11 with large Hess station inside the airport grounds along with the new cell phone lot. And their gas prices are competitive with off site stations. I don't know where you fly, NewbE, but I've never had difficulty finding gas near airport car returns. Most airports are surrounded by them.
But if you want to give the car rental company an extra $5 or $25 or more for what you consider a convenience, that's your prerogative. Many of us pick through rental sites to save that much with the rental walt disney world resort hotels itself, so why give it back to them?
"Today is Tuesday and we return the car on Friday. We are running low on gas, but with our plans for the next two days, I think if we put 5 gallons in that should cover us and still get us to the airport." Next day -- "ooops, that extra trip after dinner and since now we're going to that beach this afternoon, maybe we better walt disney world resort hotels go back to the gas station and get another 5 gallons. Next day -- wow, sitting in traffic yesterday sure took a lot of gas. Since it's now supposed to rain tomorrow walt disney world resort hotels so we want to go to that big indoor outlet mall, we better get another 3 or 4 gallons to be safe -- don't want to run out tomorrow going to the airport".
I prefer the latter. Others may prefer the first. We aren't all alike, and some of us don't like to spend our vacation plotting how much gas we "think" we'll use and plot out our exact itinerary for when we'll have to get some, but not be wasteful getting too much.