Car Rental

In a move similar to the airlines' new fare structure, Alamo Rent A Car recently launched a basic three-level rate system for renting cars on weekends through June 24.In response, other car rental companies, including industry leader Hertz Corp., quickly lowered some weekend rates. Some, including Dollar Rent A Car, trumpeted the fact that in some cities their rates were already about the same or lower than Alamo's.But there's more going on here than just another price war, the kind of bloody battle that often crops up as business tries to work its way back from a recession.

Car buyers will have to pay dealers as much as $200 in transaction fees starting July 1, because of a budget provision approved by the General Assembly in its final moments of lawmaking last week. They'll pay more to title that car, too. Lawmakers also increased motor vehicle titling fees, to $100 — except for rental fleets, which are excused from the increase. These sweeteners for auto dealers and rental car companies were carved out of the state's $14.6 billion budget in the final days of the 2011 legislative session, when a small group of lawmakers reconciled the House and Senate versions of the spending plan.

Most travelers consider car-rental contracts about as intelligible as a textbook on brain surgery, so they just resignedly put their initials wherever the rental agent marks an X. But that can rack up extra charges as high as $15 or $20 a day for unneeded options.Even if you have verbally declined all the extras, you should be certain the agent did not hear your "no" as "yes" -- invariably ensuring an extra fee for the rental company. Twice recently, I discovered that agents had circled the prepaid-gas option even though I'd said I didn't want it. When I pointed it out, they said, "Oh, OK -- just cross it out."

The website depicts a grocery cart full of vehicles and offers great news in a bad economy: "No credit! Bad credit! Rent a car, truck or SUV. " Rent for as little as $15.95 a day, the website says. Drive up to 3,000 miles a month for free, insurance included. Receive a debit card for gas. But what was billed as an opportunity for those with little money was labeled a fraud by police. Authorities believe more than 1,500 people across Maryland were lured into a complex rental-car scheme that raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It was recently noted that the British Tourist Authority denied the existence of any law restricting auto rentals to people over a certain age, and that such restrictions were up to the individual company. Can you supply me with the names of companies in England and their age restrictions?Some major car rental companies operating in England do have age restrictions, although they are more frequently applied to those under 25. Representatives of these companies cite higher accident rates among certain age groups as the reason for such restrictions.

Hertz, Avis and other car rental companies are using electronic links to government computers to check driving records of potential renters. And because of the screening, which takes seconds, the companies are turning away 6 to 10 percent of the people who want cars.Some are rejected because their licenses have been revoked or suspended. Others have valid licenses but the companies think their records over the past few years make them high risks.Hertz began the practice in New York City in the summer of 1992 and other companies have followed, in part for fear of attracting the people whom Hertz considered unsafe.

Chances are you will find yourself renting a car, whether for business or pleasure, sometime in the coming months. Just as domestic airlines have taken to nickel and diming passengers for everything from extra legroom to checked bags to soft drinks, car rental companies have also devised clever ways to make you pony up for extra services and fees: collision damage waivers, pre-pay and return refueling options for gasoline and those handy GPS navigation devices....

NEW YORK -- Hertz Corp., Avis Rent A Car Inc. and six other car-rental companies won't have to pay fines for age discrimination in a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Dennis Vacco, because they didn't think their policy was illegal, a state judge has ruled.Vacco sued Hertz, Avis, Alamo Rent A Car Inc., Budget Rent A Car Corp., National Car Rental Systems, Enterprise Rent A Car, Dollar Systems Inc. and Thrifty Rent-A-Car System Inc. in 1994, claiming that they wouldn't rent cars to people under 25. The New York State Court of Appeals ruled earlier this year that the car rental companies had violated the law and prohibited them from continuing their age-discrimination policy.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- AutoNation Inc., the largest U.S. car retailer, said yesterday that it may sell or spin off its auto rental unit as Chairman H. Wayne Huizenga struggles to boost its lagging shares.President and Chief Operating Officer John H. Costello resigned after seven months in the job to pursue online ventures. The stock has fallen 28 percent in 52 weeks, and the plan to shed the unit that includes National Car Rental and Alamo Rent-A-Car advanced the shares just 31.25 cents, to $15.25, in trading yesterday.

With so many airports undergoing major renovation these days, getting in and out of them in a rental car can be almost as annoying as a wait for landing permission on a packed plane. Many major airports, like Kennedy International in New York, were long overdue for modernization or expansion. Others, like Minneapolis-St. Paul, renovated once and now must do it again because of a swell in the number of passengers.The Air Transport Association estimates the 1998 passenger total on United States scheduled airlines at 614 million; the figure in 1988 was 453.7 million.

Chances are you will find yourself renting a car, whether for business or pleasure, sometime in the coming months. Just as domestic airlines have taken to nickel and diming passengers for everything from extra legroom to checked bags to soft drinks, car rental companies have also devised clever ways to make you pony up for extra services and fees: collision damage waivers, pre-pay and return refueling options for gasoline and those handy GPS navigation devices....

I want to rent a car next year while visiting Britain, but I'll be 83. Will companies rent to me? Although most major car rental agencies have no maximum age restrictions when renting in the United States, you'll find that countries and franchise owners throughout Europe usually have their own rules. Generally, the age limit in the United Kingdom is 69. However, a spokesman for Vanguard Car Rental, the parent company of National and Alamo, told us those agencies have no age limits in the United Kingdom except in Pembroke, Carmarthen and the Isle of Man, where the maximum age is 70. Auto Europe (autoeurope.

You might not have a car, but that doesn't mean you don't need auto insurance. Take Sandy, a Baltimore resident who occasionally rents a car but finds insurance from rental agencies cost-prohibitive. She writes in an e-mail: "I usually rent a car about twice a month for a day or a weekend, sometimes longer. The loss damage waiver offered by the car rental companies often costs as much as the rental fee - and sometimes even more. I know that many credit card agreements provide insurance coverage for car rentals, but this does not always mean full coverage.

Rent-A-Wreck of America Inc., the national car rental franchiser based in Laurel, has been awarded more than $853,000 in damages against an investor who was found to have fraudulently induced Rent-A-Wreck into selling the company to him in 2005. A Montgomery County jury found that San Diego Car Rentals Inc. and its president, Thomas Gruber, committed breach of contract and fraud. Rent-A-Wreck agreed to be acquired by Gruber's company in October 2005 but broke off the deal, according to its lawsuit, after it discovered that Gruber had exaggerated his net worth.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Dr. Shawn Watts needed to rent a car at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to drive to Fargo, N.D., for a job interview. More or less pleased with her $30-a-day rate from Dollar Rent a Car but an unbridled bargain hunter, Watts sat in a corner of the rental car lobby surfing her laptop for a last-minute better deal online. "I used to be able to find a rental car for $20 a day," said Watts, a surgeon from New Orleans. But these days, "car rates have gone up across the board," she said.

Although state lawmakers are unwilling to grant Anne Arundel County the authority to impose a car-rental tax, County Executive John R. Leopold said yesterday that decision will not greatly affect the budget he will propose in five weeks. Leopold said he can balance the $1.1 billion budget through cost-cutting and proposed increases to developer impact fees and the commercial-bingo tax. The car-rental tax could have raised up to $5 million annually, Leopold said. While Anne Arundel faces significant budget challenges, two vital revenue sources appear to be holding up. The government is expected to net at least $105 million in real estate taxes for fiscal 2007 - which is in line with projections from the county budget office, according to Charles Mannion, an analyst for the county auditor.

With the nation's tourism industry poised for a robust comeback, a fierce battle for rental car business is shaping up. Consumers will be the beneficiaries.Also heating up is the controversy about damage-waiver insurance. When you rent, you need to decide whether to buy optional collision damage-waiver (CDW) protection, which increases your costs.But these contracts relieve you of financial responsibility in the event of theft or damage to the vehicle in an accident. It is not a casual decision.

Travel inevitably involves surprises -- good and bad -- but the ones that come up at the car rental counter usually fall into the second category. Clearer pricing on the Internet has helped address surcharge sticker shock (now you are more likely to learn about these fees in advance), but there are still some surprises you might encounter if you don't scrutinize the fine print. Below are a few areas where consumers may want to be aware before they hit the road: Age restrictions: If you are between the ages of 25 and 70, you can skip ahead to the next section, since car rental companies have no problem letting you drive.

County Executive John R. Leopold's push to create a rental car tax is meeting with resistance from lawmakers, who say they are not convinced that it is needed to balance the budget. While all seven council members signed Leopold's letter Wednesday to the Anne Arundel legislative delegation seeking the state bill in a show of solidarity, most have said since then that the tax should be employed only as a last resort. "As we go into this tough budget year for fiscal year '08, we need as many tools as we can in the toolbox," said County Council Chairman Ronald C. Dillon Jr. Calling the budget outlook for fiscal year 2008 "dire," Dillon, a Republican, said the county needs at least the authority to consider a rental-car tax, which Leopold said could generate several million dollars.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. JOURNEY THROUGH HALLOWED GROUND Capital Books / $20 Instead of spending Presidents Day weekend skiing or off at a spa, why not brush up on your U.S. history? This book charts a 175-mile historic driving trip from Monticello in Virginia to Gettysburg, Pa. Most appropriate is the "presidential journey" part of the tour, which takes readers to the homes of several presidents including Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower. And though Camp David is closed to the public, the book recommends stopping at the nearby Cozy Restaurant, which has an exhibition about the presidential retreat.