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Yesterday, I posted about a new fee to look out for when renting a car. But when I posted, I had missed this NYT article that points to another recent change in terms that potentially affects renters:

Among the most noteworthy changes are these: Hertz is holding its customers responsible for “any and all” loss or damage to a rental car resulting from natural disasters, from hailstones to hurricanes. If you return a rental car after hours, Hertz may continue charging you for the car until the rental office reopens (it used to consider the vehicle returned when you brought it back). And it abbreviated the grace period for returns to 30 minutes, from one hour.

The grace period is the real nuisance, in my opinion. I have frankly taken the 1 hour grace period for granted for some time, and I’ve used it. It’s time to start checking the terms of the rental agreements more closely. If Hertz is doing it, others will likely follow. The other changes seem rather intuitive to me, and I was surprised that they weren’t the norm, anyway.

What surprises me a little is that Hertz, which seems to portray itself as a premium brand, and typically is the most expensive in the markets where I’ve rented, would nickel and dime their customers like this. It’s bad publicity. And as the article points out, the travel industry doesn’t really want the minutiae of these rate hikes made explicit:

I was allowed to speak with him only on the condition that a member of the company’s public relations staff be present. Mr. Kilduff jokingly referred to him as “the guy in Mutual of Omaha’s ‘Wild Kingdom,’ up in the tree, waiting to take a shot.”

Where would Marlin Perkins rent?

tags: travel | car rental