Car rental companies hate New Yorkers — unless they live in Manhattan or Staten Island, apparently
First time here? Check out the site's "greatest hits" or read a random post from the archives. Feel free to ask a question, and consider subscribing to the latest posts via RSS or e-mail. Thanks for visiting!
The Consumerist points to a nasty punitive provision in the Dollar Rent-a-Car rental agreement.
1.O Higher rental rates for New York City (Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens) resident renting in New York, Newark, NJ and Philadelphia may apply as follows:
* For Brooklyn residents the rates will be $55.00 higher per day.
* For Bronx residents the rates will be $53.00 higher per day.
* For Queens residents the rates will be $11.00 higher per day.
I’ve heard of rental rates varying depending on the country of the renter’s residence (obnoxious enough in its own right, frankly). But varying by city borough?? (Manhattan and Staten Island residents are in luck, no surcharge And $55 per day surcharge for Brooklynites?!!?) This sounds a heck of a lot like redlining.
But the shocker, for me at least, is that Dollar isn’t alone. Similar policies, with different surcharge rates, exist at Hertz for NYC rentals:
Higher rental rates for New York City residents may apply as
follows:- for Queens residents rates are USD 15.00 per day higher
- for Bronx residents rates are USD 56.00 per day higher
- for Brooklyn residents rates are USD 34.00 per day higher
Hertz and Dollar must be run by Mets fans.
I couldn’t find outer-borough surcharges on Budget or Avis. Anyone out there know of other redlining car rentals?
Dollar already alienated me with their no-grace-period policy. That, plus the New Yorker Tax, suggest that they won’t be satisfied until everyone in America is offended.
(image)
tags: travel | car rental | Dollar Rent a Car | Hertz
RSS Feed / Subscribe
Subscribe to Posts by Email
January 18th, 2008 at 1:01 pm |
As of January 18, 2007, Dollar is still charging $55/day surcharge to Brooklyn residents. I think they have such a tiny share of NYC business that they’re already past what they can handle–why else turn down rentals from Brooklyn? Crazy, and probably illegal.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:07 am |
Seriously, it seems like it ought to be illegal.
Does anyone know the rationale behind such a policy? Maybe the wear and tear on their cars tends to be greater for New Yorkers statistically. But even the differences between prices for different boroughs is pretty outrageous. And I almost rented a car from Hertz without knowing about this policy — the “New York Tax” is not reflected in the price quoted on their Web site.
March 25th, 2008 at 3:34 pm |
Ugh. This better not catch on with the other car companies in NYC. I am a Queens resident, and even though my surcharge is lower, it’s still a burden. Never mind that NYC rental rates are often double the national average….
It’s still just Hertz and Dollar, right?
May 24th, 2008 at 10:35 am |
I think so - I always use Avis, Alamo, or National, and they have no borough surcharges. Dollar’s have gone up, by the way, it’s now as follows:
For Brooklyn residents the rates will be $77 higher per day.
For Bronx residents the rates will be $65 higher per day.
For Queens residents the rates will be $7 higher per day.
Un-f-ing real.