If you’re a good loyal customer to a credit card company, most of them will be glad to do a 1 time credit every now and then for some fee that you just don’t like. Granted you can’t do this every time, but once in a blue moon, a check might just take a little longer than usual to clear.

Or how about an airline? I’ve personally missed a connection flight switching from International to Domestic and I kindly asked for the ticketing agent to lend a hand and he did. He got me to the next flight that was outbound and I eventually got to my destination without having to pay additional fees.

And lastly, let’s look at the IRS. Yup Taxes are due on the 17th. Unless of course you file and extension (which is easy enough to do). But let’s say you’re still strapped for cash, I believe there are payment plans that you can setup with the IRS so you can pay your due (and adjust that W-4 while you’re at it!).

Grace periods are essentially that extra mile in customer service that says hey, we’re all human, we all make mistakes, and you know what? I’m going to lend a helping hand. It’s the fact that a company is willing to go above and beyond for you the customer so that you’ll stay with them even if they are just a bit pricer than their competitors.

Do airlines give you a grace period (i.e., hold the plane a few minutes) if you don’t show up at the time you agreed to when purchasing the ticket?

Does the IRS give me a grace period for my upcoming tax return? No, it’s due on midnight April 17. A minute later is late.

One other nasty suprise of Alamo, if you return the car more than 24 hours early you may be subject to a $15 early return fee. It’s stupid, but it’s on the contract the renter has to initial. Don’t try to argue with the agent, we couldn’t take it off and we never could figure out why it only appeared on some rentals and not others.