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Flight delayed? Sue!
A judge in India has ruled that passengers whose Go Air flight was canceled were due the equivalent of US$380 each because of the mental anguish they suffered. Is this a trend? Where can I sue for suffering through flight delays inside a regional jet?

Get on the bus
The American Bus Association wants you to feel green about hitting the road: They claim that buses — ahem, motorcoaches — are more environmentally friendly than passenger cars, trains, and planes. According to their numbers, a bus gets 184 passenger miles per gallon, while commuter rail comes in at 86 and planes only make 42. I’ve sat behind some black soot-spewing buses, and I find this claim hard to believe. And what about all the electric rail out there? Nonetheless, one thing is indisputable: Buses are more efficient than passenger cars.

Which airline has the healthiest snacks?
Domestically, it’s United and their $5 snackboxes according to Charles Stuart Platkin of dietdetective.com. See his post for the lowdown on the various airlines’ snacks.

Business class shootout!
Reader Gianugo has personally tested three of the all-business class airlines that cross the Atlantic. In his tests, Silverjet comes out on top, with L’Avion and Maxjet trailing. (No test of Eos Airlines, but they’re generally at a much higher price point.) The L’Avion review certainly jives with previous reports from the field (here and here). Read his detailed post for the breakdown of what makes these discounted business class airilnes tick.

No more being charged extra fees for returning your car with a full tank
Consumer victory! One of the very first posts on this blog — in its first week of inception, in fact — railed against Budget Rent-a-Car’s practice of levying a $9.50 charge if the odometer registered fewer than 75 miles upon return. This is one of those “what are they thinking” fees that gives the travel industry a bad name. I’m pleased to report that the Federal Trade Commission has clamped down and told Budget to stop. (via Consumerist)

Shameless self-promotion, part one
Chris Elliott, consumer advocate, National Geographic ombudsman, and general thorn in the travel industry’s side, compiled his list of the seven “most influential” travel bloggers. You’re reading one of them. Huzzah! The others: Paul Brady at Jaunted, Arthur Frommer, Holly Hegeman at PlaneBuzz, CondeNast’s Wendy Perrin, Ben Popken at Consumerist (where I’ve been a guest blogger on several occasions), and FareCompare’s Rick Seaney. Nice company to be in, to be sure, and a good starting point for your other blog-reading needs. There are seven runners-up, too, so go read the whole thing. Consider other blogs, like the Travvies winners from earlier this year. (Or heck, the finalists!) And peruse the blogroll in the pulldown in the right sidebar for more great blogs that I read regularly.

Shameless self-promotion, part deux
Upgrade: Travel Better goes audio: You can hear a few snippets of me commenting on recent frequent flyer mile devaluations on Marketplace, which aired this morning on public radio. If you didn’t wake up to the “dulcet tones” of my voice on your clock radio this morning, you can hear the clip and read the transcript here.

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Several great tips rolled in as responses to recent posts on car rentals. Some were posted to comments, but in case you missed them, I’m upgrading them to a post of their own:

Max out your dropoff time
Reader Jason, a former employee of one of the major rental car chains, responding to a post about disappearing grace periods for late returns, offered this advice:

Make sure the rental agent updates your pickup time if you arrive after your scheduled pick up time (i.e. scheduled to pick up at 2pm and you don’t arrive until 3pm). If you arrive early, the computers will likely set your pickup time to the actual time you pickup the car, but if you arrive late it’s up to you and/or the agent to update your pickup time. This little trick has caught a lot of renters who return at the same time they picked up the car, but still get the late fees.

International rentals: Test-drive local booking sites
Reader NPM, author of the Porto City Guide (or Oporto, if you prefer) offers this tip:

Internationally, renting online through local branches can be cheaper than using US major car rental companies’ websites — even for the same company. For instance, in Portugal www.budgetportugal.com tends to be much cheaper than budget.com.

Warehouse discounts for underage renters
Reader Brent offered this tip on saving money if you’re under the age of 25:

Get an Executive membership at Costco. The cost is 100$ but you get the membership right away and it’s worth it. Then rent a car from Budget Car Rentals. The executive Costco membership waives the 21-24 underage driver fee (savings of 25$/day), allows you a free upgrade in car category, so basically if you’re going to get a full size vehicle, you only pay for what a mid-size would cost - and finally they also waive 10% for being a Costco executive member.

After four days, you’ve broken even! And the Costco executive membership is yours to keep…

Know the upsell speech
Finally, over at the Consumerist, they got their hands on Enterprise Rent-a-Car’s script which their associates use to try to convince you to buy their loss/collision coverage. Read it and ignore the temptation to spend your money unnecessarily.

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A reminder: Reader tips are always welcome! Just use the “contact” link at the top right of every page, or leave a comment.

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Related:
- Reader mail: If you’re under 25, how do you rent a car without huge surcharges?
- Reader mail: What happened to car rental late-return grace periods?
- Rental car agent blows smoke up my backside, redux
- Loss of use? Get lost.

Two readers wrote in regarding late returns and grace periods when renting a car. Reader Francine writes:

When I rented a car from National recently, there was no grace period for late returns. None! Is this the latest way they get you?

And reader Peter offers this story, and advice, from his recent rental with Budget Rent-a-Car in Montreal:

I was late getting out of Vermont and late getting the car back to the airport. When I arrived I discovered that I had signed a contract that stipulated $33.xx CAD/hour for being late on a $55/day rental. Further, since I was 2hrs 15 minutes late they claimed I was 3 hours late (the grace period disappeared) and they charged me for another DAY, stating it would cost me less than 3 hours of the late charge.

I haven’t had any luck getting Budget to discuss this with me. If you rent from anyone be clear at pickup 1) what constitutes late and 2) what it costs when you are.

Indeed, grace periods are no longer a given when it comes to late returns. Hertz cut their grace period in half a year ago, and others soon followed suit. Nowadays, you really need to know what you’re signing (and initialing).

In Peter’s case, I see only one possible “violation” here on the part of the company: The forfeit of the grace period. But even then, if he returned the car two hours late (instead of three), he’s better off paying a full day extra, rather than two hours’ overtime. It sucks, but those are the terms.

With contracts like this, if you signed for it, you’re on the hook. These hourly rates are one of the items you’re often asked to initial.

Not all companies are the same, though: Late-return policies vary by chain, with some chains offering no grace periods whatsoever.

Perhaps even more importantly, some companies reserve the right to retroactively change your rate to a higher level — for the duration of the entire rental — if you return the car late. If anything, Peter was lucky they didn’t change his rate for the earlier days as well!

The policies of each major U.S. chain, with key points highlighted, after the jump:
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It’s been nearly a year since I rented a car which actually came with a full tank of gas. Seemingly every time, the needle is hovering somewhere near 3/4 tank.

This always bugs me, because you’re supposed to return the fuel at the same level, and it’s quite hard to fill the tank to precisely 5/8 or 3/4 tank. Go below that point, and they’ll charge you extortionary fuel prices. Go above that line, and you’re giving a gift of gasoline to the company. Over time, I’m sure the company makes out quite well with this, charging penalties to some and pocketing free gas from the others. Win-win for them.

So now Budget and Avis have come up with a new way to annoy and exploit the renter, and they have the chutzpah to say that this is a convenience. Keith Alexander in the Washington Post reports:

To help offset gasoline prices, Budget Rent a Car is imposing an additional $9.50 charge on all vehicles driven fewer than 75 miles.
[…]
The new charge is aimed at renters who drive short distances and don’t fill up their tanks before they return because the gas gauge still reads “full,” even though the tank is a few gallons short. In the past, Budget filled the tank and billed the customer the highest rate. But now, Budget will impose the $9.50 charge even if the renter tops off the tank before returning the car. The charge will be removed only if customers show their gas receipt to a Budget agent, one traveler has already reported, slowing travelers often rushing to catch flights.

…and I’m sure they’ll be asking every customer for their gas receipt and happily volunteering to take that charge off. Sure. What a convenience!

Keep that gas receipt, show it to the attendant when you return the car, and watch the bill.

tags: travel | car rental