Car Rental Fees: Airport Concession Fees, Licensing Fees, Taxes and Surcharges

Renting a car can be a hassle and difficult to understand, there is no doubt about it. Just the thought of the fine print alone is enough to make people consider other options, even to the point of using their own cars whenever possible. However, with a little introduction to the fees and extra charges, maybe your next car rental contract won’t seem so confusing.

Firs of all, understand that there are fees required by the government and optional fees that the agencies us to protect themselves. Some of this depends on the location of the car rental office or concession, and others relate to insurance issues and the company’s possible losses.

Government Mandated Charges

The government’s involvement in rental car rates are divided into two sections: taxes and airport related charges. Many levels of government—state, city, county, and others—may have a sales tax that all car renters must pay. There is a section of the contract devoted just to charges like that, and you can call the agency to find out what they are. The car rental agencies are required to collect these taxes.

There are also charges related to airport concessions. The government also demands those charges as well, and they are fees that the car rental agencies remit directly to the airport. They go by various names, like facility charges or concessionaire charges. These fees are usually found in the same section of the contract as the taxes.

The Company’s Fees

Rental agency fees that are not mandated by the government are fees designed to cover their costs of doing business. Some of these fees help them offset the expensive rentals they pay as airport concessionaires, as well as fees on their off-site lots. Because these fees are different for every airport, the costs that are passed on to the renter are also different.

Some hotels where the agencies have small rental desks and fleets also charge a concession fee, and this cost is passed on to renters in most cases. Just as the airports charge for the space an agency occupies much like an office rental, so the hotels do as well.

Many rental agencies also charge what the call a Vehicle License Recoupment fee (also known as a Recovery Fee) which covers the average cost to license the fleet annually, and to cover registrations and various taxes. For those who get frequent flyer miles for their car rentals, there may also be a fee associated with that to recover costs of running the program.

Always check your contract to make sure you aren’t paying exorbitant fees. Some rental agencies opt not to charge for some of the government mandated fees. You may end up paying more in the long run through higher daily rate structures. Just know ahead of time which fees are required by the government, which are by choice, and which are related to extras you may have ordered with your rental, like child car seats or ski racks.