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News that car rental companies are charging more than $9 per gallon for failure to fill up the gas tank upon return caught a Sports Illustrated columnist by surprise. In his Monday Morning QB column, the writer, who rented a Hertz car for two days in North Carolina, returned the car with an about half-filled gas tank and ended up paying more for the gas ($89.40) than he did for the two-day rental ($88). He grouses about the fees: Then there was the $17.98 for NeverLost GPS (which did its job; I was never lost on the trip) and the usual collection of cloudy charges -- "concession fee recovery,'' $11.92 ... "customer facility charge,'' $7 ... "vehicle licensing cost recovery,'' 62 cents -- that makes the renting of cars in America so joyous. Three-eighths of a tank of gas for $89.40? If that's not price-gouging, I don't know what is. What's the most you've had to pay for forgetting to fill up a rental car gas tank? Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week I [Sports Illustrated] Read More ...
