The Crazy Traveler

Car Rental Cos. Expand Toll-Payment Technology

Why is this important to know? It's a little added feature so you can  bypass having to stop at each toll booth and dig for change for the toll booth. You can have this feature and use the express lanes at all the  tool stops.

Under The Hood: Car Rental Cos. Expand Toll-Payment Technology

By Michael B. Baker

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group and Avis Budget Group both have expanded the availability of their electronic toll-payment tools. After launching its electronic toll-payment program in the Northeast last year (BTN, March 20, 2006) and Chicago earlier this year, Avis Budget this month announced that it has expanded the service to Puerto Rico, will expand it to Florida this month and to Colorado later this fall. The tools in all three locations list toll charges and daily fees for the service separately from the car rental rate on the payment card. Vice president of product and program development Michael Caron said Avis Budget has more vehicles equipped with toll transponders than any other car rental company. Meanwhile, Dollar Thrifty's prepaid Pass24 toll service, already available in Houston and Dallas, now is available at Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental's metropolitan Denver locations. For an $8.95 daily fee that includes all toll charges, users gain unlimited use of toll express lanes, and charges are included as part of the car rental receipt to ease expense reporting. "Our stellar results in Dallas and Houston validate the convenience and value of the Pass24 prepaid toll solution," Rick Welch, president and CEO of technology supplier Rent A Toll, stated. "As word gets out, we will continue aggressive expansion into additional U.S. toll markets."

HT: Business Travel News Online

Travel Troubleshooter: Forced to upgrade my rental car

Here's a great article from CNN.COM. The writer is Christopher Elliott from Tribune Media Services. This is a great example of how to handle your next bad encounter with a rental car company. The company in question here is Hertz, who I use every time I rent a car. I think they have it together, but...not every company is perfect and as most problems occur, they are usually due to human error. Read below.

Forced To Upgrade My Rental Car

By  Christopher Elliott
Tribune Media Services

(Tribune Media Services) -- The rental car that Earnest Hoenck reserves from Hertz isn't available when he arrives in Hamburg, Germany. He's offered two choices: A smaller car that won't fit his luggage, or a bigger car for an extra 10 euros a day. He picks the bigger car, but when he returns the rental, he finds that his bill is even bigger than he expected. What can he do?

Q: I'm having some trouble with my car rental bill, and hope you can help me. I recently reserved a midsize car for about a month through the Hertz Web site. I was offered a rate of 946 euros. But when my wife and I arrived at the rental counter in Hamburg, Germany, an agent told me that the car wasn't available.

We were offered a smaller car at a reduced rate or a bigger car for an extra 10 euros per day. I asked why the larger car was not given as a complimentary upgrade, since the car I reserved was not available, and was told that the upgraded car was in the "wrong class" and wouldn't be an option.

Because cost was a concern for us, we opted for the smaller car. But our luggage wouldn't fit in the trunk, so we returned to the office and asked if we could come back later to pick up the car we had requested. The agent said "no."

I had no choice but to take the larger car at 10 euros more per day. In the end, my rate seemed even higher than the one I had agreed to pay -- it came to an extra 357 euros. It was a terrible start for our vacation, and I feel as if the sales person used a bait and switch tactic to make us pay more.

I have rented from Hertz many times and I have come to expect a much higher level of service from the company than I received. I contacted Hertz and was offered half of the money back, but I think they should refund the entire 357 euros. What do you think?

-- Earnest Hoenck, Charleston, South Carolina

HT: CNN