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Socking it to You
The Occidental Tourist · September 8, 1999

Last week, the Tourist gave you the inside skinny on a little known tactic that travel industry types love to use because, natch, it gives them another way to screw us: Hidden rental car charges.

Since then, the Tourist did some sleuthing and got more dirt on particular cities of destination. (Note to editor: This required an unusual run-up on the weekly expense tab, due to payouts for information handed off in a dark tavern from a midget named “Claude.” Can’t promise that it won’t happen again.)

Atlanta, in particular, is slapping tourists backs with a huge Bull’s Eye. It’s using a rental car tax to pay for -- get this -- a new home for the NBA's Hawks. (Does that get us travelers, like, a nearly 10 percent discount on NBA tickets in Atlanta? Yeah, right. For more skinny on how cities are stiffing travelers to pay for sports arenas, see my column on the issue.)

Travelers are noticing these charges more than ever. “I can tell you that Seattle is outrageous when it comes to rental cars,” says Charles Pluckhahn, a securities analyst in Boston. “Nearly 30 percent tax, a lot of it going for a couple of sports stadiums they're building and some for an airport facility charge. Milwaukee gets you for 20 percent. These two in particular really surprised me. Seattle's taxes are higher than what New York's were at their most abusive peak, and Milwaukee is getting there. I don't mean to gratuitously insult these cities, but they're not exactly New York.”

No argument there. Though the Tourist will never forget the night in Seattle when he knocked back a six of Black Hook and jammed with Eddie Vedder ... ahh, but that’s another story. Anyway, Pluckhahn isn’t exaggerating. According to Avis, where the Tourist maintains preferred status (they try harder, after all), Seattle tags on a 10 percent airport fee and an 18.3 percent sales tax. Milwaukee slaps you with an 8 percent airport tax, 3 percent local tax and 8.6 percent sales tax. New York at LaGuardia is relatively cheap, with a 13.25 percent sales tax.

Other cities: Ouch! Chicago with an 18 percent sales tax plus $2.75 per rental. The aforementioned Atlanta sticks it to travelers with a 10 percent airport fee, 3 percent car rental tax and 7 percent sales tax. Surprisingly, in another city the Tourist loathes, Los Angeles maintains a somewhat sane 8.25 percent tax and a vehicle license fee not to exceed $1.93 a day.

Note to the Tourist’s loyal readers: If you see a Web site that maintains a current posting of rental car charges in various cities, give the Tourist a heads-up on the address. He’ll be happy to post it in a future column. And feed him your own stories of rental car fear and loathing at OTtravel@yahoo.com.

And another piece of advice: Do some homework on whether you already have rental car insurance before buying it at the counter. It’s another way to spend cash on something you may very well already have; credit card companies often provide this for you.

Just check out this tale of misery and sorrow, from executive Chris Collins, of Arlington, Va.: “My wife and I got taken, largely due to grogginess after a transatlantic flight last year. We arrived in London at 7 a.m. local time, took all the insurance, without thinking to remember that our credit card already would provide it. Bottom line, a one-week car rental that should have cost around $30 a day wound up costing about $100 for "services" we didn't need.”

For the next trip, Collins will be a bit broker, but wiser.

The Occidental Tourist is a magazine writer in Washington, DC. He writes for Maxim, POV, Capital Style and ABCNews.com. His column appears on Tuesdays. E-mail him at ottravel@yahoo.com.