One way car hire charges

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149oaks

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Recently I had to pay a one way fee as I was dropping the car off at a different airport than my pick up. I knew this before I booked. But thinking about it afterwards I queried the logic and was told by rentalcars.com it's because car hire companies have to send someone out to bring the car back to it's original location.
Well if it only costs them €70 to send somebody from Comiso airport to Palermo in Sicily (300 km and a 4 hour drive) and drive the car back for this I'd love to know how they do it? I suspect it's simply a way of charging customers more as the car never goes back.
Anybody any views on this or insider knowledge?
 
Car probably goes back in multiples on the back of a transporter depending on the size of the operator. So it will remain at location B for a long period of time!
 
Ye it's possible, though why would they leave an asset sitting idle for a period of time when it could be rented out again, remember it's the same company you rent from and return to.
 
They wont leave it idling. They'll use it again and again. But the other location is losing out. And if everyone dropped at location B, location A would be left with no vehicles.
 
Are you suggesting the charge is too low and they should charge you more? :D

These companies try to maintain the minimum number of vehicles at a location to satisfy demand there, and try to keep those cars rotating so they're on base for the shortest time possible. Cars not returning to the original location would throw that off their models, and cars being transported aren't making them any money.
 
In Spain, Car Rental companies have a fixed stock of cars for rental. If there is a demand these companies can rent more cars from a kind of Car Rental Wholesaler. Most Spanish airports have these. So if you pick up a car at one airport there is usually no problem with returning it to another airport. Yes, there is a fee (usually circa €35.00). When you are booking the car, the facility will probably not be available online and you will have to ring the car-broker (not the wholesaler). Believe me Spanish Car Rental outlets and brokers want your business so don't be afraid to bargain.
 
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