One Way car rentals Government Travelers Beware

[Clem72]

Enterprise, Hertz, and National have started charging a one way drop off fee that the travel office will not reimburse you for. I have a coworker who got stuck paying over $200 in drop off fees just to go to and from BWI. The travel office is unapologetic even though the reservation was made through them.

I was under the impression that fees and such were subject to approval by the Defense Travel Management Office. I'm pretty sure a $200 fee would pop their approved base rate (which does include all non-government non-3rd party fees).

Heres the relevant section from the U.S. Government Rental Car Agreement.

"The base rates offered shall be inclusive of all additional charges, except for (i) the mandatory government administrative rate supplement (GARS, see paragraph 4), (ii) any applicable taxes, state and local Government fees and surcharges, airport administrative and/or concession fees, (iii) vehicle license and registration fees that vary from location to location, and (iv) any other fee whatsoever remitted to a third party or airport authority, will be applied to all rentals under this Agreement based upon the location of rental, as applicable. Except as may be required by applicable law, no other charges, fees or surcharges may be imposed under this Agreement without the prior consent of DTMO."

So no airport drop-off fee in the base rate = they can stick it up their ass. Threaten to call the DTMO and have their location pulled from the authorize rental agencies list for breech of contract.

 

[Gilligan]

Isn't it 54 cents/mile in 2016?
http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/100715

Whatever..I don't complete my own ER's. Should I erase my post?

 

[Gilligan]

Wonder how they justified that. Or did they not bother to even try to justify it and are just greedy pricks.

Not a peep uttered that I ever saw. Showed up and noted they had brand new buses and the economy lot was $17...just *poof*.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

I was under the impression that fees and such were subject to approval by the Defense Travel Management Office. I'm pretty sure a $200 fee would pop their approved base rate (which does include all non-government non-3rd party fees).

Heres the relevant section from the U.S. Government Rental Car Agreement.

"The base rates offered shall be inclusive of all additional charges, except for (i) the mandatory government administrative rate supplement (GARS, see paragraph 4), (ii) any applicable taxes, state and local Government fees and surcharges, airport administrative and/or concession fees, (iii) vehicle license and registration fees that vary from location to location, and (iv) any other fee whatsoever remitted to a third party or airport authority, will be applied to all rentals under this Agreement based upon the location of rental, as applicable. Except as may be required by applicable law, no other charges, fees or surcharges may be imposed under this Agreement without the prior consent of DTMO."

So no airport drop-off fee in the base rate = they can stick it up their ass. Threaten to call the DTMO and have their location pulled from the authorize rental agencies list for breech of contract.

Word I got is the rental companies are currently in violation of their contracts and charging the fees anyway.

 

[glhs837]

Word I got is the rental companies are currently in violation of their contracts and charging the fees anyway.

Charge 5,000 people, 3,000 get thrown out, you still are making 2,000 x 200. If pressed, blame a programmer...... efffing programmers.....

 

[Clem72]

Charge 5,000 people, 3,000 get thrown out, you still are making 2,000 x 200. If pressed, blame a programmer...... efffing programmers.....

Reminds me of a scene from a movie (was it lock stock and two smoking barrels?) where the guy has a scheme to take out an advert for a sex toy with "discrete billing", then never shipping anything and offering people a refund with their full company name "Big Purple Ass-Ticklers" on the check. However many people don't cash the check = profit.

 

[glhs837]

Maryland was doing this with military folks who filed Federal taxes with an MD return address but didn't file an MD tax return. They didn't just contact you and ask why, they simply calculated your estimated MD tax based on the fed taxes, and sent you a bill. Took me almost a year to get clear of that.

 

[stgislander]

Maryland was doing this with military folks who filed Federal taxes with an MD return address but didn't file an MD tax return. They didn't just contact you and ask why, they simply calculated your estimated MD tax based on the fed taxes, and sent you a bill. Took me almost a year to get clear of that.

I had South Carolina do that to me back in the '80s. I never replied to them and they never came looking for me.

 

[Gilligan]

Reminds me of a scene from a movie (was it lock stock and two smoking barrels?) where the guy has a scheme to take out an advert for a sex toy with "discrete billing", then never shipping anything and offering people a refund with their full company name "Big Purple Ass-Ticklers" on the check. However many people don't cash the check = profit.

You sure they never shipped anything??...nhboy claims to own one of those.

 

[itsbob]

And its cheaper for the rest of us if you USE YOUR OWN DAMN CAR to go to BWI. Pay your own damn parking fees and drive your own damn care home.

Not everyone can afford to have two cars.. so a government traveller should leave their family with no car?

What a douche bag you are.

 

[itsbob]

I went to rent from Hertz to the airport one way and I noticed they were going to charge mileage.. went to Aviv instead.

What's amazing is how much money I could save if I could buy my own tickets, rent my own hotels and cars and use my credit card anD not use DTS.


I've priced tickets to and from Orlando and it's $180 on a travel or even Delta site.. then go to DTS and it's $430... but I'm required to use DTS.. and the government card.. doesn't make sense to me.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

I went to rent from Hertz to the airport one way and I noticed they were going to charge mileage.. went to Aviv instead.

What's amazing is how much money I could save if I could buy my own tickets, rent my own hotels and cars and use my credit card anD not use DTS.


I've priced tickets to and from Orlando and it's $180 on a travel or even Delta site.. then go to DTS and it's $430... but I'm required to use DTS.. and the government card.. doesn't make sense to me.

That card is awful, the closest gas station to the main gate at China Lake is classified a liquor store and not a gas station and you are not allowed to use it there even though you are paying at the pump. Often I get the credit card bill before I even return from a trip, you would think they could come up with a way to wait until the trip is over and send you a bill for the entire trip.

 

[Gilligan]

What a douche bag you are.

But when she takes her teeth out.....mmmmm...nirvana

 

[preselector]

I've priced tickets to and from Orlando and it's $180 on a travel or even Delta site.. then go to DTS and it's $430... but I'm required to use DTS.. and the government card.. doesn't make sense to me.

IRT DTS, I was told (a) govt flights cost more to ensure return flights could be changed without penalty and (b) negotiated contracts provided overall cost savings even if individual flights cost more. To me (a) appeared to be fixable and (b) not true.

IRT the travel card, the govt doesn't have to issue travel advances, i.e. gets a interest free loan, and the traveler has fiscal responsibility for payment. I don't know if the govt gets any cash back on purchases but do believe that the govt doesn't want the traveler to get cash back on a personal card for fear of "Government travelers make money on govt expenditures" headlines.

I've been retired awhile. Things may have changed. I could be cynical.

 

[Clem72]

IRT DTS, I was told (a) govt flights cost more to ensure return flights could be changed without penalty and (b) negotiated contracts provided overall cost savings even if individual flights cost more. To me (a) appeared to be fixable and (b) not true.

IRT the travel card, the govt doesn't have to issue travel advances, i.e. gets a interest free loan, and the traveler has fiscal responsibility for payment. I don't know if the govt gets any cash back on purchases but do believe that the govt doesn't want the traveler to get cash back on a personal card for fear of "Government travelers make money on govt expenditures" headlines.

I've been retired awhile. Things may have changed. I could be cynical.

I believe DTS now just quotes contract price for contract airfare, and fully refundable price for non-contract airfare. Contract price is usually somewhere between the online price and full fare.

This is much better than it used to be when the government ticket would cost (I kid you not) $1-2k for domestic flights. I always thought it was crap that we had to sit at the absolute back of the plane when our tickets cost almost 2x as much as first class.

 

[Gilligan]

I've been retired awhile. Things may have changed. I could be cynical.

The group of civilian Navy engineering folks we work with absolutely despise the handicaps they travel under with the current system. And we all travel a lot. Two senior folks that I know actually stopped traveling and refused to ever again. As a contractor, we can and do operate a very responsive and flexible travel "office" with no BS the travelers have to put up with.

 

[glhs837]

The group of civilian Navy engineering folks we work with absolutely despise the handicaps they travel under with the current system. And we all travel a lot. Two senior folks that I know actually stopped traveling and refused to ever again. As a contractor, we can and do operate a very responsive and flexible travel "office" with no BS the travelers have to put up with.

Yeah, I watch the pain and suffering my "govvies" have to deal with dealing with DTS and it's amazing. Three weeks going back and forth over which parking garage was used. Total cost difference under $30. Amount of manhours spent resolving it, maybe 20-30. As a contractor, I can either just call the locally owned travel agency that is contracted by the company with where and when, or I can just make my own arrangements. I try to match their airfare, but given it's usually less than 2 weeks before the trip that approval comes in, I almost never can.