March 20, 2006
The high cost of travel
from - RSA
So I have to go to Italy next month. (My students laugh when I say that: "Oh, you have to go?" I travel often enough that I try to avoid trips more often than I try to make them, these days; I sent one of my students to Sydney last month because I was just too busy with other things.) I'll be flying into Milan and driving to Trieste. Okay, so I need a car. I check out the rates online. Not bad! It's possible to rent an economy car for a week at a base rate of about 33 Euros. So, I move to the checkout page: Base rate plus taxes and fees equals 276 Euros. What? Did I misread 33/Euros per day as 33/Euros per week? Nope. Here's what I also have to pay:
| 14.00 PCT AIRPORT SERVICE CHA | 26.20 EUR |
| 70.00 FEE PHYSICAL DAMAGE WAI | 70.00 EUR |
| 20.00 FEE ROAD TAX | 20.00 EUR |
| 70.00 FEE THEFT PROTECTION | 70.00 EUR |
| 20.00 PCT VALUE ADDED TAX | 42.67 EUR |
| Taxes and fees total | 228.87 EUR |
Wow.
::Posted by RSA at March 20, 2006 12:31 PM
Help me out here.
Does this mean it is going to cost about $280.00 to rent a car for a week?
The rental invoice looks a lot like my utility bill. There are so many add ons and fees that it is impossible to keep up with what they are or what they are for.
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Posted by Buck on March 20, 2006 10:45 PM Link to comment |
so that's nearly 500$ then. noice.
have fun!
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Posted by gringo on March 20, 2006 11:12 PM Link to comment |
228.00 EUR = 276.877 USD
United States Dollars
What am I doing wrong?
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Posted by Buck on March 21, 2006 08:16 AM Link to comment |
You got it, Buck; about $275.00 US. I'm going to see if I can't do it more cheaply. When I was visiting Los Angeles, for example, the last car rental I got was $12 per day--that was nice. On the other hand, here in Raleigh the best I was able to find for a few days was on the order of $35 per day. Lots of variation.
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Posted by RSA on March 21, 2006 10:02 AM Link to comment |
