I used to be able to game the car-rental system. How? I’d reserve a compact; because they’re the least expensive cars, agencies would run out of them first. Result: I’d get a free upgrade to a bigger car.
Times have changed. Now not only does that tactic fail, but car rental rates are going through the sunroof. On an assignment in Atlanta this summer, I ended up in a claustrophobic Ford Focus that cost me more than $80 a day.
The main reason for the rising costs? Smaller rental fleets. And fewer available cars means higher prices. The average rate for a weeklong rental of a compact car at an airport location last year was $335.05, up a whopping 51 percent from 2008, according to a report by the Abrams Consulting Group.
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