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Charges When Booking | Local Charges | Unpredictable Charges | Questions?
One of the biggest things travellers worry about when hiring a car are extra charges. Not necessarily hidden car hire charges, but charges you just weren’t prepared for. We at Zest Car Rental take every effort to outline the charges you will face for your rental, making it clear when these are paid. However, there are some charges that can’t be predicted. Take a look at the list of charges below that may, or may not, apply to you during your car rental.
Charges when you place your booking
When you place your booking, you’ll only be charged when the car rental provider confirms your booking. The amount of money you pay at this stage is the cost of your rental including any necessary taxes, plus the optional top-up insurance and/or cancellation protection if they’ve been added to your booking. You don’t pay for any extra products that are supplied by the car rental provider at this stage.
When going through the booking process on our website, this sidebar (Rental Summary) is displayed on the right-hand side that displays the charges we are aware that you will be charged for.
The right sidebar on the Zest Car Rental website showing car hire charges.
The “total payable now” price is the rental cost plus either/or of the products available through ourselves (if you’ve selected them). This price is due to be paid once your booking is confirmed. This price does not include any local fees.
Local charges payable on collection of the vehicle
The bottom section displays any mandatory charges or extra optional products you’ve added to your booking which must be paid for upon collection.
Mandatory charges
There are certain mandatory charges that you must pay. These are due upon collection of the vehicle and must be paid to the representative from the car rental provider. These fees can vary between providers and are not influenced by Zest; they are set solely by the providers themselves.
- One-way fee: this is payable if you are due to return your vehicle to a different location than the one you collected from.
- Airport Surcharge: this is only payable at a few select locations, primarily Lisbon Airport and Faro Airport. This charge is enforced by the authorities that maintain the airports and is handed over from the car rental providers; it does not go to the rental agencies.
- Out of hours: this charge is payable if you are collecting or returning the hire car outside the set office hours of the car rental provider.
- Toll transponders: in some cases, this fee is mandatory, but some providers have it as an optional extra. It will be displayed as a mandatory charge if it must be paid.
- Winterisation fee: as above, some car rental providers will enforce this charge during certain times of the year and in certain locations. It may sometimes be an optional charge. You can find out more about winterisation charges for snow chains and winter tyres here.
Extra equipment
- Winterisation: see above
- Toll transponder: see above
- SatNav: most providers will have some of these available for renters to hire with their vehicle. These are usually priced at a cost per rental day and must be hired for the duration of your rental, and not one part of it.
- Wi-Fi: Some car rental providers that we operate with can offer a wi-fi box with your rental car. For example, wi-fi can currently be requested when booking through Zest with the supplier Rent Car 4 Less in Portugal. You’ll be provided with a set amount of data per day, discussed upon arrival, and any extra you use will be charged to your credit card.
- Child seat/booster seat: as with the SatNav, these are available to hire for the set duration of your rental period at a cost per day.
- Cross border: if you wish to enter another country with your hire car, the provider may enforce this charge to cover any additional services that may be required, such as breakdown assistance in the other country.
Unpredictable charges
Certain situations during your rental can lead to unpredictable charges that the car rental supplier has to enforce. You will of course face potential charges if you damage the vehicle. If you’re unsure about how the Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) with zero excess liability that Zest includes as standard protects you, read our guide to car hire insurance here. We’ve listed some of the other unpredictable charges below.
- Admin fee for handling fines: should you receive a traffic violation or speeding fine whilst hiring your car, the authorities in the area will contact the car rental provider to obtain your details in order to pass the fine onto you. To handle this request, the car rental provider may charge an administration fee.
- Fuel refilling fee: should you not meet the terms of your rental agreement by returning the vehicle with less fuel than it had on collection, you will be charged for the missing fuel and what’s called a “refuelling fee”. This covers the time required for the car rental provider to take the car to replace the missing fuel.
- Cleaning fee: if you return the car dirty, either inside or out, to an unacceptable standard, the car rental provider may charge you a cleaning fee.
- Equipment replacement charges: should you lose or damage any equipment that you’ve hired from the provider, such as a SatNav or child seat, you will be charged for a replacement item.
Unsure about locally payable car hire charges?
If at any point of your rental, right from the booking stage, to when you’ve returned your car, you’re unsure about any charge, we can be contacted for advice. We operate 24/7 emergency telephone support for those currently on-rental and urge that this service is taken advantage of should an issue arise.
If on collection of the hire vehicle, or after, you’ve noticed an additional charge has been added to your rental agreement, call us for clarification. If you feel that the representative is attempting to hard sell you an extra you don’t need, call us for assistance. It is always better to contact us at the time of an issue so we can try our hardest to rectify it- something that isn’t always easy after your rental has ended.
Written by Jessica Juby.
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I have hired cars from you many times in many countries and always been satisfied. Had to contact you once about a late arrival but that was sorted very quickly. Most of the companies I have picked up cars from did know we had purchased additional insurance cover. I just wish you would send me 10% off email before I book a car and not about a day later!! That is annoying especially when you are a good customer.
The info above is very useful. Thanks
This blog contains some very useful information and has been very helpful. Thank you.
Hi,
A car I hired from Lisbon had a puncture on a run flat tyre that could not be reinflated. The car was taken away 30 km for a tyre replacement and was told that it would be ready the following morning. I was left without a car for 24hrs and needed a taxi to collect from he car. It was not repaired and the garage did not know when they would be able to get a replacement tyre. This meant I had to return the following day with another taxi expense. I was not compensated for any of this. As I had also damaged the car I just accepted the situation. There was not a similar large car available for them to let me have.
Dear Mr Redman,
Thank you for your comment. Could you please advise the booking reference number for the rental during which this incident occurred?
Kind regards,
Jessica
Zest Car Rental
Having experienced the nightmare of daylight robbery with a car hire firm in Majorca, not hired through Zest, I am not encouraged by this article. I have been many times to the USA and once to Canada where car hire has been so straightforward. The one hire I did with Zest in Southern Spain was a good experience but I did find myself having to resist persistent efforts to inflate the charge.
I am far more reluctant to hire again given the advice you have provided. I appreciate this is nothing to do with zest
Dear Mr Jones,
Thank you for your comment. The intention of our blog was to raise awareness of the extra charges that customers may face, especially when booking elsewhere as many other brokers don’t offer support to their customers while on-rental. I am sorry that the persistence of certain car hire providers has made you wary of hiring a car. However, as we advise in the article, you should never sign for anything that you are unsure of or uncomfortable with and can always contact ourselves for assistance.
Kind regards,
Jessica
Zest Car Rental
It would be a great idea if you advised the rental companies not to try and sell us their own excess waiver and top-up policies when we already hold as part of our agreement with you. This is a very straightforward thing for you to do we just want the keys and not have to listen to the sales patter.
Dear Mr Bond,
Thank you for your comment. Our top-up insurance is not available to residents of certain countries, and there may be cases where customers will take out local insurance if they have forgotten to pre-purchase this through ourselves before travelling. Unfortunately, the car rental providers are aware that we offer insurance, and we are unable to stop them from offering their own.
Kind regards,
Jessica
Zest Car Rental