Renting a car can be a headache.
Not just the hefty requirements alone, but the processes and fees that it involves. Currently, the worst part of this is the adaption by rental companies to add hidden fees.
If you intend to rent a car from Budget, you may want to know whether they also do this. This article covers everything you need to know, alongside a list of budget car rental hidden charges.
Does Budget Car Rental have Hidden Fees?
Yes. Budget car rental does have hidden fees, which could be included if you’re not knowledgeable about them.
Ever wondered why the quoted price of your rental contract is usually different from what is said on the counter when returning it?
Well, it’s simply because of the charges accumulated while renting, which a good amount comes from Hidden fees.
Unfortunately, this has grown to become a standard practice in the car rental industry, where they now make most of their profits from.
However, going through our list of hidden fees on Budget below could help set you on track and minimize extra fees you can get. So, read on.
Note that we’ve also prepared similar articles for other car rental companies like Thrifty and Dollar Car Rental.
List of Budget Car Rental Hidden Fees and How to avoid them
Of course, you don’t want to be charged for something you don’t know about or lack in your plan. Knowing about hidden fees on your next rental contract could be a big help. Below they are:
- Cleaning fee
- Redemption fee on discounts
- Damage or loss fee
- e-Toll fee
- External and Internal Fee
- Fuel Service Charge
- Late return fee
- Smoking fee
- Concession recovery and Facility fee
- Energy recovery fee
- Additional driver fee
- Young driver fee
Note that this is not a comprehensive list. Over time, we’ll try as much as possible to add more fees as we discover them.
Cleaning fee
If you’ve rented a car from any rental company, you’ll find out that they’re quite conscious about how their car appears, to create a good impression for renters.
From performing a thorough check on the car regularly to always washing the cars, most car rentals are never ignorant about the look of their cars.
Budget car rental isn’t an exception.
On Budget, at the start of the day, a car is prepared neatly by taking it to a car wash and it is expected to look just the same way as it was given, regardless of where you drove it to.
If you fail to do that, you’ll be required to pay a cleaning fee. This is typically the same for most car rental companies.
But on Budget, you should be more careful as we’ve seen several complaints about it.
For instance, here’s a video of a woman who claimed to be scammed by Budget’s cleaning charge:
This is also a complaint from another woman, charged $250.
How to avoid:
Cleaning fee is common to most car rental companies not just to Budget. In general, to avoid them, you need to be careful about how you make use of a rental car.
Below are some safety tips:
- Avoid driving your rental car on non-padded roads
- Never smoke in a rental car –car rental companies can easily detect them.
- If extremely dirty, take the rental car to a car wash – it’s better spending a couple of dollars than 100’s.
- Don’t drop or leave waste on the car
Redemption fee on Promos
While you can use bonuses and promos comfortably on Budget, the company does charge a redemption fee for just any discount you add to your rental contract. Note that this is mostly appliable to rewards from their loyalty program.
In the company’s own terms:
A redemption fee might be applied if you present any reward certificates, coupons, or vouchers linked to a loyalty rewards program. Additionally, there might be a fee if you decide to gain airline miles or other similar rewards from a loyalty program.
How to avoid:
There’s nothing you can do about this, as it’s a mandatory fee applied to all rental contracts discounted with promos from their loyalty program.
Damage or loss fee
This is an obvious fee, however, not to be taken lightly.
If you’re found to have damaged any part of the rented car, you’d be required to pay an additional charge, which could range from a few hundred dollars up to a thousand dollars depending on the intensity of the damage.
It’s also worth mentioning that this also applies to losses.
For instance, the company specifically warns that if you damage or lose the key or key fob of a rental car, you’re going to be charged for that.
How to avoid:
Make sure to perform a thorough check on the car you intend to rent before the car is being rented out. Preferably, take a picture of the car. This is done to avoid any possible false claim against you that you aren’t behind.
Also, if you had damaged something in the car, it’s best you fix them.
e-Toll fee
While Budget doesn’t make mention of toll fees almost anywhere on its website unlike some other car rentals, there are some hidden fees associated to it.
Normally, you’re allowed to pay a toll fee in cash for any toll road you come accross.
However, if you fail to make the payment yourself, Budget would automatically opt you into their toll fee program.
Under the Budget toll program, you’re charged a “service” fee of $5.95 per day, you come across a toll road till the end of your rental period. However, there’s a maximum service of $29.5.
Note that this is only the service fee.
How to avoid:
Generally, car rental companies toll services are usually pretty expensive. And for someone experienced in renting cars, signing up for them isn’t advisable.
There are two steps to take to avoid toll charges from car rental companies:
- Cover the company’s transponder – When you get on a rental car, one of the first things you should do is to remove the company’s transponder or easier, you cover them with something.
- Pay the toll yourself- You can either choose to pay in cash or debit card anytime you come across a toll road. Another option would be to use your toll transponder, which you either need to let the company know about or log into your account online.
External and Internal Fee
If you were to be busted on the road, then it’s on you.
This includes all parking, traffic, toll, fines, penalties, interest fees, court costs, storage liens, and other charges incurred as a result of your rental.
If at any point, Budget comes to your rescue to pay such a fee, you’ll be required to pay it back alongside an admin fee. So most times, if you get into a trouble like this, it’s best you pay it yourself unless you have coverage for that.
Fuel Service Charge
When you rent a car from Budget, you’re expected to return it back at the same state you took it from. This includes everything from the bodywork of the car to how well-filled the fuel tank is.
Coming to fueling, Budget doesn’t offer a free fuel ticket or card like the likes of Turo. You’re responsible for the fueling.
There are basically 2 fueling options here:
- Sign up for Budget Fueling Service – If you choose to you can sign up for Budget’s fueling service, which allows you to return a rental car at any fuel tank level
- Pay Fuel yourself – Budget also allows renters to pay for fueling themselves. Here, they’re required to refill the rental car just before they return it.
It’s worth mentioning that if you fail to sign up to the fueling service and you end up returning the rental car without refueling it, you’ll pay for fueling at the highest possible rate.
How to avoid:
Do well to always check the fuel level of a rental before moving with it. As a matter of fact, make sure it is filled.
Lastly, Make sure to always refuel it back after you’re done, to avoid getting charged the fuel service fee at Budget which is pricey.
Late return fee
If you fail to extend your rental car and you don’t return it before the return deadline, you’ll be charged a late return fee.
At Budget, this fee is grouped into 3 stages.
Firstly you are given a 30 minutes grace period. You can return the rental car within this period and you won’t get charged for a late return.
After the grace period, however, an hourly charge of your rental rate would be applied. This would go for a maximum of 3 hours and then you’d be charged an additional daily charge of your rental contract.
How to avoid:
Stick to the time, and agreed on the car rental agreement. If you feel there is not enough time to get the car returned, you could extend your contract, otherwise, you’d be charged a late fee.
Smoking fee
Even though Budget doesn’t explicitly accept smoking in their car, the company has a policy that adds a smoking fee to users whose rental cars smell smoky.
The worst part is that this fee could go up to $450 even if you default just once.
How to avoid:
Never smoke in a Budget’s rental car, or risk getting charged. You can check other car rentals that allow smoking.
Concession recovery and Facility fee
Nobody talks about this one much, because, it’s truly hidden. The worst part? it is measured in percentage and not just the usual assigned fee.
But why the concession recovery fee?
Well, a concession recovery fee is a fee deducted from users who rent at the airport. According to rental companies, this is how they use to cover the expense they pay for picking you up from the airport.
How to avoid:
The only solution to bypass the concession recovery fee on Budget is to avoid renting a car from the airport.
Energy recovery fee
For every car you rent on Budget, you’re required to pay an Energy Recovery Fee (ERF).
According to the company, this is made to help recover the escalating energy costs related to their business operations.
How to avoid:
Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s generally imposed on everyone, regardless of your driving location, mileage, age, etc.
Additional driver fee
If you’re to add an additional driver to a car you rented on Budget, you’d be required to pay an additional fee of $13 per day for such a driver. If more drivers are added, the fees would keep adding up.
This is the same for most car rentals, as you can see below:
| Car Rental Company | Cost Per day | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | $15 | No Limit |
| Hertz | $13.5 | $189 per rental contract |
| Avis | $13 | $65 per rental contract |
| Budget | $13 | $65 per rental contract |
| Thrifty | $13.5 | No Limit |
| Alamo | $15 | No Limit |
How to avoid:
If you want to save the cost of your rental contract, avoid signing up for additional drivers. Also, never bypass to add an additional driver or you have some penalties to face.
Young driver fee
Budget does rent cars to people under the age of 25, unlike some other car rental companies which might not.
However, note that as an under-25 renter using Budget, you’re required to pay a young driver fee which costs an additional $27.00-per-day.
How to avoid:
Funnily enough, there’s nothing you can do here, rather than to wait till when you are off the required age (25+ years )to properly rent a car. Or you just give into the fee by paying it.
You can also read our guide on waiving under 25 fees.
How to avoid Hidden fees on Budget at all cost
In summary, here’s how to avoid hidden fees on Budget
- Never Smoke in a Budget rental car
- Keep in time when returning the rented car
- Fill the fuel tank yourself.
- Pay the toll fee yourself and make to cover the company’s toll transponder
- Don’t sign up for any perk or additional service
- Never rent a Budget rental car directly from the airport
- Never rent a Budget rental car directly from the Hotel
- Avoid picking up a car on Budget with a rewards certificates, coupons or vouchers
- Return the rental car in a clean state
- Don’t add an additional driver
- Wait till you’re 25 to rent a car to avoid the young driver fee
Final Thoughts
So far in this article, we were able to make a list of 12 Budget car rental hidden fees. This might not be all of the hidden fees on the platform, however, we’ll keep you updated as we discover more of these hidden fees.
