Q: I booked a one-way car rental in Porto, Portugal, through Hotels.com. When I picked up the vehicle at the Europcar counter, the agent said I hadn’t paid the one-way fee — even though my reservation clearly showed it was one-way. She added $155 to my bill.
She also refused to accept the insurance I had purchased through my travel plan or my credit card, and forced me to buy Europcar’s “Premium Protection” for another $155. On top of that, she added a $97 “Premium Station Surcharge,” even though I had reserved the car at the Porto airport from the beginning.
Before I left the United States, I had already paid Hotels.com $338 on my Visa card. Europcar claimed that only $243 had been applied to my rental and insisted the rest went to Hotels.com as its commission. I contacted Hotels.com for help, but all I got were vague responses.
I’m asking for a refund of $407, which represents the unfair charges. Can you help? — Lawrence Signori, Jupiter, Fla.
A: You shouldn't have been billed for any of these nuisance fees. Hotels.com says all those charges are included in the taxes and fees portion of your prepaid rental. Europcar should not have added them again at the counter.
As for the insurance and station surcharge, that’s a familiar script at car rental counters. Some agents will pressure you into buying their coverage or tack on extras that weren’t disclosed up front. Once you sign the rental agreement and drive away, it can be impossible to get those charges reversed. That’s why I always recommend reviewing the rental agreement carefully before leaving the lot — every fee, every option.
Hotels.com initially told you that Europcar hadn’t charged you twice, but when my advocacy team reviewed the paperwork, we discovered the math didn’t add up. You prepaid enough to cover both the base rental and the one-way fee.
This is a bizarre case. Usually, our readers get hit with one, maybe two fees when they rent a car. But it looks like Europcar slammed you with three fees. Some of them may have been a result of crossed wires with Hotels.com. But still, three has to be a new record!
I think you might have gotten farther by appealing to someone higher up the food chain at Hotels.com. I publish the names, numbers and email addresses of the executives at Hotels.com (Expedia) and Europcar on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.
I contacted Expedia, which owns Hotels.com, and suggested that it take another look at your case. After a few rounds of back-and-forth, Expedia agreed. You received a full refund for the extras.
Next time you rent a vehicle anywhere, I recommend booking directly with a car rental company and carefully reviewing all charges before signing. And one more tip: if you’re picking up a car overseas, bring proof of insurance. It can help you avoid unwanted extra charges for mandatory insurance.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (https://elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at https://elliottadvocacy.org/help/