Cheap car rental: how to lower the price without surprises

Take a five-day rental at Orlando International where you pass through a toll on every day. As listed in November 2026, the TollPass FAQ that Enterprise's Orlando airport page links for Florida gives $4.95 a day, so five days adds $24.75 in service fees. PlatePass, the program Hertz uses in Florida, lists a $9.99 administrative fee for each day with tolls, which makes $49.95. Both bill the tolls themselves on top. That is a $25.20 gap between two programs offered at the counter.

The Central Florida Expressway Authority runs a third option with no service fee, the Visitor Toll Pass. It is a hangtag for people renting round trip through Orlando's airport. You reserve it free in its app, put down a $10 deposit that goes toward your tolls and pay the lowest toll rate with no service fee. Decline the rental company's toll program when you use it, because the pass's FAQ warns of double billing. An unreturned hangtag costs $10, taken from the deposit, and your card is then charged for the tolls.

TollPass and PlatePass's usage-day plan charge only for days you pass through a toll. Enterprise's FAQ says so, and PlatePass bills $9.99 for each calendar day with tolls. PlatePass's separate All-Inclusive plan is a flat daily rate, $14.99 in Florida.

Fees the daily rate leaves out

The FTC's rental-car advice warns that the advertised rate may not give a true picture of the final price. Hertz's terms show what that means. Its prepaid US rates exclude the vehicle licensing recovery fee, the airport facility use fee or customer facility charge, hotel concession fees, other cost recovery fees, government surcharges and taxes, plus options and one-way charges. Florida adds its own: Florida Statute 212.0606 sets a $2 surcharge for each day or part of a day on rentals of cars designed to carry fewer than nine passengers. Seven days is $14 before any company fee. Run your dates through two searches, such as the one above and another from the trip essentials page, and compare totals with fees included.

Airport desks add a concession recovery fee. National describes it as recovering all or part of what it owes the airport. An off-airport office can carry a similar fee. National says many airports also charge a fee on revenue from off-airport rentals, and it recovers all or part of that from customers on a separate line, "Airport Fee" or similar. Enterprise's downtown Salt Lake City office spells out the rule: a rental that starts within 24 hours of the customer arriving at Salt Lake International carries an 11.11% airport concession recovery fee. At that rate, 11.11% of a $400 rental is $44.44.

An hour late can cost most of a day

A rental day is a 24-hour block counted from pickup. Avis's Orlando airport terms give a 29-minute grace period on the return. At 30 minutes late, Avis charges three-quarters of a day. At 90 minutes late, it charges a full day. Taxes are added to both. The grace period doesn't cover fees, surcharges or optional protections, which Avis bills at a full day's charge if the car is late at all. Hertz also allows 29 minutes. With a 3 p.m. pickup, 3:29 p.m. on the last day is still inside the grace period.

Young drivers and extra drivers

On the November 2026 listings, a 22-year-old renting for a week at Orlando's airport pays $175 in underage fees at Enterprise or $189 at Avis, before any other charge. Enterprise's page lists $25 a day for drivers 21 to 24, and Avis's Orlando terms list $27 a day for renters under 25. Both set the minimum age at 21. Avis also keeps drivers 21 to 24 out of luxury cars, minivans, 12-passenger vans, specialty cars, full-size SUVs and premium SUVs. Hertz's terms set the minimum age at 20 at most US locations and 18 in Michigan and New York. They also add an "age differential charge" but give no amount.

An additional driver costs $13 a day at Avis in most states, and a spouse or domestic partner is exempt. Hertz's terms charge $15 a day, capped at $210 a rental. Hertz waives the fee for a spouse or domestic partner when the renter belongs to Gold Plus Rewards or AAA, and for a spouse on a rental that starts in California or Iowa. If the renter and the extra driver are both AAA members, there is no fee either. A friend who shares the driving for a week adds $91 at Avis or $105 at Hertz.

Pay Now or Pay Later

Hertz sells the same car two ways, and the exits differ. Cancel a Pay Later booking before pickup and you pay nothing; a no-show fee never exceeds one day's rental. A Pay Now booking is free to cancel within 24 hours of booking. After that it costs $100 more than 24 hours before pickup and $200 inside the last 24 hours, and a no-show forfeits everything you prepaid. Once you have the car, unused days are not refunded.

Rebooking when the price drops costs nothing with Pay Later, but with Pay Now it is free only in the first 24 hours after booking. If your plans might move, a prepaid rate has to save more than the $100 exit fee to be worth it.

Fuel

Hertz's terms offer three fuel routes. Prepaying lets you return the car at any level, with no refund for fuel left in the tank. If you skip that and return the car with less fuel than you started with, Hertz refuels it at a per-gallon rate. Return it at the same level and you pay nothing extra. At Avis, the Fuel Service Option leaves fuel out of your reservation total and adds the prevailing market rate when you return the car.

Insurance and the deposit hold

The FTC says your own car or homeowner's insurance may already cover a rental, that a collision damage waiver won't pay for injuries to you or damage to your belongings, and that many credit cards include a waiver when you pay with the card and decline the company's. Cover for harm to other people is where US rules split. Hertz's terms list no liability protection in California (international renters excepted), primary protection of generally no more than the state minimum in Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, and protection secondary to your own insurance everywhere else. Cover for a canceled trip or a medical bill comes from travel insurance, not from a rental waiver, and our travel insurance guide covers it.

The company also holds money on your card. Hertz's terms put the hold at up to $200 on a credit card, $400 for a Standard SUV, or up to $500 on a debit card, each on top of the estimated charges. Avis's Orlando terms say the hold is generally the estimated charges, but many rentals may need the estimate plus $200, and a debit-card rental of four days or more may need the estimate plus $300. The bank may take up to two weeks to release it.

At the counter and the lot

Photograph the car on every side, plus the fuel gauge and the odometer, before you drive off, and get each mark written on the rental agreement. Hertz's fuel terms compare the level at return with the level at rental, so the gauge photo settles an argument. Photograph it all again at return, and keep the receipt until the hold is gone from your card. For trips outside the US, our guide to renting a car abroad covers the permit and card rules.

Frequently asked questions

Can I rent a car with a debit card?

At Avis's Orlando airport desk, only if you are at least 25 and renting from select car groups, with a credit check, a second ID and proof of a return airline ticket. Hertz limits debit cards to economy through premium cars and small SUVs, and asks for a return flight and two IDs at airports. Enterprise's Orlando page takes a debit card at the airport only with a ticketed return itinerary; without one the deposit is $400, or $850 for certain vehicle classes.

Does my credit card cover a rental car?

Many cards offer a collision damage waiver, according to the FTC, but only when you pay for the rental with that card and decline the rental company's coverage. The waiver covers the car, not injuries or your belongings, and liability rules differ by state, as Hertz's terms show.

What license do visitors from abroad need?

Enterprise's Orlando airport page asks for your home-country license. An International Driver's Permit is required when that license is in a non-English language written in non-Latin letters, and recommended when the letters are Latin. The permit alone will not rent you a car.

Can I return a rental car early?

The FTC says some companies charge a fee if you return a car more than 24 hours before the reservation ends. With Hertz's prepaid rates, unused days are not refunded once you have picked up the car.

What does a one-way rental cost?

Hertz calls it an intercity fee, charged when the car goes back to a different location from the one in your rental agreement, and its prepaid rates leave the fee out. If you change the drop-off after the rental has started, Hertz's corporate locations charge a $10 fee, provided you notify Hertz. The FTC lists drop-off fees among the charges that can show up.