For some of us, it’s hard to fathom that someone needs to have a class on how to rent a car. Honestly, there are literally millions of people who haven’t had to rent a car, EVER. Well folks, this lesson is for you.

The goal of this lesson is to give you a basic walkthrough of the rules and steps that will occur when you reserve, rent, return a rental car. Although the individual methods may vary, these basic steps are indeed common to every Rental A Car Company, called RAC for short.

There are three main ways to rent a car. Online, Call in, Walk in, and travel agent. The travel agent option is often not the most frugal method, but it can be.  If you have a great relationship with a licensed travel agent, by my guest. They can probably give you as good of advice as I can. Calling to the rental reservations line is another method. Simply call and give them your information of where you are going, when, how many in your party and your age. With this basic information they can give you some ideas to choose from. They will give you examples of what kind of car you can get and for what price. Take notes.

After you decide which car you want, what rate you are paying, you will be given a confirmation number. Write it down. This confirmation number is crucial in proving your point in case the reservation gets lost. Take that confirmation with you as part of your important papers.

Once you arrive at your destination city, you will need to locate the rental counter. There will be signs, if not, ask someone who works at the airport and they will give you directions. In some airports you can walk right to the counter, in others you may need to catch a train or a bus to get to the rental counter. If you have two or more people in your traveling party, it may be better to send one person to get the car and the other person to get the bags. This will save you time if you are comfortable doing so.

At the rental counter, you will be asked for your driver’s license and a credit card. to rent a car, most agencies require some sort of plastic. You are reservation will be looked up by confirmation number, and you will be asked questions about where you will be staying, your home address, contact phone numbers (cell phones are okay), and depending on state law, they may ask for your car insurance card (make sure you bring a copy with you).

If you plan on having someone else drive, there may be a fee and a form to have that person drive. Additional drivers typically need to be 25. Some agencies allow spouses to drive for free. At the counter, they will then ask you about insurance and gas. Insurance you can read about in the lesson called “insurance basics.” Gas is a prepaid tank of gas. What they are trying to do is to get you to prepay for a full tank of gas so you don’t have to fill it up on the way back. Often the prepaid tank per gallon price is the average of the three closest gas stations to the airport, so this isn’t necessarily the worst deal out there, however whether you bring the tank back full, or half full, or bone dry, you pay the same price. So unless you are planning on bringing it bone dry or you really would rather not bother with stopping for convenience, the prepaid gas deal should be declined.

With that you are on your way.  Do a good look-over of the car before you leave. You need to really make sure that the car is in tip top order. Make sure the car is clean and that you know where all the turn signals, the jack, the hazard lights are and are in order before you leave. After you leave the lot is not the time to find something wrong with the car. Remember they see hundreds of cars a day and rely on people like you to tell them when something is wrong. If someone didn’t say something, they may not find it. As you leave, be sure to take note of where the car rental return is, you will need to be there at the end of your trip.

At the end of your trip, fill up the gas and drop off your party at the curb (if it’s more convenient). Drive to the car rental return location and place your car at the designated lanes. There will usually be people pointing to you where to go. Someone may or may not come up to you at the car, look around for a sign that says “please return car inside.” if that’s the case, take the keys and the ending mileage of the car and head into the rental return location. If someone comes up to you, leave the keys in the car and provide that person with the same information. They will provide you a receipt. Before you leave, make sure the price quoted in your reservation is the same as the price on the receipt. If not then do not hesitate to ask immediately. There are some ways to check after the fact, but it’s just better to get it taken care of right away. And with that, you have just completed your first car rental trip!

Cities like Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York, Paris, London and many others have fantastic public transportation systems that are often traveled by tourists to get around. Not only that, these same cities often are difficult to drive in and the parking is expensive, thus municipalities have invested in public transportation for the common folk to get around in this environment. To accentuate the point, lets discuss Waikiki, Hawaii.

Granted, cars are the last thing on your mind when your in the sunshine and surf, but it should be. Parking a Car in Waikiki is starting to edge close to 20 dollars a day just to guarantee a spot for your car to hide when you are not driving around at $3.50 per gallon gas rates. tour junkets and bus rides can get you pretty much anywhere on the island for under 20 bucks a day, so you really only need a car for one or two days for when you go out exploring on your own. If you vacation for a week, cutting down your rental needs from seven to two days can save you as much as 500 dollars in parking, gas, rental, and insurance.

So is it necessary to rent a car? That decision is up to you. Sure, I could tell you that you NEED to rent a car on your trip, but it’s not always that clear cut. After examining your needs and you realize you indeed need a car rental, there are several basic rules of things you need to consider to keep your costs down.

So now you know what and for how long, now les work on the price. These steps are essential to consider for any affordable car rental episode:

1. Agencies vs. Airports. Car rental agencies must pay a fee for operating at the airport. This fee is allowed by law to be passed onto the renter. Renting away from the airport will often yield rates (and tariffs) savings as much as the car rental itself. Often there are car rental agencies near or in your hotel in many of the major tourist areas, so consider finding alternate transportation to and from the airport and rent from an agency.

2. Choose a car that fits your needs, not your eyes. The most common rental class nationwide is the intermediate. Often a compact car will save you 3-5 dollars per day and gets 5-6 miles per gallon more than an intermediate, yet they often seat the same number of people. Also, the cost in buying a compact vs. an intermediate is often nearly the same, so some rental agencies overstock in the mid-size, knowing that they will upgrade you for free into the mid-size car.

3. Consider small market companies. Some smaller companies that operate on and off airport grounds are cheaper and have the same cars as the larger nationwide brethren. Take a peek at that company you’ve never heard of. You may find a gem.

4. Shop around for car rental discount coupons. This is a whole discussion on its own. Many Car rental agencies have discount codes they give to businesses and groups to promote business with that rental agency. Call and ask each rental company if your employer has a discount code. Also ask your favorite club shopping company, entertainment book, Wholesale shopping club, Co-op or insurance company. Often they all have some sort of deal that they can share.

5. Prepaid Gas vs. filling up on your own. Car rental companies often try and get you to buy a full tank of gas at the beginning so you can return it empty. Ever try and empty a car tank? not the easiest thing. The only sure bet is to fill it up yourself. Decline.

6. Rent only when you NEED a car. Self-explanatory.  If you are going to a conference, you don’t need a car for the first three days when you are spending every single daylight hour in the event.

7. Car Rental Insurance. Another  “class on its own”. The best thing to know is that your credit card or your own personal car insurance will likely cover you in case of an incident. Check with both before you go to decide if you need to purchase additional coverage.

8. Remember, the agents work on commission. Although they may seem they have your best interests in mind, do NOT blindly follow their recommendations for add on services. Do your homework and decide in advance before you arrive at the rental counter.

Follow these rules, do your homework, and your car rental costs can be limited greatly to what you really need, instead of what you think you need.

Pretty much every employer that boasts more than 100 employees usually has some sort of discount they can apply for or has already. So if you work for any Government Agency, Big box retailer, fast food chain, Tech Company, sales company, manufacturer, or even janitorial company, it’s likely you qualify for a discount of some sort. Not only do some of these company codes offer discounts on price, some of them offer additional services as well.

Some of the largest companies have negotiated other “perks” into their price. Rental Car Companies like Hertz and Avis cater directly to Businesses and often against each other for the same company. In exchange for signing multi-year guaranteed business deals with some of these corporations, Rental car companies will offer things like free tank of gas, free insurance, no one way fees, or even free upgrades into the Corporate Discount contract. Often if you are an employee with these companies, even if you were just hired and your job duties do not require travel, you qualify just by showing your work badge.

While using some of these codes without proper credentials can cause you to violate some of the car rental agreement, others are openly offered to any person who qualifies with as little as having membership in a particular club or organization. Costco, Sam’s Club, G.E.I.C.O., Citibank Credit cards, even buying the Entertainment Book can lead to some tantalizing coupons in addition to corporate discounts in some instances. Known coupons include free tank of gas, free weekend day, dollar off weekly rentals, free upgrades in car class.

Simply ask your rental company before you begin your travel planning to determine exactly what kind of discount could be available to you. Once you have found a few discount codes that you can use, try obtaining quotes under each qualifying rate. Discount percentages will vary even with the same code depending on type of car, day of week, city, and time of year. Due diligence is a great thing when it comes to searching for travel. An hour plugging in discount codes for car rental companies (even for hotels) could save you hundreds, or even thousands depending on how long the trip is and how many people/vehicles are involved.

Remember that the more effort you put into this search, the more likely you will be to finding a rate that not only works for you on one particular trip, but for all your trips.

Let’s start with the basics. When you go to the counter to rent a car, you are given many options. Some of you may have been wondering “is all of this necessary?” The answer is a resounding “no.” Insurance is not a required purchase in pretty much every state in the nation except Texas (more on this later). However, there are caveats.

First let’s explain what Insurance on car rentals are. There are four things that a car rental agency will try and get you to purchase in this category.

1> Damage to the rental car. For most large rental agencies, the type of coverage is Loss Damage Waiver (LDW). This coverage only covers the rental car itself for damages caused by the renter, regardless of whom or what the rental car hit. In other words, if a rental car hit a tree, the car damage would be taken care of. If the car hit another car, the damage to the rental car would be covered, but the damage to the other car would not. That is liability coverage and will be covered later.

Some of the smaller agencies will actually sell loss damage insurance (LDI) to cover the rental car. This is the same coverage as a LDW, but the fees are paid out to an outside company.

When it comes to LDW vs. LAI, LDW is a better way to go. A Loss damage waiver is just like your best friend saying “it’s okay, don’t worry about it” after you totaled his car. The damage, even total loss, is simply “forgiven.” This is mainly done because many of the car rental agencies are “self-insurers” on their cars. They put their own money into their account each month as an insurance cost line item and pay itself out of that fund for losses.

There are two forms of Loss Damage Waiver, full and partial LDW. Full Waiver in some fashion is available anywhere in the Nation. Partial damage Waiver is just that, a specific dollar amount is covered and no more.

2> Covering other people and property. A second type of coverage offered is the Additional Liability insurance (ALI) or Supplemental Liability Insurance, known as LIS or SLI. These are actual insurance policies up to a specific dollar amount (often 1 Million dollars) that covers you and your authorized drivers for damages to other people’s property and person.

3> Personal Effects. The most inexpensive (and if you ask me indispensable type of insurance is the Personal Effects Protection (PEP) also called the Personal effects coverage (PEC). This insurance covers you and your party against loss due to theft, or accidental damage up to a specific dollar amount. This coverage often extends to the hotel room and anywhere you go during the length of your trip. Typically there is a deductible amount and everything after that amount is paid out as a cash payment until the policy cap is reached (usually less than $2,000) This insurance is usually less than 2 dollars a day.

4> Personal accident protection. This is also rather inexpensive. Usually less than five dollars a day will cover the driver and often the entire traveling party up to $100,000 of accident insurance while traveling in the car. As a bonus, the driver (renter name on the contract) is often covered 24 hours a day for the duration of the trip. This policy is a very good option if you dont have tavel insurance or personal medical insurance that covers you while on your trip. This is a “MUST CONSIDER” item for people from outside the U.S. or while traveling outside the U.S. if you do not have personal travel insurance.

In our next lesson, we will discuss which types of insurance you should consider and when.

*note this information is informational and the Internet sometimes doesn’t change as often as the laws. It is not meant to be legal advice and should not be accepted as such. When renting, double check with a qualified rental agent or insurance agent before relying on this information as a source of legal information.

If you have completed CR104: Car Rental Insurance Basics, then this is part two.

Part two of Rental Car Insurance Basics is about determining your needs for Insurance.

The first question to ask is “do you own a car?” If you do, then it is possible that you may have some liability or even property damage replacement insurance already. Many personal auto insurance policies cover you while driving any car. Check with your company and determine if you will be covered while renting a car in a specific state. Not all insurance companies are licensed to operate everywhere, so do your homework.

Second, as part of these insurance many states require “liability” insurance by law. So if you own a car, you may have the ability to protect yourself, at least to the limit of your policy, from damages that you cause and are legally responsible for. Let’s take the state of Hawaii for example.

Hawaii requires, by law, 20/40/10 of coverage. This means that if you get into a car accident and hurt someone, your insurance will cover up to $20,000 per person injured to pay for medical expenses up to a max of $40,000 total for the accident and your insurance company will reimburse the injured party up to $10,000 for damages to their car or personal property. As you can see, this doesn’t cover much, but it does cover some. If you get into a major accident responsible for a lot of damage to the other party, once these bare minimums are exhausted, you will be sued for the balance. This will work for small accidents, but a major injury causing accident will likely not be sufficient. For those of you who do not have cars or are from outside the country, this will not work. However, there is hope.

Car Rental Agents when offering insurance often completely exaggerate the truth and tell you “you don’t have any coverage”, especially if you don’t own a car yourself. This is far from the truth in most states. Those same laws that require insurance for you to own a car also apply to the car rental agencies! This means, in Hawaii for example, each and every car you rent must, by law, have the same 20/40/10 coverage for each and every car they own. Click here for a link to a list of coverage required by all states (note-in some states, lawmakers have put in laws that speak directly to the car rental industry). Quite the revelation, I know. But there’s more my friend.

It’s not impossible, but extremely difficult to rent a car without a credit card (or debit card). Many of these credit cards (and even some of the debit cards) offer some sort of car rental and travel insurance as part of the “annual membership fee.” On top of that, some even offer extended car rental insurance. this extended insurance is on top of state law required and the card member basic insurance. It can be a godsend, but there are some restrictions. For the credit card to cover the rental, the car must be paid for by the card. Other rules may apply so contact your credit card company for all the rules and regulations for this type of coverage.

Another way to go is to buy travel insurance. This is kind of self-explanatory so I will not talk too much about this, however I do suggest that you make sure the particular travel insurance you select includes rental cars, as not all policies cover car rentals.

After going through this informational lesson, you can see that insurance is kind of a mish-mash of rules that vary widely by state. Be sure to do your homework or to make sure you are covered by another method.

*note this information is informational and the Internet sometimes doesn’t change as often as the laws. It is not meant to be legal advice and should not be accepted as such. When renting, double check with a qualified rental agent or insurance agent before relying on this information as a source of legal information.

If you had an accident and have already returned the car and are wondering “what’s next?”, click here

If you are on this topic, then something has gone wrong for you.  If not, this is a good topic to read anyway.  It will give you a quick “what to do” if you have an accident.

I am going to assume that the proper steps of contacting the police and exchanging information has occurred.  If you do not know what I am talking about, visit this link here.   If you are confused, call your car rental company and ask for advice.  Most car rental companies have a roadside assistance line where people who are trained in this situation can give you basic advice.  Essentially, this is what you do:

• Notify the police (if more than a minor fender bender, approx. 500 in damage) and ambulance if necessary.
• Exchange information and insurance cards.  Rental cars will have some sort of insurance card with the car.
• Do not admit fault to anyone.  Everything you say can be used against you.
• Call the car rental company and tell them you have been in an accident.
• They will ask you to fill out a form.  Usually there is a copy of the form in the car, or available at their website.  Here is a link to the Avis form for example.
• Depending on the condition of the car, the rental company may want you to exchange it for another car.   When you report this, discuss it with the agency at that time.  Once again, never admit fault.

You may continue your trip with as little worry as possible.  They will not ask for money immediately.  If they ask for information you do not know, get a number where you can call them back when you get home and give them that information.  The worst case scenario is they mail you a bill 1 month later for damages.  At that time, you can submit it to your insurance companies as necessary.

After the end of your trip, see the next topic of “now what.”

Since you have already had an accident and reported the incident to your rental car company, there are a few things that you still need to do, or maybe not.

1. Report the accident to your insurance company.  While this may seem redundant if you have car rental insurance or some other add on policy, there are very compelling reasons to report it.

Your insurance company is your advocate, your attorney. In a sense you have already paid them a retainer to help you if you are in an accident.  Get your money’s worth.  If it’s a small fender bender, less than 500 dollars damage, it’s likely that there is not going to be any sort of issue.  Some people may question the wisdom of reporting a car accident to your insurance company even though you have already paid for/have coverage to pay for a car accident outside your insurance such as credit card or travel insurance.  I, personally, have learned the hard way that if you are at fault, there are people out there that will take advantage of your situation.

Depending on state law, a particular order of payment may apply.  in my state, my personal insurance is primary, no matter what.  So if I get into an accident with my rental car in state, my insurance carrier must pay for all damages, minus deductible, before any other coverage will take place.  *note:  This is ANOTHER good reason why loss damage waiver is better than loss damage insurance.  It’s technically “not a claim”, so they are not required by law to wait for the primary insurer to pay off first.

2. The version of the rental agreement that applies to you is the version handed to you at the time of rental.

To use an over the top example, let’s say one rental agreement said nothing about driving on a particular highway.  On January 1, they changed the rental agreement forbidding travel on that highway.  You rent a car on January 15th and drive on that highway, getting into an accident.  The rental car company, credit card Company, and your insurance carrier will all refuse to pay for the accident because you violated the rental agreement.  But let’s say the agency forgot to throw out the old brochures and gave you a rental agreement that did not speak to travel on that highway.  You are bound to THAT agreement and the rental agency will have a hard time convincing any judge or jury that you violated the car rental agreement.  Once you are legally found to have not violated the rental agreement, the insurance company cannot refuse your claim on that basis.  So keep your paperwork and treat it like tax paperwork.   Keep it for a few years, or at least until all claims have been satisfied.

3. Most confusing and muddling part of the whole accident in a rental car is the “loss of use” clause.  This is where the car rental company tries to charge you for market rates for the time the car is unusable to the rental car company.  This is in the rental agreement, it’s a legal cost, and it may or may not be covered by the myriad of coverage you possess.  However, there is some hope.

In order for a car rental company to obtain loss of use payment in many states, the rental company must prove that the class of car you damaged sold out during the period starting with when you returned the damaged car until that car is back in service and available for rent.  In other words, the burden of proof is on the rental company to prove that they needed that car and had it been in service it would have earned income for the business.  Let me tell you, this is virtually impossible to prove.  Rental car companies have thousands of cars.  It’s extremely rare to rent a car out 100% ever.

The rental car will try and do a percentage calculation.  They will claim that that particular car class was rented 80% capacity during that timeframe, so they will charge you 80% of the total costs during that time.  Want to hear some good news?  When I reversed my rental car into a wall before I was with the rental company, I submitted my personal insurance (by law as primary) and the car rental insurance benefit of my American Express card as secondary.  Both American Express and Progressive insurance straight out laughed when they saw the “loss of use” charge and said “do not worry, were not paying that.  Let them prove it.”

Before you pony up the loss of use, consider your options.  This is yet ANOTHER reason why you pay your car insurance.  They don’t flinch when it comes to the letter of the law and what they can prove.

Additional drivers must be at least age 25.  It doesn’t matter how old the renter is, the additional driver must be 25 or older to drive.  The one exception would be that some agencies allow employees of the same company on a business trip to drive only if the rental is part of a valid business trip AND the company as previously negotiated for underage drivers and additional drivers as part of their corporate discount perks.  (Example, Microsoft at one time had driving privileges for all renters and drivers on Microsoft sponsored business for age 18 and over).

In order to rent a car, you must have a sufficient enough driving record.  The same applies to the additional driver and the agency may check (Avis, for example, pays a third party to run abstracts on every driver electronically and compare it against a specific set of criteria.

The additional driver must be declared and proper paperwork filled out.

Most agencies charge for additional drivers., typically between $15-25 daily. If you do NOT properly declare an additional driver, you will have violated the rental agreement and should any damages happen to the car, no insurance company in the world will pay out on your claim.

Great! so now what?  Well there are a few authorized driver scenarios which may apply to you, depending on which company you are with and the purpose of your trip.

Some companies allow employees on a business trip to drive as an additional driver without charge and without an an additional driver form.  The trip, however for the renter and the employee needs to be paid for by the company as proof in the event that an accident or damage to the vehicle occurs.  This info is only used to verify that the contract was not violated.

Some companies allow spouses to drive without additional paperwork.  This is a great thing and I don’t know why all agencies follow this rule.

Domestic partners are often NOT considered spouses.  There is one HUGE caveat To the best of my knowledge, there is only one rental company that currently allows domestic partners as spouses for driving privileges.  That company is Avis Rent A Car.  It is a truly ‘no questions asked’ policy, however in case of an accident, Avis will ask for proof the domestic partnership.  Usually a government issued ID with same address on it, plus a credit card bill or utility bill in each other’s names verifying residence is all that is needed.  This being said I have heard that some locations still aren’t as versed as others in this practice, so having some of that paperwork for you at the time of rental may not be a bad idea.

For the most part the guaranteed rental allowable age nationwide is 25 years old. Car Rental Companies get away with this sort of “age discrimination” because there is a clearly an established business “border” in the insurance industry. Based on submitted claims, the troublesome high risk driving apparently gets worked out of our system by age 25. While for some this is truly false, the greater majority of the driving world seems to adhere to these averages. As a result, they simply refuse to do business with people under the age of 25.

Starting about 10-15 years ago, Car Rental Agencies began to realize that they were restricting the business. If they wanted to grow the business and develop some loyalty, they needed to start younger. Someone who couldn’t rent a car at their age suddenly gets told “yes we will take you,” that kind of support leads to greater brand loyalty. Remember that word….Brand Loyalty.

So nowadays, most rental car companies will allow rentals to those who are 21-24 years of age. These agencies end up charging an “underage fee” or some sort of tariff that is usually assessed daily. This fee is usually around 20-30 dollars a day. To find out what the age requirements your destination has, simply call the toll free number for each company and ask about your destination. Also, you can hit the Internet check out other companies. Some smaller companies allow renters under the age of 21 for a special fee and 21-24 at normal rates. Also, some cities, like New York City, have specific laws allowing car rentals to anyone 18 and over.

Priceline.com, Hotwire.com and other car rental discounters offer another way for underage renters to obtain cars. These services are prepaid and actually have a way of declaring your age before you purchase the car rental days. As part of the process, they ask to declare if any of the drivers are “between 21-24 years of age”. It will be more expensive than those who are 25 or older for the same rental days, but it will allow you to rent, declare age, and save some money in the process.

A third way to rent cars when your underage is to check and see if your company has a discount code with a particular rental car company. Some companies offer underage rentals (as young as 18) if they are employees of specific companies while on company trips (and even while on personal vacation). A fantastic example of such a discount code is U.S. Military discount codes. Some rental companies rent to anyone in the Armed Forces age 18 or older. Typically, the major national companies will rent to active duty military personnel who are on orders to travel to that city/location for official business including relocating to a city.

So as you can see, there are many ways to approach this problem, but nowadays it’s simply easy to find a company to rent to you if you are at least 21 years of age. It then becomes a question of cost, not “if”.

Take for instance, upgrades. When you rent a specific car class for pickup on a specific day, in reality unless it’s a specialty car, you are just renting a car, not the specific car class. Let me explain.

Car Rental Agencies spend a great deal of money studying the human mind and how it works. They want to be able to predict what people will do on any given day so that they may best utilize their investment (cars). One thing has shown in these studies is that people are always looking for a bargain, or a perceived bargain. They have it down to a science. The problem is, not all of their agents are as in tune with the game plan as the computers. Find Great Deals on Rental Cars!

Some basics first. Car rental agents work on commission. Yes they get an hourly wage, but they supplement it with sales, or more importantly, upsells of products that the car agency sells. This metric or measurement category is relayed in the form of a number or Dollars per rental day. To break that down, if you were renting a car for 10 days and they upsold you from a compact car to a full size car for 10 dollars per day, that agent’s “dollars per day” upgrade number would be $10.00. Each agent is required to maintain a specific dollar amount to avoid sanctions but usually that number is set low and usually driven by greed. The more upgrades, the more money they get. If they reach certain benchmarks their payouts hit “multipliers”. If an agent averages$5 per rental day, instead of paying out a commission at normal level the company may pay them 1,25x the normal commission level.

Now that you know how they get paid, it’s time to learn how to turn this to your advantage. It is advantageous to upgrade as many people as possible to higher class cars on most occasions. Since smaller cars are easier to rent, agents want to keep those available for another type of commission payout, the “walk-up customer”. . More on that later.

Most agents will try and offer an upgrade at anywhere from 10-25 dollars per day for an upgrade. Upgrades could come from any car class to any other car class above. You could go from a subcompact to a full size, a full size to a van, a mid-size to a convertible, it really doesn’t matter. They will often quote the same price. Pay attention to the market. If you really wanted that convertible, but they were renting at 75.00 per day online when you booked your subcompact at $40 per day, taking a convertible for $10 a day upgrade is a GREAT deal. At least it appears on paper.

What MOST people don’t know is that 10-25 dollar upgrade number is pure fantasy. As far as the rental car company is concerned, operationally it would be better to get that convertible off the lot rather than let it sit there waiting for the right price customer to come by. Each and every car sitting on the lot is costing the rental car company at least 15 dollars a day to sit idle. Since the car you are currently reserved for is likely an easy sell to other people (and often overbooked intentionally to take advantage of this fact), they are willing to take ANY dollar amount for that car

Sure, there are agents whom are literally too money hungry to give up the car at low ball rates, but it is indeed possible. This works especially well at the end of the month when agents are just barely below the next threshold for their multiplier. Giving up a little on their average revenue per rental day in exchange for sheer volume could push them over the top and double, or triple their monthly commission.

Oh, and one more thing, any agent, and I mean any agent can give you any car on the lot, pretty much without any risk of penalty. Sweet talking agents, bribing them with food (even a well-placed gratuity) can get you into a much costlier vehicle on the cheap, especially if you are a regular renter at that facility. Some agents have lists of who’s naughty and who’s nice. If you are on their “nice list”, I see the hottest cars for cheap in your future.