Why is a car rental from CLT for one day so expensive?
 

I am trying to reserve a car for less than 24 hours from CLT for March 25-26. The cheapest I am getting is around $75! I used Kayak, Priceline, Hotwire, Carrentals.com...any suggestions for how to get a lower price but from the airport (I don't want to take a bus off site, just want this to be as easy as possible). I can use AA miles but that seems excessive (!4K) for just paying outright. Thanks!

I would guess that there are high taxes, and maybe they also tag on a standard charge for "handling", cleaning, checking out, and in that is applied once so it isn't as noticeable on a longer rental.

See what the car you want would cost if you kept the rental for a week, not even double what one day is for some companies.

Or is there a big event in that area on your dates?

Try Hotwire. We've had good luck getting better prices there.

I called Alamo and that guy said that on Monday and Tuesday there are a lot of business travelers so prices are higher. It's crazy! I'm afraid of Sixt (never heard of it) and there are bad reviews for Ace and Advantage (the other lower cost companies). I may just use miles thru my Chase Sapphire card.

HappyiTrvlr, the OP DID check Hotwire.

I'd agree that some of the fees are likely a flat fee, that spread over several days would seem insignificant, but all on one day really jacks up the total price.

Sixt is a well known company in Europe. I wouldn't hesitate booking with them.

Saw a post on TripAdvisor about surprisingly high rental car rates at CLT. Checked it out myself and seems to be true. Some days, they're reasonable, but other you're looking at $75 to $100/day which doesn't make a lot of sense.

Don't really know why that is, but there is a lot of construction going on at CLT and around the rental car lots (they will ultimately be relocated to new parking decks just across from the terminal - a significant improvement). I wonder if the construction is limiting the amount of inventory the car companies can maintain at this time.

>>I'm afraid of Sixt (never heard of it) <<

One of the largest rental companies in the world . . . .

I just used my points....I have several thousand...now I'm worried about even getting there with the impending nor'easter allegedly on its way!

Lots of things go on in Charlotte on any given business day. A daily rate almost anywhere is outlandish. I think you need to just deal with it--really.

Gee thanks, Gretchen. I do know how to deal with it. I was simply asking a question.

In the end I used points with my Chase Sapphire Card BUT it would have been $49.50 if I paid full price with the card. No extra taxes. This was with Budget. They were really nice and it was very easy to take the shuttle to the rental lot.

Sorry, that came across snarky. I did mean that one day rentals are almost always REALLY expensive and not many ways to get around it. But it sounds like you might have gotten a pretty good price in the end (without points?), and it is interesting there weren't add ons, 'cause Charlotte has a lot of them. I'll add a ;o) this time.

I got a great deal and I don't know what you mean by add-ons, but I was only there for 24 hours and this was my 9th trip there since October so I've covered a lot of grounds. Thank you for the apology. Accepted.

Same Ole Gretchen.
I travel to Charlotte a lot now and normally I can get a Standard Size care from $25 to $50 a day depending on what is going on in Charlotte that week. This is without Priceline.

So there you are.