Costco car rental price increased AFTER booking!

[holyrita]

As many of us on here do, I book my rental car through Costco Travel and monitor the price up until our trip to get the best rate. When there's a lower price available I'll book it, go to my bookings, and cancel the older/more expensive reservation.

Our December trip is quickly approaching () and thankfully our rate has started to come down. I keep spreadsheet with all of our confirmation numbers, dates, rental company, price, etc., and always update it after I book a new rate and cancel the older reservation. A few days ago I noticed the booking I was cancelling was showing as a higher price than when I initially booked it. Thought it was strange but I didn't look into it, assumed it was a weird glitch.

Cut to today.. another price drop on a different reservation than the previous one, which meant booking the new and cancelling the old. Well, what would you know, this reservation I was cancelling was ALSO more than it was when I booked it! So I went through all six of my existing upcoming reservations and lo and behold.. they're all more than they were when I booked them. Before anyone asks if its possible if I made a mistake on my spreadsheet, I had the same thought. So I took the Costco confirmation numbers, searched my email inbox to find the original email confirmation and confirmed the original price was indeed less than what's showing as current total on all reservations.

The original reservations were booked between February and August of this year and were reservations with Budget, Avis and Alamo. Then I noticed every reservation was increased by the same amount.. $18.64. With the increase happening across different rental companies parent companies I can only assume Costco made a change. No idea why, maybe to increase their margins? I don't know but I think it's very weird they made changes to existing reservations without any communication or notification.

Why am I sharing this over a less than $20 increase? Not sure to be honest but wanted to share because I thought I was going crazy! Maybe someone else will notice this happened to them

 

[holyrita]

OF COURSE right after I post this I find a Costco Travel help center article that addresses this exact thing :

Can my rental car price change once it's reserved?
The "Car Rental" price (base rate) will not change, but taxes and fees are subject to change. Since there is no payment taken at the time of booking, taxes can fluctuate until the car is picked up. Any tax fluctuations are outside the control of Costco Travel.

I confirmed that the base rate stayed the same for all my reservations but the increase was indeed under "Taxes & Fees".

Source in case anyone is interested:
https://costco-travel-us-mbr.custhe...my-rental-car-price-change-once-its-reserved?

 

[AprilsZoo]

Could it reflect a new tax or fee that has recently gone into effect?

Edit… ha ha… posted simultaneously

 

[otterlychaotic]

I noticed something similar with one of my reservations as well. If you look at the original price and the increased one, the change will be in the taxes and fees part, not the actual rental rate.

While I think it is possible that Costco is doing it, it seems more likely that it is the airport, city, or county that has either raised the tax rate or fees assessed to rental cars since the booking was made. Costco has a section about possible reasons for a price to increase but I do not have it readily available right now.

 

[SteveMouse]

Another real possibility is that there has been an increase in a user fee/tax, such as a daily $2.92 airport fee. That's a change in tax, not the rental rate, so the car company technically isn't changing the price of the rental.

 

[SteveMouse]

Another real possibility is that there has been an increase in a user fee/tax, such as a daily $2.92 airport fee. That's a change in tax, not the rental rate, so the car company technically isn't changing the price of the rental.

 

[ilikecarrentals]

Is it this: The Board also reviewed and approved an increase in the Customer Facility Charge (CFC) that is added to every rental car contract at Orlando International Airport. Effective November 1, 2023, the fee will change from $3.50 to $6.00 per day for a maximum of seven days.?

 

[holyrita]

Is it this: The Board also reviewed and approved an increase in the Customer Facility Charge (CFC) that is added to every rental car contract at Orlando International Airport. Effective November 1, 2023, the fee will change from $3.50 to $6.00 per day for a maximum of seven days.?

It does appear to be exactly this!! My increases were each $18.64 and all my reservations were for 7 days. The daily fee change from $3.50 to $6.00, so a $2.50 difference. $2.50 x 7 days is $17.50. Tax on that brings it to... $18.64

Thank you @ilikecarrentals !

 

[Leigh L]

Yep! Math works the same for mine too. Thank you for the heads up!

 

[Ralph&Pam]

That’s a rather healthy increase in the Customer Facility Charge (71%)! I’ll have to recheck pick-up at the Car Care Center and see how rates compare now.