'Grace Period' on Weekly Rentals

[jjohns]

We planning to rent a car out of Tampa for our 1 week (plus a few hours) trip to WDW.

My question is... do the car rental agencies have 'official' grace periods for rental return? We arrive about 12:30, so I expect to get the car around 1. We depart at 4:30, so I expect to be returning the car around 3. 1 Week + 2 hours...

Should I book this as a 1 week rental, and just return a bit late? Or as a 1 Week + 2 Hour rental? Or as an 8-day return and return quite early (I noticed that Dollar gave me a better total price on an 8-day than the 7 day + 2 hour - wierd!).

TIA, Jeff

 

[safetymom]

You have a grace period of 1 hr. with most places. I travel for business a lot and learned that the hard way. After an hour they start charging you by the hour and your cost could be much higher than if you just rented it for another day.

 

[kda]

There seems to be some variation between rental car companies, so it's probably a good idea to call and ask them. One company we use allows 2 hours grace period. Another allows none.

 

[lawgs]

national allows "59 minute" grace period

 

[CarolA]

Keep in mind that once you pass the grace period you are charged for all hours. So if you return 3 hours late and the grace period is two, you get charged for all 3 hours not just the one over the grace period.