Hidden Fees in Car Rental: How to Avoid Paying Double
The price you see online for a car rental is not the price you will pay. The difference comes from fees, insurance products and add-ons that appear only at the counter — or buried in the fine print of the contract. Here are the most common ones, with the numbers, and how to avoid each.
CDW and the excess (the industry's most expensive "free" thing)
Almost every rental includes CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) — the basic damage insurance. It sounds good, but it comes with an excess: the amount you pay out of pocket if the car is damaged. This can be anywhere between €500 and €2,000, and it is blocked on your card as a deposit at collection.
What happens in practice: you scratch the bumper in a car park → you pay €800 from your card → the company repairs the bumper for €150 → the difference stays with them. This is legal, because you signed the contract with the excess clause.
How to avoid it: buy a third-party excess waiver (insurance4carhire, iCarhireinsurance, or RentalCover) before collecting the car. It costs €3–8 per day instead of €15–30 at the counter, and it reduces your excess to zero. The counter staff will push their own product — politely decline.
The airport surcharge (10–15% extra)
Rental companies pay a concession fee to the airport for access to the terminal. You end up paying it, labelled as an "airport surcharge" — 10–15% added to the total, typically not shown prominently in the initial search results.
How to avoid it: collect from a city-centre location instead of the airport. Get there by Uber or taxi (€10–20) and save €50–100+ on the surcharge for a week's rental. Some companies even offer a free shuttle from the terminal to their off-airport lot.
The maths: if your rental is €300 for a week, the airport surcharge adds €30–45. The Uber to the city location costs €12. You save €18–33 net, plus you avoid the often chaotic airport car-rental queue.
Young driver fee (under 25)
Under 25 years old? Add €5–15 per day. On a 10-day rental, that is €50–150 purely for being the "wrong" age.
How to avoid it: realistically, you cannot with most major chains. Some smaller or local companies do not charge it — worth comparing on a platform that shows the true total price (including the young driver fee) rather than just the base rate.
Some credit cards with car rental benefits waive the young driver fee — check your card's terms.
GPS: €70–105 per week for something your phone already does
The in-car GPS at the counter costs €10–15 per day. On a 7-day rental, that is €70–105. Your phone does exactly the same thing, for free.
How to avoid it: use Google Maps or Waze on your phone. If you are travelling outside the EU and do not want to use roaming data, get a local eSIM with data for €5–10 (see best eSIM by destination), or download offline maps for your destination before you leave.
If you genuinely want a physical mount, a phone holder costs €10 on Amazon. That is your one-time investment.
The fuel policy trap
There are two main fuel policies. Understand the difference before signing:
| Policy | How it works | What you actually pay |
|---|---|---|
| Full-to-full | Collect full, return full | Only what you used, at petrol station prices |
| Pre-purchase fuel | Pay for a full tank upfront (at company prices), return empty | More than you use — you can never empty it exactly |
| Full-to-empty | Collect full, return empty — fuel included in price | Built into the rental price, usually expensive |
Always choose full-to-full. The pre-purchase option sounds convenient but you always lose fuel you paid for — nobody returns a car with a perfectly empty tank. The company keeps the surplus.
A practical note on returning full: find a petrol station within 2–3 km of the drop-off point when you are navigating to the return location. Returning the car even 10% below full with a full-to-full contract can result in a surcharge of €20–40 at the company's higher per-litre rate.
Additional charges to watch for
Beyond the major ones, a full contract can include:
One-way fee: Collecting in Split, returning in Dubrovnik, or collecting at Heathrow and returning at Gatwick — many companies charge €30–80+ for this. Some include one-way within the same country for free. Always check at booking, not at the counter.
Cross-border fee: Driving from Italy into Slovenia, or from Greece into Albania — many rental contracts prohibit this or charge €10–30 per country, plus a requirement for additional insurance. If your trip involves multiple countries, declare this at booking and verify it is allowed.
Mileage limits: Some cheap tariffs include a cap of 200–300 km per day, with excess charged at €0.20–0.50 per km. This is rarely an issue for city rentals but becomes significant on road trips. Check the daily mileage allowance before you book.
Child seats and accessories: €5–15 per day each. If you need a child seat for a 10-day trip, that is €50–150 — worth buying a lightweight travel seat (€25–50) if you travel with young children regularly.
Toll charges: some companies rent a toll transponder for €5–15/day rather than you paying individually. On routes with few tolls it is not worth it. On routes like the French péage system or Croatian motorways, check the maths.
Insurance for tyres, windscreen and undercarriage: these are often not covered by basic CDW and are sold separately at €3–8/day each. A third-party excess waiver from a specialist (mentioned above) often covers these automatically — another reason the specialist product beats the counter product.
The counter script (and how to respond)
Here is what the counter agent will say, and the appropriate response:
"I see your booking includes basic insurance only — for just €X per day I can upgrade you to our Full Protection." → "No thank you, I have my own excess insurance arranged."
"We are low on your car category — would you like to upgrade for €Y per day?" → "I will take what I booked. If you need to upgrade me because of unavailability, there is no additional charge."
"Would you like to pre-purchase your fuel? Then you can return the car empty and not worry." → "No, I will use full-to-full. Can you confirm the tank is full now?"
"Our GPS is very useful in this region — just €Z per day." → "No thank you, I will use my phone."
Being prepared for these questions takes the pressure off. The counter agent is not your enemy — they have upsell targets — but you are not obliged to buy anything beyond what you booked.
How to compare car rental prices properly
The price shown in the initial search results on most platforms is the base rate — before airport surcharges, taxes, young driver fees, and mandatory insurance add-ons. Here is how to compare properly:
- Search on a comparison platform (GetRentacar, DiscoverCars, Rentalcars) that shows the total price including mandatory fees
- Set your age correctly — this triggers the young driver fee where applicable
- Enter the correct collection location — airport vs. city centre gives you different prices
- Check the fuel policy before comparing — two prices can only be compared if the fuel policy is the same
- Read the included insurance — is CDW included? What is the excess?
- Factor in your own excess insurance (€3–8/day from a specialist) to get the true comparison
The cheapest initial price is very rarely the cheapest final cost.
Before you collect: a practical checklist
- Print or download the confirmation with booking reference
- Have your third-party excess insurance confirmation ready
- Bring the credit card used at booking (most companies require the same card)
- At collection: photograph every panel of the car, all four sides, plus roof and wheels
- Send the photos to yourself by email immediately — timestamped proof
- Verify the fuel level on the contract matches actual (full or noted level)
- Confirm the mileage shown on the odometer matches the contract
- Get the direct number for the rental company's roadside assistance before driving away
Photographing the car thoroughly at collection is the single most important protection you have. Damage disputes happen — having timestamped photos from before you drove eliminates them.
Related guides
- Car rental in Greece 2026 — what to know — country-specific tips for one of the most popular rental destinations
- Croatia road trip: Split to Dubrovnik — one-way rental and what to expect
- Best eSIM for Europe 2026 — skip the GPS rental, use your phone with a local data plan
- Travel insurance guide — how car rental insurance fits into your overall travel cover
Întrebări frecvente
- What is the CDW excess and why does it matter?
- CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) is the basic insurance included in the price, but it comes with an excess — the amount you pay out of pocket if you damage the car. The excess can be €500–2,000, blocked on your card as a deposit at collection. You can reduce the excess to zero with a third-party excess insurance (far cheaper than what the counter offers).
- Is the extra insurance at the counter worth it?
- Almost never. Counter insurance costs €15–30 per day and is the rental industry's biggest upsell. A third-party excess waiver from a specialist (e.g. insurance4carhire, iCarhireinsurance, RentalCover) costs 3–5 times less for the same cover and the same period.
- What is the 'full-to-full' fuel policy?
- You collect the car with a full tank and return it full. It is the fairest option — you pay only for what you use, at petrol station prices. The alternative 'pre-purchase fuel' means you pay for a full tank at collection (at the company's price, higher than a petrol station) and return the car empty — but you never manage to empty it exactly, so you always lose paid fuel.
- Why is collecting at the airport more expensive?
- Airports charge rental companies a concession fee for access to the terminal, parking and counter space. Companies pass this cost directly to you — as an 'airport surcharge' of 10–15% added to the total. Collecting from a city-centre location avoids the surcharge, but you need to get there from the airport.
- What does a one-way fee mean?
- A one-way fee applies when you collect the car in one city and return it in another. It can be anywhere from €30 to over €100, depending on the company and distance. Some companies include one-way within the same country for free — check at booking, not at the counter.
- Can I use my credit card insurance instead of buying CDW cover?
- Some premium credit cards (Visa Signature, Mastercard World Elite, Amex Gold) include car rental insurance as a benefit. However, you typically need to pay the full rental on that card, decline the rental company's CDW, and the cover is secondary (it kicks in after other insurance). Check your card's terms carefully — exclusions vary and not all rental companies accept card insurance.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Our recommendations stay honest.