Ever been confused by the rental lengths used in the car rental industry? What is a weekend rate, a daily rate or a weekly rate? What about an extra day rate? Our car rental expert does his best to explain the different lengths of rental for the rental car industry.
Daily Rate, Grace Period, Hourly Rates
A typical rental car contract is based first on a 24 hour clock. Therefore, if you pick the up the vehicle at Noon on the first day, you will be charged for a single day as long as you return it before Noon on the second day. Once you pass the 24-hour (after Noon) threshold, one of three things will happen.
- You will be given a "grace" period by the car rental company. The "grace" period allows you to return the vehicle up to a certain time after the 24 hours has passed. This is typically around 1 hour. So, in this case, if you return the vehicle before 1 PM on the next day, you will still just be charged for the one day rental.
- You will be charged an hourly rate. Once you pass the grace period, you will be charged an hourly rate up until the sum of that hourly rate reaches the value of the existing daily rate. For E-Z Rent-A-Car, the hourly rate is determined by dividing the daily rate by three. Therefore, for each hour after Noon, up until 3 PM, you will be charged the hourly rate.
- You will be charged for an additional day. Once you pass the grace period and hourly rate period, the 24 hour cycle comes back and the daily rate starts over again.
Weekly Rates
Longer period of rentals (say a six day car rental in Miami), usually utilize a weekly rate vs. a daily rate. While the daily rate is self-explanatory (the rate applies to each day you rent the vehicle), the weekly rate can vary between car rental companies and locations. The average weekly rate would encompass a 5 day rental to a 7 day rental. Therefore, the weekly rate applies to the entire length of that period (as long as you stay less than 8 days), instead of being charged for each rental day. If your rental is longer than one week, then one of two things would happen.
- You would be charged the weekly rate plus a daily rate for the days remaining after the original week. This would apply as long as the remainder is less than a week itself.
- You would be charged another weekly rate. If the remainder of days (total days - 7) fits the definition for another week, then the weekly rate would be applied again.
We would love to hear any additional questions you have in the calculation and definition of rates. Feel free to comment below!
