"So, should I give myself an extra hour now to return the rental car? Or should I pick an agency that doesn't apply the grace period rule willy-nilly?"

How about just returning the car on time so you don't have to worry if they'll give you the grace period?

I'm glad I didn't have to witness the sad spectacal of you flying into a rage and reeming out the employee over a matter of $8. She probably noted in your file that they waived the charges because they needed to get a psycho out of the office.

Return the car on time. They initially failed to honor thier agreement, but guess what? So did you.

Wow people. Who said she flew into a rage. She called and was told to not worry about it, then was charged. That is enough to make anyone question a manager.

My solution is a set the return time as my flight time. Usually the rental cost is based on full days, and unless you leave at the exact same hour you arrived, then you are fine. For example, pick a car up at 4pm, leaving on a 2pm flight. I'd have the return time as 2pm. Won't cost me anymore than if I had said noon, and I only feel rushed by security, not fears of an additional charge.

I agree that after they originally said they would waive the charge that she was correct in asking them to take it off. At the same time, it would never occur to me to expect a grace period in the first place. If the car was due back at noon and they specifically told me I would be charged extra if I was late, then I would accept the late fee. I don't see why I should expect them to waive the fee because of my own incompetence.

The tightening grace period is another example of how rental car (and all travel) companies are finding ways to maximize revenue. Right now, there are differences among companies, so it's a legitimate factor to consider when other things are equal.

First, to answer the question - you should pick the company that honors its word. A policy of 'we can apply the policy if we feel like it' doesn't cut it. If you don't care about the grace period, then there are a number of companies that clearly state they have none. If you want the comfort (or ability to game the system, to take the cynical view expressed above), then choose a company with a grace period written into the terms and conditions, like Alamo.

A second question - Andrea, did you peg your return to the time you planned to get to the airport? Since you generally have to rent in 24-hour cycles (hourly charges become daily in a couple of hours, usually), then it makes sense to give yourself a huge pad for the return - for example, if you pick up at 7 p.m. and your return flight is at noon a couple of days later, then there's usually no difference between setting a 11 a.m. return and a 7 p.m. return. No reason there not to give yourself your own grace period - by, for example, booking the return for early afternoon even if you get to the airport at 11.

I've lived in DC for 15 years and I still get lost. Heck, for the first 6 months I was here I thought 66 and the Dulles Toll Road were the same thing. So I am sympathetic to your story about getting lost.

That said, you were in a strange city and needed to return a car on a deadline. Ever done any contingency planning? Return the car on time or pay the $8, regardless of what some poor person on the phone told you. These people don't make enough money to be harrassed over $8. You should be embarrassed that you caused such a stink over something that was your own fault.

Yeah, I'm also not so sympathetic. Why cut it so close on the return time? (Although obviously you're right that they shouldn't tell you one thing on the phone, then something else in person.)

I cringe when I think of this low wage, probably single mother taking a beating from you with your rant and your righteous anger and your calling other customers pie eaters and your jumping suppliers over $8. I hope you told her how important you were because you worked for the TRAVEL SECTION of the WASHINGTON POST.

What is wrong with all the comments today? Did you people wake up on the wrong side of the bed? This was called a "Monday Rant" - not rant at the writer. Nowhere does Andrea Sachs write that she yelled, threatened or abused the person she dealt with or that she was taking advantage of anything. It dealt with a simple travel problem and how she tried to resolve it.

Talk about not understanding customer service.

I agree with the two comments about setting the return time of the car to the departing flight time. That is what I always do. But I do have a comment about getting lost on the way to the airport.

I just came back from a business trip to Toronto. I had the use of a car on the company's card. I did not pick the car up myself. I had met another person at the airport when I arrived and we took a taxi to the hotel. The cars were at the hotel.

Since the hotel was a good half hour drive from the airport, I figured that I would top off the tank close to the airport. I ended up getting gas, then getting lost and driving in circles for 20 minutes before I found the rental car return area!!!!!! Luckily I left the hotel an hour and a half prior to the time I wanted to get to the airport, because of bad weather and traffic!! Fortunately the roads were clear and the traffic was flowing smoothly.

Can we please stop characterizing me as some psychotic, rageful person shouting at some poor lamb of a rental car agent? I did not yell, shout or turn purple in the face. I calmly described the series of events to the agent.
Also, I did allow myself a suitable amount of time, but, hey, I'm human and I got lost. I would not have cared about the extra charge if the agent on the phone had not informed me of the grace period.
In addition, what kind of grand generalization is that Tom: "low wage, probably single mother." She looked to me as if she were a college student, probably making some extra cash. And I am sure I did not look like a travel writer, but rather a confused traveler--which I was.

Don't blame the coordinates or rant about it any other day. Would it really have helped to have some arbitrary street naming system with trees, presidents, or states? I moved to SLC from Maryland and found the coordinates to be very helpful. You can imagine where any point is from any other point in town. For instance, I don't know what hotel is at 423 West 300 South, but I know that it is 33 blocks north and 27 blocks west of my house. I could find it without Mapquest.

One last thought, we actually treat the streets as if they were street names. You were on "3rd south" not 300 south.

Here's a more bizarre situation - about 5 yrs ago, renting with Alamo's DCA location, I'd had a car rented since about Wednesday and was due to bring the car back on a Saturday or Sunday (can't remember which, any more) at about 11am. Instead, I came back earlier than expected, on the evening before, at about 10:30pm. Alamo tried to charge me an additional $100 for bringing the car back EARLY, on the grounds that I'd booked the car using a special weekend rate (this was the first time I'd heard of the "special" rate) and, by returning it early, had to pay a supplemental amount to rent the car at their normal rate.

Then, of course, while I talked with one of the supervisors, they wanted to take the car off to be cleaned so that it could be reused immediately. I wouldn't give up the keys, because it was worth $100 dollars to me to take the dumb car home to MD and schlep it back to VA in the morning. They backed down after about 45 minutes, finally realizing that they wanted to reuse the car more than they wanted to charge me the fee. Ridiculous. I haven't used Alamo since.

I always give myself a few extra hours beyond the time I expect to be back. I have always used Avis and have never had any problem so far. If/when I do, I'll switch. It would seem to be in their best interests not to give their loyal customers any grief, since there is plenty of competition out there.

I suspect the commenters believed there was implied rage, based on the way you chose to write this entry. Instead of being read matter-of-factly, it came across as somewhat emotional. No harm, no foul.

Wow. I can't quite believe how Andrea Sachs has been turned into public enemy number one here and ignoring the real issue! Ms.Sachs was upset because the company told her one thing and then did another. This isn't really about her being late but rather, expecting a consistant service.And, since when do big rental companies need defending when they are usually all to happy to rip people off.
And as for the minimum wage, single mother comments.....give me a break!

Two years ago, I went to MI to see my parents. At the Grand Rapids airport, I went to National to pick up my car; bingo, no cars except mini-vans. Of course, they gave it to me at the price of the car, but this was the beginning of JUNE and it was HOT and HUMID. Took me two days just to figure out the a/c. Ah well. Lesson? Return the car on time, with a full tank, and you'll have no problem.

It used to be 59 minutes grace period!!!

Also most of the time the advertised prices from car rental on the internet generally DO NOT EXIST!!!

I concur with the posters who set the return time to match the departure time of their flight. I do this and have never had a problem. Re: the early-return penalty -- this is more common than you might think; it's in the fine print of just about every rental contract I've read.

My horror story was returning a car to LAX (Avis) ... survived the freeways only to find my offramp was closed because of a water main break. Garmin was no help; she wanted me to drive on barricaded roads. The local number printed on my rental stub (I am a Wizard elite member) was out of service.

Avis toll-free gave me the local office number and a very kind woman navigated me to the "back entrance" ... and the check-in gentleman kindly watched my stuff as I made a beeline to the bathroom (I really hate driving the LA freeways) ... and when I was back, he said no worries about the gas I'd burned up trying to get to the return point, he'd looked at my gas receipt already and knew I'd done my best getting to them from the airport gas station and that I'd actually made better time than a bunch of other renters.

I'm sure Andrea is a very nice person. My pet peave is people who are rude to lowly service workers. I doubt that Andrea is one, but this is what made me concerned:

Angry Driver

I was floored, and annoyed.

I rushed into the Avis office and expressed my displeasure, explaining the mixed messages and unfairness of being penalized for following a rule they told me they had. Get your story straight, people -- and give me my eight bucks back.

What do you think it's like to work at the Avis counter all day? Do you think it's fullfilling and challenging? Probably not. It's a few bucks and the only good thing about rude people is being able to laugh at them behind their back once they leave.

Trust me, having worked in the service industry for years (plus, I was raised by a very nice, well-mannered set of parents), I was very polite. But can't one in private be annoyed and surprised? Those words don't necessarily mean that I railed against the Avis employee. Remember, this is a blog and words should not always be taken so literally.