By Keith L. Alexander
Tuesday, February 14, 2006

The next time you rent a car, pay close attention to your final bill: There might just be a new fee attached that you may not deserve.

To help offset gasoline prices, Budget Rent a Car is imposing an additional $9.50 charge on all vehicles driven fewer than 75 miles.

Most car rental companies have three fueling options: have renters fuel the car, pre-pay for fuel at the rental counter or return the car on empty and let the rental company fill up the vehicle. The last option is usually the most expensive, as companies often charge as much as $6 a gallon.

The new charge is aimed at renters who drive short distances and don't fill up their tanks before they return because the gas gauge still reads "full," even though the tank is a few gallons short. In the past, Budget filled the tank and billed the customer the highest rate. But now, Budget will impose the $9.50 charge even if the renter tops off the tank before returning the car. The charge will be removed only if customers show their gas receipt to a Budget agent, one traveler has already reported, slowing travelers often rushing to catch flights.

"This is a convenience and time-saver for our customers," said Susan McGowan, a spokeswoman for Cendant Corp., Budget's parent company. "This is being done to recoup the cost of lost fuel."

Budget implemented the policy in November. Now Avis, which is also owned by Cendant, is testing the fee at several of its locations, including Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall, Houston's William P. Hobby and Minneapolis/St. Paul International airports. Hertz and other rental companies said they have no plans to adopt the fee.

And while rental companies see the fee as an easy way for renters to avoid extra costs, it hasn't always worked out that way.

Environmental attorney Gary Bigelow of Raleigh, N.C., became irritated after getting socked with the fee when renting a car to Budget's Reagan National Airport office last month. Bigelow, a member of Budget's frequent rental program, said he gets gas at nearby stations before he returns the car. But last month, despite having paid $5 to fill up the tank before returning the car, Budget automatically charged him the fee. He was told the only way the fee would be removed was if he showed his gas receipt to a Budget agent.

Bigelow said many business travelers either don't notice the fee or are too harried to protest as they try to catch a flight or train.

"It ticked me off that after I told them I bought the gas, [the fee] still showed up. I had to go in and show them the receipt and everything," he said.

Air Traveler Advocate Retires: The nation's airline passengers lost probably their biggest -- and most influential -- ally when he retired Friday.

After nearly nine years of leading airline investigations, Transportation Department Inspector General Kenneth M. Mead, 56, who was a Clinton appointee, has left to head up the transportation practice of Baker Botts LLC's law firm in Washington. Mead's replacement has not been named.

When Congress ordered an inspection of how airlines responded to customers in 1999, it was Mead who oversaw the staff of about 100 investigators. It was the first comprehensive study of customer relations in 23 years. During the investigation, Mead found that airlines failed to give travelers prompt, accurate information about flight delays and cancellations. Mead also found that carriers were increasingly losing passengers' bags during flights and that airlines routinely overbooked flights.

To avoid congressional mandates that may have resulted from Mead's report, the airlines created a so-called passenger's bill of rights. They vowed to be vigilant in 12 customer-service areas, from notifying passengers about delays and canceled flights to reducing the number of overbooked flights and being more responsive to complaints.

"There were some things that seemed unreasonable at the time and we didn't like, nonetheless, we had to do it," said Carol Hallett, who wrestled with Mead over his proposals during her tenure as president of the Air Transport Association, an organization that represents the nation's top airlines. "He was a tough taskmaster."

Mead probably had more impact than all the letters and phone calls from irate travelers to members of Congress.

And while he led investigations into the airline industry, Mead also occasionally targeted individual carriers.

It was Mead who lead the probe of US Airways after the airline canceled hundreds of flights and mishandled thousands more during the 2004 Christmas holiday. Within days of the meltdown, US Airways executives blamed the mess on the employees who failed to show up to work. But after a two-month investigation, Mead's staff found the airline's management poorly prepared for the heavy travel period as a result of the airline's steep job cuts while it was under bankruptcy protection.

"Identifying problems and issues and fixing those problems -- that's what turns me on," Mead said.

Now, as Mead exits as the nation's longest-serving inspector general, he has put into motion one last airline customer service investigation he says will be released by summer. This study will revisit past airline pledges to see how they are enforcing them some six years later. It also will look into other complaints, such as airlines that don't make seats available for frequent-flier reward redemptions or airlines that don't offer adequate numbers of discounted seats during fare sales. And for the first time, Mead's former team is examining the responsiveness of the Transportation Department's consumer complaint division.

"That's part of my job, to look out for the consumer, the taxpayer, the traveling public," Mead said.

Question of the Week: American Airlines this fall plans to remove the galleys from the back of some of its planes and replace them with additional seats. Delta Air Lines plans something similar. So Biz Class wants to know: If your favorite airline were to remove a section from its aircrafts to create extra space, what would you like to see put there? More seats? Some flat beds? How about a wet bar? You decide. Send your ideas, along with your name and a daytime telephone number, to alexanderk@washpost.com .