The top 10 cities where you’ll get ripped on a rental car this holiday

For millions of Americans, holiday travel this year will include packing into a rented family truckster for the final leg of their jaunt. A new survey shows just how much rental agencies are raising their rates in some popular destinations. The only way to decline this 200% increase is to hitch a ride.

Travel costs inevitably go up around major holidays, but there's little visibility into seasonal changes of renting cars. To measure those rates, CheapCarRental.Net surveyed the average daily airport car rental rates for the 30 largest U.S. cities for Dec. 23 through Dec. 28, and compared them to their regular lowest rates.
Of those 30 cities, rates went up for the Christmas period in 25. Topping the list: Honolulu, where the cheapest daily rental will run $147, by far the highest price for a set of wheels anywhere in America. That's nearly three times the $50 a typical low-cost rental runs in Hawaii.

The largest percentage increase uncovered in the survey: Miami, which goes from $30 a day pre-holiday up to $111. Other cities in Florida also get steep hikes in rental car fees, with Jacksonville going from $31 a day to $68, and Orlando rising from $16 to $51. The rest of the top 10: New York, Boston, New Orleans, Philadelphia and San Diego. All cities draw their share of visitors, but even lesser-trafficked destinations like Detroit and Milwaukee hike their car rental costs for Christmas.
But visitors to four cities in the survey will pay less for driving during the holidays: Washington, D.C., Houston, Indianapolis and San Antonio, with rates in those last two cities bottoming at $25 a day. The sole destination where rental car rates didn't change for the season: Columbus, Ohio.
Such rates don't reflect the bevy of charges that now accompany most rentals, from taxes charged by local governments to fuel surcharges that can double the cost of the rental if returned without a full tank.
How can you save in the face of an ever-growing web of rental fees and surcharges? Here's our suggestions:
• Check your credit card's policies and your own auto insurance before renting. Your credit card and even your own policy may provide coverage rather than paying extra for the rental agencies' insurance plan. Some shoppers pull consumer jujitsu and haggle for free vehicle upgrades in return for buying the insurance. At the least, you'll be prepared when given what's become a standard hard sell by rental counter agents.
• Extra drivers now cost more. Another surcharge to investigate.
• Prepare for toll roads. Rental companies often charge fees for using their electronic toll transponders, and if you run a toll in a rental car, more likely than not there'll be a big fee on top of the cost of the ticket.
• Take some pictures before you drive. Most cellphones take video; turn that puppy on and spend 30 seconds walking around the car as a record of any blemishes the vehicle had before it left the lot.
• Fill the tank, keep the receipt. The only time pre-paid fuel really makes sense is if you know you'll be too frazzled on the trip back to care about stopping. Otherwise, take note of a gas station — there's usually more than one near an airport or the rental-car return neighborhoods — and hold onto the receipt after you gas up for the last time as proof.
Photo of the Honolulu rental counter by BlueWaikiki.com/via Flickr