We’ve rented cars in Texas from many different agencies in several cities, including Austin, Dallas and San Antonio. We’ve always been members of the frequent renter program, which, in most cases, allows us to add a spouse as an authorized driver at no additional cost. (Here’s how to sign up for each program’s frequent renter program.) However, we recently ran into a problem where the rental agent who was controlling the parking lot gate insisted that we had to pay for an additional driver. Here’s what happened and why there are at least two reasons why they were wrong and I was right.
Why did we rent from Thrifty?
We were flying into Austin Airport, and I know from past experience that Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty all share the same car inventory at the airport. In fact, on our last visit, Thrifty assigned the same car I was given by Hertz to another driver. I figured if they’re sharing cars, why not pay less for the same service?
In addition, I found a cheap rate on the Capital One Travel Portal, so I used the yearly travel credit from the Venture X card to pay for the rental. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make the trip, so we rented the car in my wife Sharon’s name. If I was able to go, we knew that I’d be able to drive.
Well, at least, that’s what we thought.
Checking in at the counter
Sharon had signed up for the Thrifty Blue Chip program, which allowed us to skip the counter. However, since this was her first Thrifty rental, we wanted to make sure everything was OK. When we arrived at the counter, the agent noticed that Sharon was a Blue Chip member. Since we denied the insurance and fuel options in advance, we finalized the paperwork and provided a credit card for a hold of $200. Then he asked if anyone else would be driving the car. Sharon said that I would be driving as well and that we were married. He nodded and said that would be fine. Then he said for us to go to the Hertz lot and pick a car from the President’s Circle area. 🙂
So far easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Picking a car and leaving the lot
We walked back to the Hertz area of the parking lot and picked up a car from the President’s Circle aisle. It felt a bit strange walking to a car with a Thrifty slip, but what could we do? We picked up a Ford Edge, and I drove to the gate. That’s when things got interesting.
The agent at the booth took our paperwork and noticed it was in Sharon’s name, but I was driving. She asked if I was an additional driver, and I said we had told the agent at the desk that I was her spouse, and he said it was fine. I added that in Texas, spouses are authorized drivers of rental vehicles, so it shouldn’t be a problem. That’s when she asked for my credit card to charge us an additional $13.50 a day. I said that we shouldn’t have to pay because the desk agent knew that I’d be driving and didn’t charge us.
That’s when the guard gate rep got on a walkie-talkie back to the nerve center. After a tense conversation, the supervisor walked her through how to comp the charges for an additional driver. What I found interesting was that this was apparently the first time this agent (who, by the way, we recognized from past visits to AUS but had never actually used – so it wasn’t as if she was new) had ever not charged for an additional driver.
However, there are three reasons why we didn’t have to pay for an additional driver:
Reason 1
According to the Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards FAQ, members can add a spouse for free.
Yes. If renting in the United States or Canada, Blue Chip members can add a spouse or domestic partner to their rental as an Authorized Driver for free, provided he or she is at least 25 years old and has a valid driver’s license in accordance with Thrifty’s rental qualifications. If under the age of 25, an age differential charge may apply.
The Blue Chip Terms and Conditions even say that a spouse doesn’t have to register as an additional driver.
For rentals in the United States and Canada by renters enrolled to use the Program in those countries, this means that the renter’s spouse or domestic partner may operate the Car without registering as an Additional Authorized Operator or paying a fee, provided he or she is at least 25 years old and has a valid driver’s license from a jurisdiction acceptable to Thrifty.
Reason 2
In Texas, a spouse is considered an authorized driver of a rental vehicle. While many websites quote this Texas statute as proof of this, it only prohibits insurance from denying coverage in the case of an accident. Of course, this is why you’d want to add someone as an authorized driver in the first place; but it doesn’t prohibit car rental agencies from trying to charge you for an additional driver.
In retrospect, I should have leaned more into reason 1 for why we didn’t have to pay for me to drive the car.
Reason 3
In the Thrifty general policies, several groups do not have to pay additional driver fees.
However, the following additional drivers do not need to pay an additional driver fee as long as they meet our minimum age requirements and have a valid drivers license:
(1) Thrifty Blue Chip Members
(2) Government renters on official orders,
(3) Corporate account customers on corporate rate plans, and
(4) Drivers/companions of physically impaired customers.
Since I am a Thrifty Blue Chip member, I should be able to add myself to anyone’s rental at no charge.
What happened?
After receiving a talking to from the parking lot agent about how the desk agent was wrong and shouldn’t have said we didn’t have to pay, she added the additional driver charge and then put a statement credit for the charge. It wasn’t until I returned the car that I noticed that this process, while not charging the extra driver fee, still charged us the taxes and fees on that expense, which came out to about $15.
I’m going to take this up with Thrifty for several reasons. First, I don’t want any negative actions taken against the desk agent who had it right. Second, I shouldn’t have been charged for the taxes since it says in several places that a spouse should be added for “free,” which should also mean not having to pay taxes or fees.
If anything, the person at the gate needs to learn the rules for all three rental car programs they’re working with. If Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty are going to use one employee at the gate, then they need to know the rules and not hold up the line for 15 minutes waiting to find out that Thrifty Blue Chip members are allowed to have their spouse drive the vehicle.
And my apologies to the people in the rental car directly behind us, for having to wait so long for us to be finished. It wasn’t my fault.
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