A wire cutter with those keys please

You might not have given much thought to what could happen if you suddenly lost the keys to your rental car. A recent experience from a travel blogger outlines the sometimes contradictory key policies of some rental companies.

The anonymous blogger recounted his recent travels in Arizona where he specifically rented a car from Dollar to accommodate a second driver – his 22 year old son. After some delays in checking in and the additional paperwork he had a car that could be driven, fully insured, by two drivers, and it came with two keys.

The only problem was, the two keys were on the same keychain and the agent said he was not authorised to separate them. Although the renter could do so without penalty, the Dollar executives had put in place a rather pointless policy of not allowing the keys to be separated since they had determined that it increased the risk of losing one.

And if you do lose your keys there is a minimum charge of $100 per key, meaning an automatic loss of $200, on top of the inconvenience of not having the other key to get you into the car and back to the rental depot.

As the blogger pointed out, by adding a second driver to the contract you are automatically given a second key that serves no benefit being stuck on the same keyring but raises the penalty should you lose the keyring. You might not have given much thought to what could happen if you suddenly lost the keys to your rental car. A recent experience from a travel blogger outlines the sometimes contradictory key policies of some rental companies.The anonymous blogger recounted his recent travels in Arizona where he specifically rented a car from Dollar to accommodate a second driver – his 22 year old son. After some delays in checking in and the additional paperwork he had a car that could be driven, fully insured, by two drivers, and it came with two keys.

The only problem was, the two keys were on the same keychain and the agent said he was not authorised to separate them. Although the renter could do so without penalty, the Dollar executives had put in place a rather pointless policy of not allowing the keys to be separated since they had determined that it increased the risk of losing one.

And if you do lose your keys there is a minimum charge of $100 per key, meaning an automatic loss of $200, on top of the inconvenience of not having the other key to get you into the car and back to the rental depot.

As the blogger pointed out, by adding a second driver to the contract you are automatically given a second key that serves no benefit being stuck on the same keyring but raises the penalty should you lose the keyring.

www.dollar.com