Unmarried couple forced to pay extra-driver fee for car rental

Q A couple of weeks ago, my family and I took a trip to Hilton Head Island. We booked a rental car with Enterprise, and the fine print in the contract said there would be an additional charge of $5 a day for “each additional authorized driver other than a spouse or domestic partner.”

I checked this language specifically, because my partner and I are partners, not spouses. We live in Canada (though we’re U.S. citizens) and are “common-law spouses” (a domestic partnership category) under Canadian law.

When we arrived to pick up the car at the Savannah, Ga., airport, we were told we had to pay the extra fee because we were not married. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the document with the above language printed out, so I had to choose between signing the paperwork at the counter and finding a car from another agency.

Naturally, I chose to sign the paperwork. I would almost certainly have had to pay a higher rate as a last-minute walk-up.

I called Enterprise’s customer service line and was told the domestic partner exclusion applied only to same-sex domestic partners, not opposite-sex domestic partners.

They suggested that I register a formal complaint; I did so, but no one has gotten back to me.

Stacey Koprince, Montreal

A: If your contract promised domestic partners didn’t have to pay a fee for an additional driver, then Enterprise shouldn’t have charged you an extra $5 a day.

The extra-driver fee is, in my opinion, nothing more than a money grab. It doesn’t make any sense, either. By Enterprise’s logic, a married couple or a same-sex couple is less of a risk to a rental car than an opposite-sex couple, or just two friends.

The charges are troubling because of the discriminatory nature of the fees.

Next time you’re in a situation like this, don’t accept the rental. Ask to speak with a manager, and if that doesn’t work, call the Enterprise reservation number from the counter. Don’t make a scene, but don’t back down, either.

Once you sign on the dotted line, your options are limited.

I contacted Enterprise on your behalf, and it refunded the extra-driver fee.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. You can read more travel tips on his blog, www.elliott.org or email him at celliott@ngs.org.