Why are car rental taxes so high in Spokane, WA?

[switters]

I'm trying to rent a car in Spokane, WA. Hotwire gives me a price of $23/day for compact, far lower than most other sites. But then there are $25/day in taxes - more than the cost of the car!

I've never encountered this. What's going on? Any way around it?

[thereuare]

So we can see exactly what you are... what are the date(s) of the rental you're looking at and what car class?

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[switters]

So we can see exactly what you are... what are the date(s) of the rental you're looking at and what car class?

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

The dates are July 9th - 14th, and I'm looking for a compact car from GEG airport (Spokane).

Thanks.

[thereuare]

The taxes and fees are not a PRICELINE / HOTWIRE thing, it's from this location which has four separate texes/fees line items regardless of how you book:

airport concession fee

energy recovery fee

taxes

fees

Then add in a booking fee for PRICELINE or HOTWIRE and that increases it a bit more. Rental car companies are an easy target for airports to raise money for improvements and for cities to raise revenue. It's easy to put a rental car tax or fee increase on the ballot for the voters to decide upon passing or not... as the local community has little need to ever rent a car from the airport, these referendums (forgive me if this isn't the correct term as i'm not that familiar with the political process) usually pass by an overwhelming majority as the residents would rather have the 'tourists' pay than see their own taxes go up :)

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[dlbeck]

I'm trying to rent a car in Spokane, WA. Hotwire gives me a price of $23/day for compact, far lower than most other sites. But then there are $25/day in taxes - more than the cost of the car!

I've never encountered this. What's going on? Any way around it?

Because Washington State is run by Democrats and that's as close to socialism as it can get.

[blkjck1]

Because Washington State is run by Democrats and that's as close to socialism as it can get.

That kind of comment is completely repugnant, and has no place here. Fees like the facility charge, transport, and airport concession recovery are usually set by the airports, and I hardly think that the agencies that run the airports are instruments of political or economic policy.

Try looking up a rental in a Republican jusrisdiction (say Houston, Texas), and I would be surprised to not see the same sort of fees being applied.

[switters]

I never ended up taking this trip to Spokane, so don't have anything to report about the car rental cost.