Read Car Rental Agreement Fine Print and Learn From My €1,600 Mistake - Consider Included Mileage

Thanks for sharing that reminder! I do sometimes forget to look at that detail when I book online, so I will hopefully tuck your experience away and be more mindful.

Thanks for posting this JT. I’ve never had a mileage limit in the 30+ times i’ve rented a car in Paris / France, but your experience is helpful to others.

JT - ooooffff that must have hurt.

I definitely have rented vehicles in Paris that came with limited mileage. And I too once for hit with extra charges for the mileage usage upon returning the car. Thanks for the reminder.

I am sorry you got caught up by this but appreciate you sharing your experience so that others can be aware.

Thanks for the reminder. We have a rental outside of Paris to use for this spring for the Normandy region as well. I just checked my car rental documents. We have unlimited mileage, but I definitely assumed. Our rental is for 6 days. I wonder if they specifically do "excess mileage" on one day rentals? Thank you.

By the way do NOT just check this for European rentals. Often the "great deal" you see on any car rental, including those in the US have the same restriction.

A good reminder, thanks.

This is not the only potential "gotcha" to be found in car rental agreements, so you do really need to read them!

I have found (more than once) buried in the terms & conditions, a prohibition against taking the car on a ferry. Maybe not a problem in some cases but a few times I discovered this restriction in a rental agreement, I had indeed planned to use ferries (sometimes extensively). In those cases I contacted the agency and they were quick to revise the terms, adding language that specifically authorized ferry travel, so it all worked out.

(I suspect the no-ferries clause was boilerplate language and was actually there to discourage taking the car on international ferries, eg from Spain to Morocco.) Do this (read all the fine print) in advance, at home, not in line at the rental counter, all jet-lagged and with people in line behind you scowling.

Gotta read all that tiny 8-point type. As someone brilliant once said, "the large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." (Tom Waits, Step Right Up).

Carol from Atlanta beat me to it—-watch out with US/Canada rentals as well.

I don’t know if it is still the case, but a few years ago most rental companies at Kalispell MT (“gateway to Glacier National Park” if you are flying) had mileage limitations on their cars. I saw a number of tourists reporting this on Tripadvisor.

Included mileage is not something that's typically in American car rentals as far as I know

Not any more, and now we're spoiled. I can't remember how long ago, but charging for rental car miles was pretty standard in the past.

I wonder if they specifically do "excess mileage" on one day rentals?

My “limited-mileage” rentals were for several days, so, no.

Not any more, and now we're spoiled. I can't remember how long ago, but charging for rental car miles was pretty standard in the past.

I was just looking at rental cars for a weekend in Florida. Several of them still had mileage limitations on them. Luckily, I rent through my companies contract and it’s unlimited but you do still need to check.