End Hidden Car Rental Fees for NYC Residents

Scott L. Thompson
President and Chief Executive Officer
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc.
5330 East 31st Street
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135

Dear Mr. Thompson:

We write to demand that Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group immediately cease its policy of charging additional New York Resident Fees to residents of Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens who rent cars from Dollar Rent A Car Inc. (Dollar) and Thrifty Rent-A-Car System Inc. (Thrifty).

A recent survey conducted by the offices of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, State Senator Daniel Squadron and State Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh discovered that Dollar and Thrifty force customers to pay extra fees based on the fact that they live in certain parts of New York City: Brooklyn residents pay an additional $55 per day, Bronx residents pay $53, and residents of Queens pay $11. Often, these fees are added to the rental price without notifying the customers until the very last moment, when they arrive at your facility to collect their car.

As you may know, there is a a bill pending in our state legislature that would explicitly prohibit this and other residence-based biases in your industry, and we will continue to push to enact it in the coming session. However, most of your competitors have chosen to eliminate these fees in recent years and we are surprised that you have not done so as well. It is time for Dollar and Thrifty to halt this discriminatory practice once and for all and be good corporate citizens towards all New Yorkers.