Why are car rentals advertised for $6 a day but the cheapest is always $77?

[redpoint5]

Perhaps it favors pensioners?

I 'Braved' (I don't Google unless I must) cost of living in "New Zealand", and the AI had this to say;

New Zealand is considered to be a relatively expensive country, but the cost of living can vary depending on the city, lifestyle, and personal choices. Here are some general insights into the cost of living in New Zealand:

Average Cost of Living:

The average cost of living in New Zealand is around NZD $2,950-$3,600 per month for a family of four.
For a single person, the average cost of living is around NZD $815-$1,000 per month.
Rent:

Rent prices vary depending on the city and location. For example, in Auckland, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is around NZD $1,800-$2,500 per month.
In Christchurch, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is around NZD $1,200-$1,800 per month.
Food:

Grocery prices in New Zealand are generally the same throughout the country, but they can be higher compared to other countries. A basket of basic groceries can cost around NZD $100-$150 per week for a family of four.
Eating out can cost around NZD $15-$25 per meal for a casual dining experience.
Transportation:

Public transportation is relatively affordable, with a single bus fare costing around NZD $2-$3.
A monthly public transportation pass can cost around NZD $80-$120.
Utilities:

Utilities such as electricity, water, and gas can cost around NZD $150-$300 per month for a small apartment.
Other Expenses:

Internet and phone plans can cost around NZD $50-$100 per month.
Entertainment and leisure activities can cost around NZD $500-$1,000 per month.
Tips for Managing the Cost of Living in New Zealand:

Consider sharing an apartment or house with others to split costs.
Look for apartments or houses outside of the city center to reduce rent costs.
Cook at home instead of eating out to save money.
Take advantage of public transportation or walk/bike when possible.
Plan ahead and budget carefully to ensure a comfortable lifestyle.
Overall, New Zealand can be an expensive country to live in, but with careful planning and budgeting, it is possible to manage the cost of living and enjoy the country’s many benefits.

I've been finding the built-in Brave AI results to be useful for summarizing things and quickly finding pertinent information. Seems to be a summary of about the top 3 search results.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

Why are car rentals advertised for $6 a day but the cheapest is always $77?

Two questions there. The first is why isn't the advertised rate the actual rate. That is pretty much unique to the USA were companies are not required to advertise the real price inclusive of all taxes and mandatory fees.


Why are car rentals so expensive right now? You may remember a few years back when rental companies were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy as the world shut down and people stopped travelling. Rental companies dumped cars at a loss and took on a huge amount of debt just to keep out of bankruptcy. Then they took on more loans to buy back inventory when travel took off again at the same time there was a shortage of new cars and car prices were crazy. Rental companies are a business and those loans must be repaid.

Then there are greatly increased labor costs as people decided their had a new minimum value.

Then there is simply supply and demand. People are travelling like crazy. Airports are full, planes are packed, and people are renting cars. Car rentals are 10% higher today than they were in 2019.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Ecky

My cost of living, after currency conversion and unit conversion, is somewhere in the ballpark of "half" on this remote island in the south Pacific.

Healthcare - 0
Car insurance - $8us per month
Utility rates - around 25% lower than in a coal burning Midwest state
Actual utility usage - considerably lower, due to mild climate
Food - lower, but varies
Transportation - Drastically lower, despite fuel prices, due to structural/social factors
Rent - lower in the capital city than in Detroit suburbs

Etc etc

Healthcare is not free in New Zealand. It is paid for by taxes - which is a far more effective and cheaper way to pay for a population's health care - but it still has a cost.

[Isaac Zachary]

I do find USA pricing for most everything a pain. We don't include sales tax on most things, which is a pain because if I have $5, and the ice cream costs $5, then I don't have enough for the ice cream, which actually might be a good thing.

We just bought some plane tickets, which is another pain. Flat rates don't exist, and we tend to buy tickets for emergencies or at least urgent things that we weren't expecting. So while someone else who had the time to plan ahead got the same flight for $50, we end up paying $500 per person. Then we've even, after all that cost, have ended up being the ones who get denied a flight due to overseating the plane and then end up missing the funeral that weekend.

But it is what it is. I have a passenger van rented for an upcoming weekend this summer, and it is not cheap by any means, over $1,000. But it's cheaper than buying a newish passenger van for those two or three times a year I need one. It is what it is. Maybe one of these days I'll get into the turism business and get a bus to take people to all the pretty sights here in Colorado, that way I'll always have a big vehicle for those occasions. However, there are a lot of unkowns for me on that kind of work. If only the local busing and transport companies paid more than near minimum wage, I'd actually get back into that line of work.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by JSH

Healthcare is not free in New Zealand. It is paid for by taxes - which is a far more effective and cheaper way to pay for a population's health care - but it still has a cost.

We can agree to call it "paid for by taxes".

I made a spreadsheet of the effective taxes paid. Taxes paid are around 11% lower at every income point above $100,000USD, and the advantage is larger at lower incomes. First $10,000US, NZ taxes paid is 55% lower. By US$30,000, the taxes paid are 36% lower. The effective rate for a seven figure earner is still 11% lower.

The average out of pocket expense for someone in the US for healthcare is roughly equal to a third of the taxes paid by the median income earner in NZ.

The median income earner in NZ has now exceeded the median earner in the US, before taxes. Median individual wealth (not average) is around twice as high in NZ as in the US. Also, my life expectancy has gone up by 7 years moving here.

A median income earner and a minimum wage earner together have the income to qualify for (and afford to pay for) a mortgage on the median house in both Wellington and Auckland.

The numbers look pretty bad for the US from virtually every angle. I can guess what might be going wrong, but it's hard to know for sure.

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Perhaps it favors pensioners?

I 'Braved' (I don't Google unless I must) cost of living in "New Zealand", and the AI had this to say;

I've been finding the built-in Brave AI results to be useful for summarizing things and quickly finding pertinent information. Seems to be a summary of about the top 3 search results.

I asked AI for similar numbers from the USA. If the average cost for a single person in New Zealand is $815-$1000(NZD) per month, which is $500-$613USD, here are the USA numbers:

The average cost of living per month for a single person in the US varies significantly depending on location and lifestyle. However, here are some estimates based on recent data:

National Averages:

Forbes Advisor (2022): $3,693 per month or $44,312 annually.
Expatistan (2024): $3,403 per month.
Upwardli (2024): $3,189 per month or $38,266 annually.
Major Expenses Breakdown:

Housing: The largest expense, averaging $1,784 per month. This can vary greatly based on location (city vs. rural), type of housing (apartment vs. house), and size.
Utilities: Approximately $300 per month for electricity, gas, water, and internet.
Transportation: Can be significant depending on car ownership and public transportation usage. The national average is $819, including car payments, insurance, gas, and public transportation.
Food: On average, a single person spends $610 per month on groceries and dining out.
Healthcare: Healthcare costs in the US are notoriously high. The average is $431 per month for medical expenses and insurance premiums.
Other Expenses: This includes entertainment, clothing, personal care, and miscellaneous costs, averaging around $243 per month.
Factors Affecting Cost of Living:

Location: Cities like New York and San Francisco have much higher costs of living than smaller towns or rural areas.
Lifestyle: Eating out frequently, owning a car, and engaging in expensive hobbies will increase costs.
Healthcare Needs: Individuals with chronic conditions or those requiring regular medical attention may have higher healthcare costs.

In other words, AI seems to think the cost of living in the USA for a single person is around 6x higher. With approximately the same median income, and a higher tax rate.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

I do find USA pricing for most everything a pain. We don't include sales tax on most things, which is a pain because if I have $5, and the ice cream costs $5, then I don't have enough for the ice cream, which actually might be a good thing.

Yes, it is a pain and very weird. Working for a large multi-national company I have a lot of coworkers from other countries. (12 countries in my department at last count). When they first come to the USA they find it VERY odd that the listed price is not the actual price because we are pretty much the only country that allows that kind of deceptive marketing.

It is a combination of anti-tax philosophy* and lack of consumer protections.

(*The idea that paying taxes should be painful and very noticeable. )

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

I
We just bought some plane tickets, which is another pain. Flat rates don't exist, and we tend to buy tickets for emergencies or at least urgent things that we weren't expecting. So while someone else who had the time to plan ahead got the same flight for $50, we end up paying $500 per person. Then we've even, after all that cost, have ended up being the ones who get denied a flight due to overseating the plane and then end up missing the funeral that weekend.

Well the DOT just rolled out new rules on that which will go into effect in October if they are not put on hold from the lawsuit. Airlines will not have to display the cost for added fees like fees for seat selection and bags clearly before the ticket is purchased. They also must automatically and fully refund the ticket price of any flight that is cancelled, delayed more than 3 hours on departure or arrival (domestic) and delayed more than 6 hours (international)

Who gets bumped when a flight is oversold depends on various factors as does the pecking order of who gets rebooked first on a standby flight. Ticket price is key but other things matter too.

Frequent flyer status. You should ALWAYS sign up for the frequent flyer program for the airline you are flying. Just being a base member puts your above about 1/3 the people on a flight.
When you check in also matters with the earlier the better. You should also always check in online the day before your flight - preferable as soon as possible. Never wait to check in the same day at the ticket counter.
You should also purchase your ticket directly from the airline not through a 3rd party reseller. If you have a 3rd party ticket you are pretty much on your own and airlines will tell you to talk the 3rd party that sold you the ticket if anything happens.

BTW, flat rates do exist - just not at the bottom end of the price range. You can buy a ticket on Southwest that includes 2 checked bags - no extra fees.

If you buy a regular economy ticket on other carriers instead of a discount economy ticket those include carry on bags and seat selection. Bags are extra but bag fees are pretty easy to find with a quick internet search.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by JSH

anti-tax philosophy (*The idea that paying taxes should be painful and very noticeable. )

Another way to describe it is transparency. People should know how much the price of something is tax. Pro-tax people should get warm fuzzies seeing all that money going to the government to be wisely and benevolently spent.

There's tons of deception in pricing. In Oregon, there's no way (at time of purchase) to tell how much of the gasoline bill was federal and state taxes. A bottle of booze includes taxes, so there's no way to tell how much of the cost is the product, and how much is taxes, and there's thousands of other examples of this.

Keeping people uninformed so they aren't confronted with feelings about it is deceptive.

bag fees are pretty easy to find with a quick internet search.

Generally true. Try finding bag fees for Frontier Airlines. It's nowhere on their website.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Another way to describe it is transparency. People should know how much the price of something is tax. Pro-tax people should get warm fuzzies seeing all that money going to the government to be wisely and benevolently spent.

Transparency is easy even with inclusive pricing where the real price is the price on the price tag - it can be listed on the receipt.

Looking at a grocery store receipt from a recent business trip to Mexico

Total price - 220.50 pesos. (The price listed on price tags)
Of that price 11.03 is IVA tax and 8.07 is IEPS tax.

I know exactly how much I paid in tax and the price listed on the price tax was the actual price.

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Generally true. Try finding bag fees for Frontier Airlines. It's nowhere on their website.

A google search of "Frontier Airline Bag Fee" returns:
https://www.flyfrontier.com/travel/t...s/?mobile=true

Which then links to:
https://www.flyfrontier.com/optional...s-for-new-trip

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by JSH

Transparency is easy even with inclusive pricing where the real price is the price on the price tag - it can be listed on the receipt.

That's the correct way to do it, but many things we purchase don't have those details, like gasoline.

A google search of "Frontier Airline Bag Fee" returns:
https://www.flyfrontier.com/travel/t...s/?mobile=true

Which then links to:
https://www.flyfrontier.com/optional...s-for-new-trip

I don't know how you got that image, because I've clicked every link on their website 3 times and never found a price sheet. I'd get into a recursive loop where I click "bag pricing" which takes me to a page that talks about overage fees, and then a link back to the original page.

I've had better service in prison. Unfortunately they have the best pricing and direct routes to where I need to go.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I don't know how you got that image, because I've clicked every link on their website 3 times and never found a price sheet. I'd get into a recursive loop where I click "bag pricing" which takes me to a page that talks about overage fees, and then a link back to the original page.

You obviously didn't click on the second link I provided. You then have to put in a flight because Frontier bag charges vary based on the flight.