I am looking to rent a car in Panama City, Panama via Thrifty. I went to their website, panamathrifty.com, and put in the desired information (mid sized car, start/end dates, etc...) and was delivered to a screen describing the total cost. I have attached a picture here. My main question is what is the Time/km charge? It seems like a rate, and yet it is directly added (only once) to the total. What does this mean? Time/distance = $? It would make sense to me if this were something like a $/km (though if this were the case I'd expect the value to be something like $0.20/km... not $6/km) but it does not appear to be the case. I tried calling customer service and they told me that there is unlimited miles on the rentals in this area (as there normally is), so I am clueless
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My guess was that whole price tag is wrong as protection and extras are 97% of the sub total. I don't think they give you the car for $1 a day. $5 to $10 a day for the rent seems more likely.– JankaCommented Aug 21, 2019 at 1:46
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It is pretty common in Mexico that car rental is, similarly, unbelievably inexpensive on a per-day basis — a dollar or three, for example. But the renter cannot leave the rental agency without signing up for insurance, which like here, brings the rental amount up to what might (if honestly presented) be a reasonable amount.– DavidRecallsMonicaCommented Aug 21, 2019 at 3:28
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Likely in the past they had a km/$ entry to the bill but have that replaced by a singly fee, which buys you unlimited milage instead of raising the basic price.– Willeke ♦Commented Aug 21, 2019 at 4:28
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1 Answer
I don't know for certain, but I would guess that the "time/km" entry actually means "time or km" (rather than "time per km", which doesn't make sense). You are doing a time-based rental (because you have unlimited km), which is 6 days, at presumably $1 per day. That seems rather inexpensive, but as mentioned in the comments it may be normal for cars in that area.