Some key considerations for car rentals

Most travelers instinctively understand that losing the keys to their rental car can be a costly inconvenience, which gets more so the farther you happen to be from the rental location.

Still, key-related problems are the No. 1 reason for rental car emergency road service, according to Paula Stifter, a spokesperson for Hertz.

Until recently, however, a case of missing keys could generally be solved with a visit from a local locksmith, who could open the vehicle and cut a new key.

But these days, with new Passive Anti-Theft System (PATS) keys that have an embedded electronic chip, replacement is more complicated. Unless you've simply locked the keys inside the car, it's not enough to cut a new key; you also need the car's key code.

In any case, the first step still is to call the rental company's emergency road service number found on the rental agreement -- that is, assuming you have access to a telephone and that the paperwork for the car isn't locked inside the glove compartment, a not-uncommon occurrence.

Otherwise, take two giant steps backward.

The helpful folks at the emergency service may be able to arrange for the rental outlet you used to send a replacement key via overnight mail or transmit necessary codes to a local representative via fax or e-mail. That failing, they may be able to contact a local automobile dealership, which can usually make a replacement key. Other options include having the car towed to a nearby dealership or rental outlet.

In any case, you'll probably have to appear at the local outlet with a photo ID to get the replacement. And unless you rent a second car, you'll be without conveyance until the new keys arrive. You'll certainly incur significant costs for transferring the replacement key and replacing the original one. PATS keys alone cost $150 or more.

So hang on to those keys.

But not too tightly.

As I recently discovered, loss is not the only expensive problem involving rental car keys. Having them when you shouldn't can be, too.

Having been a victim of missing rental keys in the past, I have become somewhat compulsive about checking my pockets before I close the car's door. Double ditto for shutting the trunk.

Imagine my surprise, however, recently going through the security checkpoint at San Francisco Airport for my flight back to Pittsburgh.

I thought I'd timed my arrival at the airport well. I'd dropped off my luggage at the US Airways curbside check-in a full hour before my flight's scheduled departure. Then I drove to the airport's new rental car center five minutes away to return my vehicle.

In an effort to streamline ground transportation, counter operations for all eight major rental car companies at San Francisco Airport have been centralized in a multistory garage that is served by frequent shuttle buses from the various terminals. The change eliminates the fleets of different rental company vans shuttling passengers around the airport.

The return procedure was smooth and efficient. A rental company agent with a hand-held computer greeted me as I pulled up to the designated return area. He checked the gas and mileage, gave the car a quick once-over for obvious damage and handed me a receipt, within minutes and I was on my way back to the airport, with bags of time to spare.

Or so I thought.

When I reached in the plastic tray at security, there were the keys for the car I'd just dropped off, even though I was sure I'd left them in the ignition as instructed.

Suddenly my comfortable cushion of time was deflated.

Still, no problem. I dashed around the terminal looking for someplace or someone to whom I could return the keys. Quickly, I realized there were no car rental counters anywhere in the terminal and no time to catch a shuttle bus back to the rental car center. I asked for suggestions at the airline counter, but no one could offer any help.

With precious seconds ticking away, I called the rental company on the airport courtesy phone and explained my dilemma. While the service representative was understanding, she offered no solution. Just a warning: I had until 10 the following morning to get the keys back to them, or I'd be charged $150 for a replacement key. She suggested I drop them in the mail, but that would have required having an envelope and stamp. I also doubted the U.S. mail could deliver the package there by 10 a.m.

As a last resort, she thought I might give the keys to a shuttle bus driver and trust him to return them. That seemed a highly iffy option to me, and besides, by then, I didn't even have time to do that.

Hearing the final boarding call for my flight, I decided my only option was to take the keys with me to Pittsburgh and send them back to San Francisco via overnight mail.

Four and a half hours later, as soon as the plane had landed, I found the Federal Express box in the airside terminal and consigned the keys into the hands of the travel and transportation gods. I also called the rental agency and left a message that the keys were on their way.

Unfortunately, with the flight time and time difference, it was almost 10 p.m. Pittsburgh time, and, as I discovered when I opened my VISA bill several weeks later, too late for Federal Express to pick up my package that night. That meant delivery didn't happen until two days later.

Sure enough, there was a charge from the car company for $150 to replace the key and a $27 charge from Federal Express for "overnight" service.

So today's lesson: Don't lose your rental car keys or forget to leave them when you turn the car in.

At least not in San Francisco.