Car rental glossary
The words on a rental agreement, a broker statement and a booking system, explained for the person running the business. Each has a worked example and a link to the page that goes deeper.
Reviewed November 12, 2026. General industry usage, not legal or insurance advice.
- Security deposit hold
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An amount reserved on the customer's card at pick-up to cover damage, fuel or late return. It is an authorization, not a charge: the money stays in the customer's account but cannot be spent until the hold is released or captured.
Example. You hold $300 on a card for a three-day rental. The car comes back clean, you release the hold, and nothing was ever charged. If the tank is empty, you capture $60 of it and release the rest.
On Webkio. The deposit is placed as an authorization through your own Stripe account, to capture or release from the reservation.
Source: Stripe: an online card authorization is usually valid for 7 days
- Collision damage waiver (CDW)
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An optional product in which the rental company agrees not to charge the renter for damage to the car, usually above a stated deductible. It is a waiver sold by the rental company, not an insurance policy.
Example. A renter buys CDW at $18 a day with a $500 deductible. The car is scraped and the repair is $1,400. The renter pays $500 and you absorb the rest.
On Webkio. Protection products are yours to define, each with a daily price and its own deductible, and are offered at checkout.
Source: Wisconsin consumer protection: a collision damage waiver is not insurance coverage
- Loss damage waiver (LDW)
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A waiver that covers theft and loss of use as well as collision damage. Many companies sell one product and call it LDW; others sell CDW and theft protection separately.
Example. A car is stolen from a hotel lot. With LDW the renter owes the deductible, if any. With CDW alone, theft may not be covered at all, depending on your terms.
- Deductible
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The part of a damage bill the renter still pays when a waiver applies. Outside the US it is usually called the excess.
Example. With a $750 deductible and $2,000 of damage, the renter pays $750. A "zero deductible" product removes that amount for a higher daily price.
- One-way fee
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A charge for returning the car to a different location from the one it was picked up at, covering the cost of getting it back.
Example. Pick up downtown, return at the airport 20 miles away: a $35 one-way fee is added to the total before the customer pays.
On Webkio. A one-way fee is added to the quote when the return location differs from the pick-up location.
- Young driver surcharge
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A daily fee added for renters under a set age, commonly 25, to reflect higher risk. Many companies also set a minimum age below which they do not rent at all.
Example. Your minimum age is 21 and drivers under 25 pay $20 a day extra. A 23-year-old renting for four days pays $80 on top of the rental.
- Additional driver fee
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A daily charge for each extra person allowed to drive the car. Anyone not named on the agreement is normally not covered by a waiver.
Example. A couple on a week-long trip adds the second driver at $10 a day, $70 for the week.
- Mileage allowance
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The distance included in the rental price. Beyond it, a per-mile charge applies. "Unlimited mileage" means there is no cap.
Example. A rental includes 150 miles a day and charges 25 cents a mile after that. A renter who drives 700 miles in three days pays for 250 extra miles, $62.50.
- Fuel policy
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The rule for how much fuel the car has at pick-up and must have at return. "Full to full" is the most common and the easiest to explain.
Example. Full to full: the car goes out full and comes back full. If it comes back three-quarters full, you charge for the missing quarter plus a refueling fee stated in your terms.
- Grace period
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The time after the agreed return hour during which a car can come back without a late charge.
Example. With a 59-minute grace period, a car due at 10:00 and returned at 10:45 is on time. At 11:15 an extra hour or an extra day is charged, depending on your terms.
- Turnaround time
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The gap you leave between one rental ending and the next beginning, for cleaning, refueling and inspection. Also called a buffer.
Example. With a three-hour turnaround, a car returned at 10:00 cannot be booked for pick-up before 13:00, so it is never handed over dirty or late.
On Webkio. A buffer in hours between rentals is part of the availability search, so the calendar never offers a car that is not ready.
- Minimum rental period
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The shortest rental you accept, in days. It is often longer in peak season, when a one-day rental could block a week-long one.
Example. Two days minimum in winter, five in July. A request for July 3 to July 5 is refused, keeping the car free for a full holiday week.
On Webkio. A minimum rental length can be set per season.
- Seasonal rate
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A different daily price for a set range of dates, higher in peak weeks and lower in quiet ones.
Example. A compact is $45 a day normally and $69 from June 15 to August 31. A rental from June 13 to June 17 is charged two days at $45 and two at $69.
On Webkio. Rates are worked out per day, so a rental that crosses a season boundary is charged partly at each rate.
- Double booking
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Two reservations for the same car over the same dates. It happens when bookings are taken in more than one place and the calendars do not agree.
Example. A website reservation and a phone booking both take the last SUV for Saturday. One customer arrives to no car.
On Webkio. Every search is answered against the reservations that already exist, including ones you enter by hand.
- Broker commission
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The share of a booking kept by a comparison site or broker that sent the customer. It is taken from the rental price before you are paid.
Example. A $400 rental booked through a broker at 20% pays you $320. The same booking on your own site pays $400 less card fees.
- Direct booking
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A reservation made on your own website or by phone, with no broker in between. You keep the customer's contact details as well as the full price.
Example. A repeat customer books on your site instead of through a broker: no commission, and you can email them next season.
- Utilization rate
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The share of available days on which a car was rented. It is the main measure of whether a fleet is the right size.
Example. A car rented 21 days out of 30 has a 70% utilization rate. Ten cars at 70% earn more than fourteen at 45%, with fewer to insure and maintain.
- No-show
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A customer who reserved a car and did not arrive, without cancelling. The car sat unrented for nothing unless a deposit or prepayment was taken.
Example. Five no-shows a month at an average rental of $180 is $900 of lost income. Taking payment at booking removes most of them.
- Cancellation window
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How long before pick-up a reservation can still be cancelled for a full refund. Inside the window, a fee or the full amount is kept.
Example. Free cancellation up to 48 hours before pick-up. A customer who cancels at 30 hours is charged one day's rental.
On Webkio. Set how many hours before pick-up a booking still cancels free, and a cancellation made in time refunds automatically.
- Airport concession fee
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A charge airports levy on rental companies that operate on their property, usually a percentage of revenue, which companies pass on to renters as a separate line.
Example. If an airport takes 10% of rental revenue, a $300 rental picked up at the terminal carries about $30 as its own line on the bill; the same car picked up downtown does not. The percentage is set by each airport.
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