Car rental prices in Tangier can look “cheap” until checkout, when the total suddenly jumps. That doesn’t always mean you’re being scammed, often it’s just that the quote didn’t show every line item upfront.
This guide breaks down what you’re actually paying for (line by line) so you can compare offers fairly and avoid the classic surprise charges, especially at Tangier Ibn Battuta Airport and busy city pickups.
Table of Contents
The 3 price layers you’ll see in Tangier
Base rate (daily/weekly)
Taxes and mandatory charges
Pickup/return location fees (airport, city, delivery)
Insurance lines (what’s included vs upsold)
Deposit / credit card hold (and “no hold” wording)
Mileage rules (limited vs unlimited)
Fuel policy (full-to-full vs prepay)
Driver-related fees (young driver, extra driver)
Add-ons (GPS, child seat, Wi-Fi, etc.)
One-way, late return, and out-of-hours fees
Cleaning, smoking, and damage admin fees
Fines, tolls, and “admin handling” charges
Currency, exchange rates, and DCC traps
A sample “line-by-line” price breakdown
Quick questions to ask before you pay
1) The 3 price layers you’ll see in Tangier
Most totals are built from three layers:
Layer 1: The rental itself (base rate + taxes)
Layer 2: Risk & rules (insurance, deposit/hold, mileage, fuel)
Layer 3: Convenience & behavior (extras, one-way, late return, cleaning, fines)
When people feel “surprised,” it’s usually because the quote only showed Layer 1.
2) Base rate (daily/weekly)
This is the headline price: “MAD/day” or “MAD/week.” It usually depends on:
car category (economy vs automatic vs SUV)
season and demand (weekends + summer spike)
rental length (weekly often lowers the daily rate)
Watch for: a low base rate paired with strict mileage limits or expensive insurance upgrades.
3) Taxes and mandatory charges
These are often not negotiable and may be shown as:
VAT/tax
mandatory service fee
local surcharge
Tip: If your quote says “taxes included,” confirm it covers all mandatory fees, not just VAT.
4) Pickup/return location fees
Where you pick up can change your total more than you expect.
Common lines:
Airport fee / concession fee (common at airport desks)
City pickup surcharge (sometimes for premium locations)
Delivery/collection fee (hotel drop-off, port, specific neighborhoods)
If you’re arriving by ferry, “port pickup” can be priced differently than airport/city.
5) Insurance lines (what’s included vs upsold)
Insurance is where quotes become hard to compare unless you look closely.
Typical lines you’ll see:
Basic included coverage (often third-party liability)
Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) or similar wording
Theft protection
Glass/tires/undercarriage add-ons
Two important realities:
“Included insurance” doesn’t always mean low excess (deductible).
“Full insurance” often has exclusions (wheels, glass, underside are common).
Compare offers by:
excess amount (your max responsibility)
what parts are excluded
whether proof is required (police report, photos)
6) Deposit / credit card hold (and “no hold” wording)
This is the big one for many travelers.
A credit card hold (pre-authorization) temporarily reserves funds on your card. It’s not a payment, but it reduces your available balance until released.
You’ll see it shown as:
security deposit (hold)
pre-authorization
guarantee amount
“No hold” can mean 3 different things
truly no deposit/hold
deposit collected as cash instead of card hold
smaller hold or hold only if you refuse extra coverage
If you want a simple official explanation of how card authorizations work (helpful when your bank asks), these are clear:
(Those links aren’t about rentals, they’re about how holds/authorizations behave on cards.)
7) Mileage rules (limited vs unlimited)
Mileage policies can quietly add cost.
Look for:
Unlimited mileage (best for road trips)
Limited mileage (e.g., X km/day or X km/rental)
Extra km charge (MAD per km after limit)
If you’re planning day trips (Asilah, Chefchaouen, Tetouan loop), limited mileage can blow up your “cheap” rate.
8) Fuel policy (full-to-full vs prepay)
Fuel lines are simple but easy to mess up.
Common policies:
Full-to-full: you get it full, return it full (best if you keep receipts)
Same-to-same: return with same level you received
Prepay: you pay for a tank upfront (often not a good deal unless clearly priced)
What to do: Photograph the fuel gauge at pickup and return, and keep the last fuel receipt if you refuel near drop-off.
9) Driver-related fees
Driver lines are often fixed rules, not “optional extras.”
Typical lines:
Young driver fee (commonly under a certain age)
Extra driver fee (second driver registered)
License requirement checks (rare as a separate line, but sometimes bundled)
Important: If you plan to share driving, add the extra driver properly. If an unregistered driver has an incident, you can end up with serious coverage issues.
10) Add-ons (GPS, child seat, Wi-Fi, etc.)
These are the most obvious extras:
child seat / booster
GPS
portable Wi-Fi
phone holder
roof rack
Two tips:
Ask for the daily price and max cap (some charge per day without a cap)
Photograph the condition of rented accessories (child seat straps, etc.)
11) One-way, late return, and out-of-hours fees
These lines appear when your schedule isn’t “standard.”
One-way fee: drop in a different city (Tangier → Marrakech, etc.)
Out-of-hours pickup/return: late night, early morning
Late return: may trigger an extra day or hourly fee
Rule of thumb: If your drop-off time is tight, return earlier. A 25-minute delay can sometimes be priced like a full extra day depending on policy.
12) Cleaning, smoking, and damage admin fees
These are “behavior-triggered” fees, and they can be expensive.
Common lines:
Cleaning fee (sand, mud, heavy dirt)
Smoking fee
Damage administration fee (a processing fee added on top of repair cost)
Avoid disputes by doing a quick pickup photo set: bumpers, wheels, windshield, and a dashboard shot (fuel + mileage).
13) Fines, tolls, and “admin handling” charges
Even if you pay the fine amount, rentals may charge an admin handling fee for processing it.
You may see:
traffic fines (charged later)
toll violations
parking tickets
admin fee per incident
If you’re doing city parking, keep receipts or photos where possible.
14) Currency, exchange rates, and DCC traps
If you pay with a foreign card, watch for:
Dynamic currency conversion (DCC): the terminal offers to charge you in your home currency. It often includes a worse exchange rate.
Bank foreign transaction fees
Best practice: choose to pay in MAD unless you have a specific reason not to.
15) A sample “line-by-line” price breakdown
Here’s how a typical invoice structure looks (example format, not exact numbers):
Base rental rate (X days)
Taxes / VAT
Location fee (airport/city/delivery)
Insurance package (included or upgraded)
Deposit / pre-authorization (hold amount)
Extra driver (optional)
Child seat / GPS / Wi-Fi (optional)
One-way fee (if applicable)
Out-of-hours fee (if applicable)
Fuel adjustment (only if policy not met)
Cleaning/smoking/damage admin fees (only if triggered)
Fines/toll admin handling (only if triggered later)
If you can map every line in the quote into one of those buckets, you’re comparing correctly.
16) Quick questions to ask before you pay
Copy/paste this to the agency:
What is included in the base rate (taxes included or not)?
Is there a deposit/hold? Amount and release timing?
What is the excess/deductible and what’s excluded (glass/tires/undercarriage)?
Is mileage unlimited? If not, what’s the per-km charge?
Fuel policy (full-to-full?) and do you require a receipt?
Any airport/city delivery or out-of-hours fees?
Do you charge an admin fee for fines/tolls?
If they answer clearly in writing, your pickup becomes 10x smoother.
