Why you should ditch your rental car the night before your flight

I probably look suspicious as the sole traveler in the rental car return line without any luggage, but I don't care. I prefer raised eyebrows to the look of pity — or alarm — on the agent's face when I pull into the drop-off facility spouting tears, curses or both.

To sleep more, stress less and save overall, I decided years ago to ditch the rental car the evening before an early morning flight instead of on the departure day. The preemptive return strategy has several advantages: I save money on overnight parking and the cost of an additional rental day. More important, in the name of self-care, I don't have to rise at an unholy hour to drive around unfamiliar surroundings searching for an open gas station and the car rental building.

Without an imminent flight, I won't panic if I miss an exit with refueling options or blow by a rental car drop-off sign.

This was hardly my attitude when I was so auto-dependent. Years ago, I had a dawn's-early flight departing from a Western Alabama airport. I was so focused on finding a gas station operating at that hour, I accidentally drove across the border to Mississippi. With the clock ticking, I ended up dropping off the car with only a squirt of gas in the tank. I apologized to the agent while trying to ignore the inflated gas price posted on the back wall, my punishment for not filling the tank.

Relinquishing the car on this timeline works in most scenarios, but not all. If I am staying in an area without an airport shuttle, mass transit or reliable car-share service, I will hang onto the rental and drive myself to the airport. But more often than not, I will book a hotel with a free shuttle, so that I can catch a ride from the airport to the hotel and back.

Obviously, early risers with sharp navigational skills might opt to wait until the morning. But I do not possess either trait: I am an owl with a permanently busted inner compass. So, I don't mind tacking a few errands onto my final evening, such as running my bags up to my hotel room, gassing up and trekking to the airport. In the morning, I can calmly sip lobby-brewed coffee while the shuttle driver runs around collecting passengers and bags.

To save on the rental fee, the timing must be right. I can shave off a day if I pick up the car in the early evening. However, if my reservation starts in the late morning or afternoon, I will not interrupt my last day of touring for a jaunt to the airport. In this case, I will return the car with 12 hours still on the clock. I view this expense as an insurance plan that will protect me from losing even more money on a replacement flight.