How old do I have to be to rent a car?

Today we focus on age requirements for Renting a Car. The classic question we heard is “How old do I have to be to rent a car?“. Well, in most areas it is required that a person who rents a car either for business or pleasure must be at least 25 years old. In the past years, anyone who was younger than 25 years old, was completely out of luck. Sure, you could vote and drink a beer, but you could not rent a car legally.

This was because rental car companies were often hesitant to rent their cars out to people in the younger age bracket. This is due to the common belief that the younger drivers had the tendency to be less experienced drivers. Since cars are expensive, this could be a major liability for car rental agencies. Even now, some of the larger rental car agencies who do rent to younger car renters, permit the renting but at a much higher cost than to those in other age brackets. In some cases, younger drivers may even have to pay double the daily fee as the cost to rent a car as those in older age brackets.

Age requirement for hiring a car is also a topic that you might need to discuss with a travel expert or research online depending on specifically what country you might need to rent a vehicle. Right now, most rental car companies do allow drivers over the age of 21 to go ahead and rent a car. However, different car companies do vary. One thing about renting a car too is that if you are a younger driver and you need the car to travel on business for work related tasks, the fees are often waived since you are what they term an underage driver. Otherwise, they often have the underage driver fee in place. If renting a car for business reasons, it is best to use your company’s corporate account in order to rent a car so that they can make the reservation for you or give you the permission to make the car rental reservation online for yourself.

You need to look online because it provides the most inclusive information of the answer to the evergreen question of how old do I have to be to rent a car. Often times, when you fill out a reservation online, you will of course need to fill in the dates that you need the rental car, the size of the car that you wish to rent, the locations for pick up and drop off of the rental car, and then if you are considered underage by the rental agency, you will have to show that you are an underage primary driver.

There are some ways that this classic frequently asked question can even be worked around. If you are going on business or a vacation with someone over the age of 25, that should be the person who actually reserves the car and he could be considered the primary driver of the vehicle.

If you are under the age of 25 or whatever the age is that you are considered to be underage, then you could be added as an additional driver to the car for a much cheaper cost. However, this also means that the person who rented the car for you is also the same person who signs for it and picks it up. You also have to be present if you wish to also drive the vehicle because they will need your signature to confirm that you will also be driving the rental vehicle.

One other thing that you need to ensure when facing the age requirements to rent a car is any other additional costs that you need for extra options for your rental car. A GPS device, a luggage rack, or even insurance coverage are all extra fees for you as a car rental customer. If you already have car insurance yourself, the rental car might possibly be covered under your current insurance policy. It is recommended that you check with your car insurance company in order to determine whether or not your rental car would be covered in the case of an accident.

Typically, additional costs of rental car insurance are not needed but this can also depend on the company where you rent your vehicle.

When you consider how old do you have to be to rent a car, then you also need to realize that there are challenges because the agencies have set that minimum age and for example, in the United States, that age varies depending on which state you rent the car in. Each car rental agency also has their own requirements.

To avoid this kind of problem, just decide to book your car rental online

Besides the fact you are going to save money on renting cars – that’s for sure – another big advantage of renting a car online is that you can conduct all of your research well in advance before renting a car so that you do not find yourself stuck without being able to rent a car when you thought you could.

While in the United States, the majority of the states say that a person can legally rent a car at the age of 18. However, the legal driving age is 16 in most states though this can also depend on the type of driver’s license a person has and whether it has restrictions or is still a learner’s permit. Anyone under the age of 18 cannot legally sign a contract to rent a car.

Also when considering ‘How old do I have to be to rent a car?’ then you might find other hurdles too that do not allow drivers under the age of 25 years old to rent vehicles that are considered to be of higher value. This would limit the type of car that you would be allowed to rent. Luxury cars, sport utility vehicles, or vans may not be allowed by various rental car agencies to rent out to drivers under the age of 25.

While there is focus on youth when considering the age requirements, there may also be a maximum age limit. This varies per country as some car rental agencies do not generally impose a maximum age limit. Age limits can vary and often a person can be too old to rent a car. People who are ages 75 to 80 years old may also have a hard time renting a car.

It is best to check with the car rental agency if you are over the age of 70 years old to see if you can rent the car before finalizing the car rental reservation.