July Roadtrip on the west coast

I am an international student currently studying at NYU. Im planning to spend about 26 days on the road travelling from Seattle to San Diego and then back up this summer. This is to save the one way rental fee. I got a few questions about car rental.

1) I currently don't have a social security number = no credit card. Do i have to apply for one? I think a credit card will take off some extra cost from car insurance, since i don't have any auto insurance. Am i right about that? I do have a debit card though.

2) I am 22 years old. Anyway to avoid that pesky age restriction cost which will double my rental easily? or is there a place i can rent from that charge less than 25 bucks/day.

3) How early should i make this reservation? Is it possible to keep the rental below $1250?

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Since you are a student, you might be able to apply for a credit card, but I couldn't say for sure (and I'm thinking it is got to be harder to get one these days because of the credit sitation). If you did get one, it would probably have a very low limit and a high interest rate. I think the cost of your rental car would greatly exceed any amount of credit you could get.

Even if you could get a credit card to cover the bill, I wouldn't recommend it for use as your only insurance, unless you are absolutely sure it will provide enough coverage. A credit card's coverage is usually a "last resort" policy, that will only kick in if there are no other options.

I'd start looking at making reservations ASAP. Its very likely that this will be very expensive because both of your age and your lack of insurance. Start looking now to see what your options are and what prices you can find. Car Rental Reservations are usually pretty flexable, so if you find a better deal, you could cancel your first reservation - just make sure you know what the cancellation policies are to be sure this applies in your case.

Most car rental companies require any renters under 25 to have a major credit card in their own name, so make sure to check with your car rental company of choice on their requirements.

As to the underage fees, Enterprise has the lowest range of underage fees; they start around $10 and go up, depending on the city. I went to the Enterprise website and did some checking.

I didn't know your dates so I just checked a compact car for July 15 -Aug 10 at Sea-Tac airport for a compact car.

4 Weeks @
$ 139.99 USD $ 559.96 USD

AIRPORT FACILITY FEE $ 130.00 USD

UNDER AGE 25 DRIVER FEE $ 260.00 USD

Subtotal $ 949.96 USD

AIRPORT ACCESS FEE $ 91.02 USD

SALES TAX $ 81.99 USD

WASHINGTON STATE RENTAL CAR TX $ 88.37 USD


* Total Estimated
Charges $ 1,211.34 USD ** Note: with this rate you would only get

4200 miles free and will be charged 0.20 for each additional mile for the entire rental.


Re: their debit card policy.. the website stated:

Quote:

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Using Debit Cards in the US
Although you may use a debit card, pre-paid card, or another form of payment to pay for the final charges on the vehicle, if you reserve a vehicle through this website, you will need to provide a major credit card at the time of the rental to secure the rental transaction. A major credit card is a card that is supported by a pre-determined line of credit, and not a bank account, or a pre-paid balance.

Local Enterprise Rent-A-Car Offices may accept debit cards, pre-paid cards, or other forms of payment to secure the rental transaction. To reserve a vehicle without a major credit card, please contact the local office directly.

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From personal experience, not all Enterprise offices will accept debit cards for all vehicles. This is at the local manager's discretion.