Teenage Road Trip

[Dennis Maine]

Hey all.. some friends and I are planning out a road trip.. all but one of us is under 18.. any suggestions or things we should be aware of? Motel Restrictions, curfews, etc? Thanks, Den

[JohnBLZ]

Where are you originating from? I'd stay out of the rockies during the winter if you're driving west or from the west....they can be deadly....

hmm..motel restrictions....I'm 25 now..but when I was 20 and earning good money I couldn't rent a hotel room because alot of companies have policies about being 21 or 23 and under....so you might stay away from the major hotel chains...go for the small family owned places..and BE RESPECTFULL there....you'll ruin it for everyone else if you don't....

good luck and if you're driving through the midwest I can suggest lots of places :)

[Dennis Maine]

Yeah thanks I actually live in wisconsin here.. we would be going to the east coast, texas, then the west coast. I was thinking maybe pay in advance.. using priceline.com or something of that.. and we would be camping alot also.

[Paul Winter]

Me and 3 other mates, are planning on doing a Road Trip next year. we'll all be 19 by then, but we are unsure how old u have to be to hire a car, (especially as we're from England and not the states.) we are pretty sure it 21..can ne 1 comfirm this?

[imported_Rob]

Eh, I wouldn't worry too much about the road trip Dennis. On my first road trip (1997) I was 18 and my two friends were both 17. We never got denied from any hotels, of course we stayed at cheap places that cost ~$30. I would go to the office and lie…tell them that I was alone and then my two friends would sneak in later and we would drink the night away, but be relatively quiet. The worst thing that ever happened was that they caught all three of us in the room and demanded we pay the extra 10 bucks or they would call the cops… we paid, then left the next morning.

Best advice I can give you is to hide the liquor in the trunk and watch out for speed traps on small highways off of the interstates. And have a good time, that's what the road is about. (24 days to RoadTrip).

[imported_Rob]

Most places I've seen you have to be 25 in order to rent a car, however this is not written in stone. Listen to this quote from Avis:

At most Avis locations in the US, the minimum age to rent an Avis vehicle is 25. In certain situations or at certain locations, the minimum age may be 18 or 21. In some instances a surcharge may apply for renters under age 25. Please check with Avis at 1-800-331-1212 for details.

So the best advice I can give you is to call a bunch of places until you find one that is willing to rent to you... the worst part of all of this is the surcharge for under-25 drivers, in some cases it can be as high as 100%. :P

Where in TX are you planning to go?

[Darrell]

Bring a tent and some sleeping bags. You can be social with other people who are camping/travelling and campers are generally more friendly and helpful than motel/hotel goers.

Not to mention you'll be under the stars and have plenty more stories to tell.

I don't know where you plan to travel but some states allow camping on highway turn-offs if you register beforehand.