Renting a car in the US

[sam_son83]

Hey everyone,

Im off to the US in May for a 1 month road trip from Portland to San Diego. Im going with my good friend and we are planning on renting a car from Portland and dropping it off in San Diego. Im 25 years old and was just wondering what you thought about this option and if there is any red tape ect? is it easy enough to rent a car for a month for a UK citizen?

I look forward to hearing from you

Regards

Sam

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

This actually should be very easy for you. Since you are over 25, you shouldn't have any problem finding a decent rate, and every company should rent to you. You will likely have to pay a one way drop off fee, but since this is just a west coast trip, you probably can find a fairly reasonable price for that charge too. You might also have to pay a small extra driver fee, if both of you want to drive.

None of these things should be too difficult, but you'll probably want to shop around to find the best deal.

The other thing I would check on is insurance. If you currently have insurance, check with your agent to see if you are covered while driving a rental in the US and/or if you need to purchase insuarance from the rental car company.

[sam_son83]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I was just wondering if insurance was covered in the hire of the car? if not then what is the best way to go about covering the car (UK or US company) most hire companies offer cover to all damage for a daily fee and as we will be visiting a lot of National Parks do you think this is a good idea or is it best to get this sorted on your insurance?

[Midwest Michael]

As I mentioned, this is something you need to check with your current insurance agent to find out how you are currently covered. If you currently have insurance and it covers you in a rental car, then you wouldn't need anything else, unless you want to have more coverage than you have at home.

I'm not sure why visiting national parks would have any impact on the amount of coverage you will want or need.

Insurance is NOT included in the standard price of a rental car. If you need it, you can certainly buy it from the rental agency. Here is a good primer for some of the more common terms and policies you will typically encounter with rental car insuance. There are also some 3rd parties that will also sell you rental car insurance, and their prices may or may not be better than what the rental company will sell.