chanye recently went to Pasadena, CA for a conference, and while there also stopped by the Rose Bowl (sadly there was no game) and Cal-tech (and no, Sheldon did not make an appearance). Thinking about it, after so many years in the U.S., I’ve rented quite a few cars. Luckily, it seems the other two gurus on this BLOG haven’t written about this topic yet, so I’ll shamelessly share a few of my own thoughts.

holiday-car-rental

Preparation checklist

This part is simple: just confirm and prepare the following items. If you don’t have something, see the suggested workarounds below.

  • A valid U.S. driver’s license
    • Don’t have one? Then do you have a driver’s license from your home country? If so, check the rules in the state where you’ll actually be driving (not just the state where you rent the car). If allowed, bring your domestic license along with a notarized/official translation when renting.
  • Age 25 or older
    • Too young? Then you’ll have to pay the underage fee. Or, you could try using a USAA CDP, which can waive this fee at HERTZ/ENTERPRISE/AVIS/BUDGET. Strictly speaking, though, that would be abusing the CDP. If they check your eligibility documents, you’re out of luck. So use at your own risk. P.S. With USAA, even if you’re not military or a military family member, you can still rent a car and use the discount code, just without a membership card. See this article by that Indian guy for details.
  • You own a car and have insurance
    • Don’t own a car? Then you’ll have to buy the rental company’s Liability insurance.
  • A credit card that provides Primary Coverage (Chase UA, CSP, or an AMEX card enrolled in “PREMIUM CAR RENTAL PROTECTION”)
    • Don’t have one? If you own a car and only carry liability coverage, then it doesn’t really matter—just use any credit card to rent. No credit card at all? Then buy the rental company’s CDW.
  • Car charger, charging cable, phone/GPS mount, GPS device or phone + navigation app
    • Don’t have them? Borrow them, or rent them from the rental company (for a fee). P.S. There’s also a sneaky trick involving returns, but I won’t get into that here.

Choosing a rental company and booking channel

Hotwire & Costco Travel

If you don’t have a preference for a particular rental company, your first step should be checking prices on Hotwire, because Hotwire rates are often lower than the prices on rental company websites without any discount codes applied. So check Hotwire first, use that price as your floor, and then compare with other booking channels. The same logic applies to Costco Travel.

Priceline - Name your Own Price

A lot of people have used Priceline’s bidding feature for hotels when traveling, and bidding on rental cars is pretty similar, so I won’t go into detail here.

Rental car companies

Personally, I like renting from Hertz. That probably has a lot to do with the consistently good experiences I’ve had with them (for example, when I used a USAA CDP before turning 25, they never once checked my documents). The cars I’ve rented from Hertz have also generally been in good condition and pleasant to drive.

Based on personal experience, I’d roughly group rental companies into a few categories.

First are the three major rental groups (Enterprize/National/Alamo, Hertz/Dollar/Thrifty/Firefly, Avis/Budget), and then the others (Sixt, Advantage, etc.).

In my experience, Hertz, National, Enterprise, Avis, Budget, and Sixt usually have slightly better vehicle condition, though they also tend to cost more.

About discount codes

Generally speaking, discount codes fall into two categories: one is the contract code (CDP), and the other is the true discount code (PC).

  • Contract code (CDP)
    • This is a code for a negotiated rate between a rental car company and a related business or organization. Strictly speaking, eligibility is restricted (for example, to employees of that company). In practice, though, rental companies usually don’t check very carefully. Also, some CDPs are easy to qualify for—for example, many airlines provide registered CDPs to their frequent flyer members (I personally like using AA’s, and the pricing is often pretty good). Signing up as a frequent flyer is usually easy and free.
    • Risk warning: Some restricted CDPs come with additional benefits (for example, USAA may waive the underage fee and include liability insurance). But if the rental agent insists on seeing proof of eligibility and you can’t provide it, you may have to pay the current walk-up rate. Also, if you get into an accident and want to claim a benefit included in the contracted rate, but can’t produce the required documentation, your claim could be denied. So use them at your own risk.
  • Discount code (PC)
    • If you have the code, you can use it. The most common way to find one is via Google—just search for “rental car company + coupon.”
    • Be sure to check the terms of each code. Some require a rental of at least 7 consecutive days, while others are weekend-only, etc.

About insurance

Insurance was already mentioned in the preparation section, but it’s important enough to repeat. Just find the scenario that applies to you.

  • You own a car, have full coverage, and have a credit card with primary coverage
    • Just use the credit card with primary coverage to rent the car, and remember to decline any insurance offered by the rental company.
  • You own a car, have full coverage, but only have credit cards without primary coverage
    • You have two options: 1) buy the rental company’s LDW; 2) use any credit card, but accept the risk that if something happens you’ll have to file a claim through your own auto insurance.
  • You own a car, have full coverage, and do not have a credit card
    • You have two options: 1) buy the rental company’s LDW; 2) don’t buy it, but be prepared to pay your own policy’s deductible if something happens.
  • You own a car, have liability-only coverage, and have a credit card
    • This is the easiest case: just use the credit card to rent the car, and remember to decline any insurance offered by the rental company.
  • You own a car, have liability-only coverage, and do not have a credit card
    • Then just buy the rental company’s LDW.
  • You do not own a car, but have a credit card
    • Buy the rental company’s SLI, then use your credit card to rent the car.
  • You do not own a car and do not have a credit card
    • Buy both the rental company’s SLI and LDW.

Terminology

  • CDW/LDW (Collision/Loss Damage Waiver): damage waiver; roughly equivalent to the part of full coverage that protects your own car.
  • SLI (Supplemental Liability Insurance): roughly equivalent to the part of auto insurance that covers damage or injury to others.
  • primary coverage: if a policy provides primary coverage, it applies first in any situation (AKA, highest priority).
  • secondary coverage: if a policy provides secondary coverage, it applies only when no other insurance is available or when the other coverage is insufficient (AKA, not highest priority).

Additional notes

  • About secondary coverage
    • If you only have liability coverage on your own car, then secondary coverage effectively becomes primary, because there is no other applicable coverage.
    • If you have full coverage on your own car, then secondary coverage usually only covers your deductible under that policy.
  • Maximum rental period covered by credit card rental insurance:
    • Mastercard: 15 days, or 31 days (international)
    • Visa: 15 days (personal and domestic), or 31 days (business or international)
    • Discover: 31 days
    • AMEX: 30 days, or 42 days (same rental company, within a 75mile radius)
    • For other specifics, please refer to this Wikipedia page.
  • Whether non-U.S. credit cards and debit cards include rental car insurance
    • Short answer: NO!
    • More precise answer: check the cardmember guide for the specific card.
  • Where to buy CDW/SLI
    • If you book on the rental company’s official website, you can usually choose whether to buy insurance on the page after selecting your vehicle.
    • If you book through an OTA such as Priceline, you may see an option during checkout to buy insurance offered by Priceline.
    • No matter what, you can also request additional insurance at the rental counter when picking up the car.

Picking up and returning the car

A few things to watch for when picking up and dropping off the car:

  • Inspect the exterior
    • At a non-airport location, an employee will usually inspect the car with you. If you notice any scratches or dents, ask the employee to record them immediately.
    • At an airport location, you’ll usually walk to the car yourself. If you notice damage that is not recorded on the rental form or not marked on the vehicle, report it to a staff member immediately.
  • Check the fuel level
    • If the fuel level does not match what is listed on the rental form, report it right away.
  • If this rental has a mileage limit, check the odometer
    • If the mileage does not match what is listed on the rental form, report it right away.
  • Verify the rental information sheet
    • Double-check all of the items mentioned above.
  • When returning the car, if you want to switch to a different card for payment, bring it up promptly. There’s a trick here to avoid AMEX’s $24.99 insurance fee—it’s simple, but I won’t explain it in detail.

Other tips

  • Keep your rental receipt. You can usually earn airline miles from it, which can be very helpful for extending UA/AA miles that are close to expiring. (P.S. It doesn’t even have to be the frequent flyer member’s own rental receipt.)
  • If you get into an accident with the rental car, call 9-11 first, then call the appropriate number listed on the rental paperwork. After that, just follow the claims process step by step.
  • A small tip: when renting, I usually prefer to book a Full size car, because it often costs only a little more than the cheapest category. But there’s still a chance of getting a free upgrade, and cars above Full size usually cost a lot more.
  • About the additional driver fee: if a married couple rents a car, they generally do not have to pay an additional driver fee. Some CDPs also waive the additional driver fee (for example, AAA, AARP, USAA). But never let anyone who is not listed as an additional driver operate the rental car! If there is an accident, the insurance company may deny the claim on that basis. My understanding is that the vehicle belongs to the rental company, and the rental company only authorizes the renter and listed additional drivers to operate it. Anyone else is driving without authorization. In unauthorized-use situations, insurers may deny coverage, so be very careful.