Anyone know about renting a car while under 25 years old?

[cjchaps]

I am going to be renting a car in Colorado when I go skiing, but me and the people I am going with are all under 25. I was looking into the prices, and if you are my age(22), the places charge you and extra 15-25 a day, or won't even let you rent a car. WTF??
Why do they do that? I have a platinum visa which covers auto insurance and stuff like that while renting a car, so what do they(Car rental companies) have to lose? Does anyone know the best company to rent from for a person of my age? Or a place to find good prices on that stuff?

 

[Viper GTS]

I tried to find a place that would rent to <25 year olds, &amp; I never found one. I think I may have found ONE that would rent to 22 &amp; over, but that did me no good.

I guess they figure anybody under 25 is

a) irresponsible and
b) too poor to insure it properly

Bastards.

Viper GTS

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Viper, you should have asked me about it. I know a place that will let you.

In this case, you have to be 18 (duh), and your car has to be currently in the shop. The place won't rent to teens who just want to joy-ride, but they will if you actually need the car. I didn't look too much into it, but there's probably got to be some line about having another person sign off on it, or whatnot.

 

[Viper GTS]

I wanted one for when I was in PA, it wouldn't have done me any good.

Viper GTS

 

[Ariel]

Don't rent a car, just take the shuttles to the slopes and take taxis everywhere else. If there are a bunch of you, it would probably cost the same and might even save you some money.

 

[denali]

Why do you need to get a car. take a shuttle. where are you going?

 

[cjchaps]

We will be staying with a relative who lives in Boulder and plan on going to a few different resorts, so shuttles and taxis would be really be a bother. We also want the freedom to drive into denver and hit the bars and night if we want to, as well as doing other sight seeing.

 

[JenniZ]

I dont know about you two, but public transportation and/or shuttles SUCK. I cannot stand shuttles, busses, etc. Cabs.. MAYBE, but not for everday transportation.

Yeah public trans, you get to sit on a smelly bus with a bunch of other losers. No thanks.

Dont know where to help you out there on renting the car though. Its just gonna cost you extra. My company sends me on business trips alot, and they wanted me to take the shuttle from the airport to the hotel, which is a normally 1-2 hour drive when you drive yourself. A shuttle would be even longer. No thanks, I made them rent a car for one of the co-workers.

 

[JenniZ]

If I'm vacationing for myself, I would never take shuttles and what-not. NO way.

 

[Wah]

www.studentadvantage.com

if you have a student advantage card (they used to give it to us free at my college...I don't know about now) you don't have to pay extra if yer 21 or over.

 

[denali]

Okay, I thought you were going to just be staying at the resort. How about borrowing your relatives car and then have them rent a car and pay them. Would work if a relative was over 25.

 

[bcterps]

I have always rented from Enterprise and have had no problem. They dont charge you extra for being under 25. Reasonable rates too.

--Ben

 

[cavingjan]

Most of your major chains don't allow renting of cars by underage folks. Local locations are allowed to vary this rule to their own requirements but they still have the national policy to fall back on. Try a travel service as this can sometimes get you by policy problems and to eliminate the ones that won't allow it.

Another possibility is to borrow your relatives car and pay for your relative to rent a car for your visit. Also, policies can change due to availability. You are going out there during ski season and that may affect things.

Also be aware of any required insurance. I recently rented a car in Phoenix that was only $18 a day but after I had to pay the REQUIRED insurance (I was quadruple covered in case of an accident by their policy, my policy, company's policy and my credit card) it was over $50. Company paid for it but its still something to be aware of.

 

[Dedpuhl]

I find it odd that once you turn 25 that your insurance price takes a nosedive. I have 2 1/2 years left before that happens

 

[cjchaps]

Thanks for all the great info everyone! I would think about borrowing my relative car, but she has a piece of crap car, and I wouldn't trust it in the mountains. I looked into the student advantage card and dollar rent a car, and it appears that solution would be great. Does anyone with a student advantage card know how that works? Do you just get a code from student advantage which you then use with dollar rent a car? If so, could you post that code
I am not a student, but one of the guys I am going with is, so if it doesn't work with codes, he could sign up for the card.