1. What you have seen, is in fact correct. Its more of a risk to have a renter under the age of 25, and therefore it is more expensive.
2. You have to put your actual age in the designated place because they do verify you age at the counter.
3. You can only skip the counter if you a member and have already signed a master rental agreement.
4. Use correct and truthful information when booking, there's no way around that and I understand that you may not agree with the high rates, but they are high for a specific reason, a valid one.