Although the Ad says "no questions asked", in truth and honesty a certain amount of questioning should be asked. There are no codes required and you do not need to declare it, but your domestic partner should be declared for your protection. As usual, big explanation follows.

The official Avis/Budget/Cendant Car Rental Group stance on domestic partners is:

"Domestic Parters are treated as spouses within the Avis Rent A Car Rental System."

This means "as long as your partner meets the definition of domestic partner" your partner is automatically authorized to drive the rental car the same as a married spouse would be.
Now, domestic partner definitions vary widely, but for the most part, if your company or state recognizes domestic partnership and your partner is recognized as a domestic partner in your state or company, then you are afforded that right at Cendant/Avis/Budget (ill use ABC to represent all three brands for this discussion).

In the absence of formal company/state recognition of domestic partnership, Avis will allow the following (Avis agent may/should ask the following if you are unsure if your partner qualifies):

1> Is your Partner a beneficiary of a life insurance policy?
2> Is your parnter listed as an emergency contact for your company?
3> Do you share a lease/property ownership with your partner?
4> Do you have a major utility bill held jointly in you and your partners name?
5> Does your partner have power of attorney privlidges in case of your incapacitation?
6> Does your partner reside in the same household as you and has resided there for the past 6 months or longer?
7> Does the drivers license of both parties list the same home address (this is the most commonly used check point, if this is the same, most times thats all avis will ask)

8> Another question which could be asked is "would your partner qualify as a common law spouse in your home state if it was allowed?"

Essentially Number 8 in most states means a time comittment (number 6) and any 3 of the other 6. The ABC Agent will attempt to make sure that some of the above applies if you are unsure. The simple and best answer is to proudly say "yes, he/she" is my spouse. The agent will declare something along the lines of "Then your spouse is automatically authorized to drive as long as your spouse qualifies as a domestic partner. Your partner would also need to be over the age of 25."

That last statement is basically a catch all to say "if your partner is driving, and it turns out that he/she would not qualify as a domestic partner in all 50 states, and not enough of the above criteria apply, you would have broken your rental agreement and would not be covered by your personal car rental insurance and the company LDW." If your partner does not qualify and you declare them as a domestic partner, you have violated your rental contract. What does that mean? nothing if you dont get into an accident or get a ticket. If you do have an accident, then the violation of contract means that even your personal car insurance CAN (doesnt mean they will) refuse to cover the accident EVEN IF YOUR DP IS LISTED ON THE POLICY. This is one reason why you should get the "additional driver form" signed. Even if your DP does NOT qualify, your signed approved additional driver form will keep you from violating your contract.

The age issue is a gripe even with married couples. You could be age 21, and pay a 25 dollar fee, but your DP cannot drive for free unless your DP is over the age of 25. If your company AWD allows you to rent underage, your DP would need to be a co worker with your company or your company would need to recognize domestic partnership before your spouse could drive, but still would need to be over the age of 25 unless your company specifically authorized underage additional drivers under that AWD. For those of you who have been around a while, you remember me saying how important AWD's are for "side benfefits, not just age and rate", here is one of them. So domestic partners dont feel bad, married couples have the same issues on car rentals. Bottom line, if both of you are under 25, usually only one of you can drive, unless specifically exempted.


Once you declare a domestic partner, and you have properly determined that your partner would qualify, THEN YOU SHOULD FILL OUT AN ADDITIONAL DRIVER FORM and NOT pay any fees.

Some managers (rightly so, and myself included) feel that a domestic partner and a married spouse do not need additional driver forms. However in reality, there are situations where your partner may be driving and then gets pulled over, and there would be no documentation to prove that he/she is authorized to drive. If a married spouse was pulled over, the drivers license address and last name would match, and there would be no issue in most states, and if there was, the officer would call avis and avis would automatically say "yes she/he is authorized.

Just because of inexperience, most police officers dont deal with domestic partner/rental car issues. This is ANOTHER reason why you should get a additional driver form filled out. It reduces hassles. And lets face it, not everywhere in america is as friendly towards domestic partnership lifestyles as avis or more progressive parts of america. Certain municipalities probably would be better avoided as it concerns with domestic partnership issues. Standing on the side of the road in parts of the midwest or deep south in backwoods rural america trying to explain how avis allows domestic partners is probably not the safest of situations. I dont agree with it, but reality is reality.

The simplest and best way to protect you and your partner from unecessary harassment from police and other situations is to get an additional driver form, or at the very least, have the agent put it in your file in case of a pull over. You may think "its none of their business" and your right, but its better to be safe than sorry.

if you have more specific questions, feel free to private message me, as this issue sometimes isnt the easiest to discern. This is why many domestic partners have had problems in some locations.


FYI, Avis rent A Car fully recoginzes domestic partnership and provides full benefits to domestic partners of employees. Their domestic partnership rules are very similar to the above list.


And in regards to this quote, avis and budget share the same training. "you are to accept domestic partners as additional drivers with no fee. Period."

training complete.

The issue isnt whether it is allowed, the issue is "how do you determine domestic partnership without offending customers."

some people are squeamish in asking that question. I, personally, just do the following...

"I would like to sign my parnter up as an aditional driver."

"Avis Rent A car allows married spouses, domestic partners, and employees of businesses on the same business trip permission to drive with no addtional fees or paperwork. Which one of these does your parnter qualify for?"

"domestic partner"

" your domestic partner is authorized to drive as long as he/she is over the age of 25, unless your AWD allows for underage additional drivers, is your partner over 25?"

"yes"------"okay, lets fill out this additional driver form to avoid any misunderstanding. There will be no fee for this form, but it will protect you in case of police action or in case of an accident."

"No"------"Then hold on a second and let me see if your AWD will allow him/her to drive under 25, depending on the code, it may or may not incurr an underage charge."

"my parnter isnt here right now, he/she is arriving at a later time."

"your partner is authorized to drive without the additional driver form, however I strongly suggest you get the form for your protection. You can stop by any avis rent a car location and get that form at any time." T