Hi,

I am from UK and will rent a car in US soon. One of my cousins in US will join me and share the driving. But he's under 25 and thus we have to pay $300 in total for under age fee. This is quite expensive considering the rental itself only costs $400. So I am looking for a way to avoid this charge.

One way I was thinking: let him become an AAA member and make a booking in the UK site. This would save us about $240 considering membership cost whilst preserving the same all-insurance-inclusive rate. But I am worried there would be problem when we pick up the car because he is a US resident. I found this in the Location's terms 'Renters who have indicated a country of residence outside of the US will be required to present a non US issued drivers license and a non US issued passport OR an international airline ticket at the time of rental to qualify for the rate.' My cousin does have a foreign passport and foreign driving licence. But using an AAA code would imply that he is a US resident.

Would this work? I personally find it is risky. Or is there any better solution?

If your cousin is currently in the US and has a US mailing address he should be able to join AAA. Note that you should be able to make the reservation on the US or UK booking site, but I'm guessing you want to make it on the UK site for the added insurance. I'm not sure it's "risky" as Hertz's system will accept the age waiver, and the agent is unlikely to challenge you.

One way to significantly reduce the chance for a problem is to have your cousin sign up for Hertz Gold as there's less scrutiny that way. Typically you wouldn't even have to stop at the rental counter, but if it's your cousin's first rental, he might have to stop and show his credit card the first time, but regardless, as a Gold member, there less attention paid in general. Renting at a large airport location is another way to improve your odds.

AAA does have reciprocity with international clubs, so theoretically you could join one of the UK clubs and be eligible to use the AAA discount code, although this is a bit of a gray area, and there are possibly going to be people who respond to this thread and say that's not kosher. Honestly though, either approach is likely to work as the chances of being challenged are low.

Lastly, given that these are the only viable approaches we're aware of for waiving the underage fee, you really don't have anything to lose, other than having to end up paying the fee, so it's pretty much all upside and no downside in our opinion.

Thanks for your reply.

Sadly we will rent from a local branch as it is much cheaper than from airport. I am also worried about would it be deemed as breach of T&Cs if there was an accident. Aghhh! Now I feel like everything can go terribly wrong.