warreng24

I am thinking about renting a car to drive MHT-YUL-MHT.

Does National allow this? What about crossing the boarder with a rental car? It is a pain in the butt?

I'd rather rent a car rather then put miles on my own car.

djk7

We rented from Hertz in SEA, drove up and spent a few days of our trip in Vancouver before returning to SEA, no problems at all. Insurance could be a concern if you have an incident, but I just trusted that Amex would be there if needed, and as always (knock on wood), it wasn't.

3Cforme

I believe National wants to know if you're taking a car to Canada, in order to have insurance in order (at no extra charge, typically).

deleted

peteropny

I rent from BUF regularly, and at the Emerald Booth they always ask if I plan on going to Canada (they will print out a rental contract if I say yes).

YVR Cockroach

Incorrect. You can do so, as long as you're not a resident of Canada. If you are a resident of Canada, even if a U.S. citizen (only), the same restriction applies to you.

thorpeflyer

I've gone through Exec Selection and the Aisle at DTW, taken the car to Windsor across the river. This was about a month ago: Back and forth daily between the US (MI) and Canada (ON). I had no problems and National asked about none of it. Easy as can be. Budget 3 minutes, that is all, for border crossings.

InTheAirORD

It is not a problem as long as you let them know and take out the proper insurance.

s3n

What insurance, specifically?

Question #2: What about the other way around, taking a car from Canada to the US? Anyone have any advice to share? Will my credit card insurance be enough to cover me? TIA.

Rob98ZJ

I did almost the same thing, except I met a coworker at DTW and drove to Toronto (he didn't have his passport, this was the easiest way since he couldn't fly there).

Never told National and no problems crossing the border either way. However, depending on the time you might need a little longer than three minutes. The tunnel and bridge can get pretty backed up at times.

Gamecock

Any changes in this policy?

xSTRIKEx6864

When you rent you just need to tell National that you are taking the car into Canada and make sure they give you a paper/printed contract document in case the border authorities want it.

dontego

Does one need to purchase additional insurance from National if traveling into Canada?

dtremit

You don't typically need extra insurance, but you are technically supposed to have written proof of the insurance you have.

My insurance agent was able to print up a "Canada card" for my policy that I carry with me, and was very familiar with the request. I recall a similar procedure being the case with my dad's old company cars.

Tuneman1984

As a Canadian, I've rented many cars from YVR and YYZ to go on cross-border trips. National has never had any problem with this but you usually have to ask specifically for a printout of your RA as they usually just give you the hangtag. I would NOT recommend crossing the border without your contract as many agents ask to see it. One time I crossed the Queenston-Lewiston and the border agent asked me point blank "How do I know you didn't just knock somebody out and take their rental car" when I didn't have the paperwork.

For that matter, expect the possibility of increased scrutiny any time you take a rental across the border. Border agents on both sides don't seem to understand why people would rent a vehicle when they own one, or in my case how a person could POSSIBLY not own a car in 2012. When I answer that the car I'm driving is a rental, 99/100 times the next question is "Why are you bringing a rental down here?" To which I answer, "Because I don't own a car." Or even when I owned one in Victoria, it would cost $50 each way on the ferry, versus maybe $30 tax in for a YVR rental for the day, you do the math.

Just last weekend I was sent in for a search coming back into Canada specifically because I had been in a rental car (my customs card had "3rd party vehicle" written on it). They couldn't make sense of my story when I told them I had rented from YVR to go down and do some shopping. After searching my car, they came back to say "We found receipts for your other rental car, why did you rent two cars today?" When I explained that I did it to get credit for two rentals this only seemed to incense them more that I had to be some sort of criminal.

Back story on that: I had too much stuff to take to Vancouver to go as a foot passenger so I did a cheap pay-per-km one-way from the National office near the ferry to the airport (38 km total) and then got a cheap YVR rental for the remainder ($25 ai for a Premium!). This worked out cheaper than doing one rental from Victoria (where rates are higher) and then having to pay for a vehicle TWICE on the ferry (since I had only hand luggage coming back).

So yeah, I may just be bitter, but use caution when driving a rental across the border. I have a clean criminal record, was last nicked for speeding in 2006, pay my taxes on time, and keep relatively well-groomed, so if they can suspect me, who knows...

Neil791

I've rented multiple times from national here in Toronto and driven across the border to NY State without issue. When asked by the CBP who's car it was and why a rental I simply stated it was because i didn't own a car and there was nothing more said.
I did get pulled into secondary one time in Detroit but that I believe was more to do with the fact that we'd driven down from Toronto to cross the border for the casino which the mental midgets clearly couldn't figure out but once they realized I wasn't a member of a clandestine Canadian spy ring they let us on our way.

Shockingly i've never had a problem coming back to Canada