Selecting a different country of origin when making a reservation
Aug 14, 2018, 6:47 am
#1
Original Member, Moderator: Hotel Deals and MilesBuzz
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 14,257
Selecting a different country of origin when making a reservation
I've been playing around the Budget website for a car rental outside the USA and noticed significantly lower rates when selecting a country other than the USA where it asks for which country I live in. If I select a country other than the US, will I experience any pushback or issues when picking up the car? Anyone tried this before?
Aug 14, 2018, 8:13 am
#2
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
To answer your specific question, there is no way to be certain. The fraud should be picked up during the credit check process as your CC and DL will not be from the third country, but it might not and a clerical person at the pickup site might not notice or care.
But, what you may be assured of is that if you rent in violation of the contract and that standard document will always specify that it is void if incorrect information has been provided, that any insurance or other coverage associated with the contract will be void. That will be the subject of a check if there is a claim. If one uses one's own coverages, most also are void if the underlying contract is void.
So, all a risk calculation, some of which cannot be controlled or known before it may be needed.
But, what you may be assured of is that if you rent in violation of the contract and that standard document will always specify that it is void if incorrect information has been provided, that any insurance or other coverage associated with the contract will be void. That will be the subject of a check if there is a claim. If one uses one's own coverages, most also are void if the underlying contract is void.
So, all a risk calculation, some of which cannot be controlled or known before it may be needed.
Aug 14, 2018, 8:57 am
#3
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 610
On the other hand, some rental car agencies have different rates when you select a different website (e.g. .co.uk instead of .com). You can still pick your own country of residence during the checkout process, so you're not giving any false information. Anyone have experience with that?
Aug 14, 2018, 9:51 am
#4
Company Representative - AutoSlash and HotelSlash
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: autoslash.com | hotelslash.com
Posts: 5,659
All disclaimers aside, there have been very few cases (actually none that I can think of) where someone is denied a rental at the counter because they chose a country of residence that they could not prove residence in. In fact, it's possible that you might be visiting a country in your travels and book a rental in a different country while there where you are automatically directed to the local car rental website. While we'd never advocate knowingly providing false information to the rental company, and you could get into trouble by doing it, it's common knowledge that this has happened in the past and there is usually very little scrutiny of the practice.