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Car Hire for U21's -- Waived Young Drivers Fee?

Car Hire for U21's -- Waived Young Drivers Fee?

Old Jun 22, 2014, 6:22 am
  #1  
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[snip]

Last edited by idlingbye; Jun 22, 2014 at 7:27 am
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Old Jun 22, 2014, 7:31 am
  #2  
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Car hire at LHR for U21's?

Hi there,

I'm looking for a way of renting a car at LHR (I'm 20) without the appalling age differential fees some companies charge. I'm licensed in CA, FWIW.

In the US, Hertz will happily waive the fee with the USAA CDP, as will Avis and Budget, with a little prodding. These codes don't seem to work for rentals originating outside the US/Canada/Mex.

I've yet to find a working way to get the fee waived -- and it can be up to 40GBP a day (Avis, I'm looking at you).

Any advice is much appreciated! Apologies for the OT-ness, but I thought you friendly folk would know best.
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Old Jun 22, 2014, 7:43 am
  #3  
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have you asked in the hertz and other rental car forums?
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Old Jun 22, 2014, 7:54 am
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You may well struggle, most UK companies charge a 'young driver' fee for those between 21 and 25, I've not heard of any that rent to under 21s as a matter of course. They will probably be less likely to waive fees than US companies will.

I've often been bribed into being a driver for various activities at my last university because I was older than most of the other students and therefore the only person able to be named as a driver with various rental companies.
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Old Jun 22, 2014, 7:55 am
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I think that's the first time I've seen one of jerry's posts without links to the answer in other parts of flyertalk

Hertz have a pretty detailed U25 rental thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hertz...0-21-24-a.html), but the trickery only works in the US. Same for most of the other major rental places. Was thinking some people on the BA board might have their own personal experiences to share.
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Old Jun 22, 2014, 7:56 am
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The vast majority of car rental agencies in the UK don't rent to under 21s. So consider yourself lucky that acids only want 45.
The theory is the high insurance costs, especially as insurance in the UK is on the driver, not the car.
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Old Jun 22, 2014, 8:23 am
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Accident rates are rather high for under 21s in the UK - Hence higher rates, if at all.
I think you have to bite the bullet on this.
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Old Jun 22, 2014, 10:21 am
  #8  
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This thread has been moved from the BAEC forum to the UK forum so that it will be seen by a wider range of audience.

LTN Phobia
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Old Jun 22, 2014, 11:20 am
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Threads merged - please continue your discussion on this topic here.

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Old Jun 23, 2014, 4:17 am
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According to this Money Saving Expert page, the typical cost for a year's insurance for a 17-22 year-old is 1,158. Given that you're not used to driving on the left, you've not had that many years experience of driving, and that the costs for a local of your age insuring their own car is so high, about 40 quid a day seems slightly high but not unreasonable.

When I was at uni, I couldn't get any of the main chains to rent to me. There were a couple of medium sized independent places (3-5 locations) who would for a surcharge. Might be worth ringing round a few of those near where you want to rent, and see what they can do? Expect to pay some surcharge, but maybe a bit lower, especially on a longer rental.

Otherwise, if your trip is anything to do with your uni, see if they have any insurance that'll cover you. Cheapest rentals I ever managed as a student were for sports fixtures, where we'd get a coverage letter from the sports department then one (but only one) of the local hire places would rent vehicles to us for the "normal" rate (no surcharge)
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Old Jun 28, 2014, 6:26 pm
  #11  
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Try Kemwel. When I was younger and in this pickle, I got good deals from them.
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Old Jun 29, 2014, 5:00 am
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Not sure if it'll be of any use, but if you're a member of Zipcar (their website suggests that under-21s can join through their university), then your membership will be valid in the UK. They've got cars based at LHR - obviously they're not as cost-effective for longer hires, but might be better than not being able to hire a car at all.
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