William Lipovsky
You can rent a car under age 21 at select rental agencies, including Dollar Rent a Car, Getaround, Hertz, and Zipcar.
Many states require renters to be at least 21, but there are exceptions for renters in Michigan and New York (where the minimum age limit is 18), those traveling on military or government business, and (at some rental agencies) additional drivers listed in the rental agreement.
Be prepared to pay a daily underage driver surcharge of around $25 to $35 and, in some cases, vehicle selection may exclude higher-end cars.
Below, we explain the age See below for the list of places that will rent to drivers age 21 or younger, including exceptions and additional fees.
What We Recommend
If you’re looking for the cheapest option, ridesharing service Getaround doesn’t charge any underage driver fees for those under 21 — but availability is limited to certain areas of the U.S.
If Getaround doesn’t service your area, Hertz offers a good option for renters at least 20 years old. At many Hertz locations, the young renter fee is around $35 per day, which is comparable to other agencies. However, Hertz waives this fee if you’re a AAA member.
If you rent vehicles frequently, your cheapest option may be Zipcar. Zipcar requires a $9 monthly membership, but it has no additional underage fees. Students also get a discount.
The List
We checked each company’s policy documentation and contacted their corporate customer service departments to verify this information.
Dollar Car Rental
- Minimum age to rent: 20
- Exceptions: Drivers under 25 may not rent certain specialty vehicle classes, such as the StyleSeries
- Additional fees: A Young Renter Fee applies to drivers under 25; exact fees vary by location
- Reserve a car
Fox Rent A Car
- Minimum age to rent: 19
- Exceptions: Drivers under 25 cannot rent higher-end vehicles
- Additional fees: Drivers under 25 are subject to a surcharge of $20 to $26 per day, while drivers under 21 are subject to a surcharge of $25 to $35 per day. Exact fees vary depending on the location.
- Reserve a car
Getaround
- Minimum age to rent: 19
- Exceptions: Drivers under 21 must have a clean driving record for the last three years. You must be 25 or older to rent a “Specialty” vehicle.
- Additional fees: No
- Note: Getaround currently operates in Atlanta, Berkeley, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey, Oakland, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
- Reserve a car
Hertz
- Minimum age to rent: 20
- Exceptions: Drivers under 25 cannot rent from the Prestige or Adrenaline Collections
- Additional fees: There is a Young Renter Fee of around $35 per day, though this will vary by location. If you’re a AAA member, Hertz will waive the underage driver fee. For other places where you can get a AAA rental discount, see our article.
- Reserve a car
Thrifty Car Rental
- Minimum age to rent: 20
- Exceptions: May vary by location
- Additional fees: Fees apply to renters under 25 and vary by location
- Reserve a car
Zipcar
- Minimum age to rent: 18 if you’re a student; 21 for non-students
- Exceptions: Zipcar requires membership to use. To rent, you’ll need to first apply for membership, wait for verification, and then receive a Zipcard in the mail.
- Additional fees: Membership plans cost around $7 per month; teachers and students get a discount
- Reserve a car
Places That Don’t Rent Cars Under 21
During our research, we found that the following rental agencies don’t rent to those under the age of 21:
- ACE Rent a Car
- Alamo Rent a Car (See our related research for an explanation of the Alamo rental hold and credit card deposit.)
- Avis
- Budget Car Rental
- Enterprise Rent-A-Car
- National Car Rental
- Payless Rent a Car
- Rent-A-Wreck
- Sixt
- Turo
- U-Save Car and Truck Rental
Need a hotel, too? See our research on hotels that rent to travelers under 21.
Hey! I need some help. I’m traveling from low Angeles to Chicago and need a rental car. I’m 23 but don’t have a credit card. Rules and regulations state I can use a debit card if I’m over the age of 25, how does this make sense? Is there a loophole or a company who will let me rent the car with my debit card? Let me know! Thanks!!
Hello!
Interesting dilemma. Thanks for asking especially since you’re probably not the only person wondering. Okay so I used this article: http://firstquarterfinance.com/rental-cars-that-accept-debit-cards-a-complete-list-of-takers/ and searched each site to see the age requirements for using debit cards with these rental companies. Most companies are very wishy-washy about what age you have to be. Many say that it’s up to each location if they want to set an age requirement for debit card users or not. Others say you must be over 25 only at airport locations. We will look into into this further and update the debit card post but for right now, here are the companies you should call to get an answer. For what it’s worth – when you call into the reservations department, there’s usually a very short/no hold time: Alamo, Rent-A-Wreck, Thrifty, Dollar, Avis, Hertz, Payless and Budget.
Ffs I can drive and have a license. I can’t rent a car because I’m not even 18. I’m not reckless, kind of bs
I wanted to know if there were limits in terms of how far or how long I could keep a rental car. I’m 21, and I planned on driving at least 1,346 miles (from Middle Tennessee to Tampa, both ways), not including getting around Florida. I would need the car for at least four days. Thank you!
Hey Ashley,
Not a problem! In this post (http://firstquarterfinance.com/car-rental-companies-that-offer-unlimited-mileage/) I’ve outlined rental car companies that offer unlimited mileage (what you’ll definitely want). Of those, there are rental companies that will gladly rent to you at 21. You can read the post for more details but the unlimited mileage 21 and under list includes: Fox, Hertz, Enterprise (often restricted to just bordering states so call your location to check), Budget, Avis, ACE and National (with limitations). You have plenty of options! Let me know if you have any other questions!
Oh I do see that Fox Rent a Car will rent to 19 year olds. For $25/day extra – in some places might be more: https://www.foxrentacar.com/en/locations/united-states/california/oakland-airport/rental-policies.html
Yep! You may have missed it but it’s number one on the list. Use the link and code I listed and you get 10% off. The underage fee is annoying but it’s the norm.
Thanks for writing this and incorporating feedback/updates.
I saw Flight Car is a sort of exchange service where you leave your car at an airport to be used by others in exchange for use of another.
EZ- couldn’t find anything available in SFO BAy area. Same with ACE.
All others – found no company that rents to anyone under age 20.
This one appears to be reasonable – not on your list: Super Cheap Car – for California only. They rent to people 20 and older at 3 airports only in CA: https://supercheapcar.com/
They do charge more for age 20. But those extra fees can be waived if you present proof of auto insurance coverage on your own car in your name.
At age 21 and over, supposedly the prices are not especially high. But they are higher, I believe, than if you are a middle aged person with a AAA discount getting a car elsewhere.
Apologies if anyone has already asked this, but do you know if all of these ages are the same if you’re not a US citizen? I’m travelling to LA and will be there for two months and need a car and I’m 20.
Hey Chris – that’s a great question. I searched a lot and couldn’t find the answer in writing. So I called E-Z, Fox and Hertz. They all quickly said it makes no difference that you’re a non-US citizen. The minimum age requirement stays the same. Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with!
Oh gosh thank you so much. I really appreciate that!
Hello, I’m planning a trip to LA towards the end of next month and I’m having difficulties picking a rental company to go with. I’m currently 20 years old, so my only real options are between FlightCar, Fox Rent a Car, and E-Z Rent a Car. Is there any one you specifically recommend? Any help is appreciated, this post really helped me narrow down the choices, thanks in advance!
Heyo, Jody. Yep – I did try to keep my personal opinions out of the piece as to not skew the research. But I’m plenty happy to give personal recommendations in the comments section. Personally, I dig FlightCar. Since the cars are owned by real people – not rental car companies – the cars are usually better cared for and cleaner. This means when you do the visual inspection of the car to check for damage before departing, it’s not a hassle like with many rental cars that have already been damaged a time or two or three. And FlightCar operates like a company in 2016 should – fast and easy. Though since FlightCar only operates near airports, if you’re not flying into LA, I’d go with Fox Rent a Car. Fox has some really bad reviews but so do many, many companies. Google ‘your favorite company + review’ and you’ll be shocked at how much hate their is out there for companies you’ve had great luck with. E-Z was recently bought by Advantage Rent a Car so it’s really hard to recommend them since the transition is still fresh.
Good luck! Let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll be happy to answer them!!!
Hello William
Who do you recommend for a 20 year old college student wanting to rent in Minneapolis ??
Also could you suggest for a 23 year old in same city as both my kids traveling to Minneapolis this summer. Both will be there for 30 days.
Thanks!!
Dave,
Are you kids traveling together or separately? The difference, of course, is that your 23-year-old will have an easier time renting than your 20-year-old. One of the best tips we’ve gotten recently is that Hertz will waive the under-age rental fee if the renter is a member of AAA. Many renters say that purchasing a AAA membership is well worth it because underage fees can be significant, especially over the 30-day period, in your case.
Hello,
I rented a car last year in LA with just 18 years of age. Check out Bestway rent a car in Pasadena, they treated me really good 🙂
We live in Illinois and we are having such a hard time finding a rental car company that will rent to us we are 19. Any recommendations? Or tips?
Yo Tyler,
I’ll assume you don’t have an E-Z, FlightCar, Zipcar or ACE location conveniently close. You could see if there’s a Rent-A-Wreck close. I’ll be added that company to the list shortly. You only need to be 18 at most locations. Other than that, try speaking with a manager at the company you’re trying to rent from. Tell them your situation and see if they will make an exception. Be convincing, get insurance, pay with a credit card if you can. Show them that you won’t be a liability and you’re responsible. If none of that works, call their corporate offices and ask until you get a positive response. What you’re asking isn’t out of the question so receiving a ‘yes’ isn’t out of the question either. Hope this helps! If you have a very specific question, ask again as I may have missed the mark.
Looking for a rental to go back and ford to work
You could use the Hertz monthly rental link found above! Though renting a car forever doesn’t pencil out so make sure to shop for a car in the meantime. Let me know if you have any questions about renting a car long-term!
HI 🙂 My son is 20 yrs old and he was hit by another vehicle (with insurance) and they will have his car fixing it for over a week. Is there any company besides Hertz in Phoenix that will rent to him since he was the victim of an auto accident? Is there anyone that has a “loophole” for auto accident victims?? thanks! 🙂 LOVE your article BTW… Deb 🙂
I’m sorry to hear that, Deb. Strangely enough, I was in a car accident Easter weekend four years ago. I was hit by another car as well. I was 22. What happened was after taking the car to the dealership for a damage estimate, the other drivers’ insurance company had a rental car there waiting for me to use. They covered all costs – unlimited mileage – a big car like I was driving during the crash – everything. The ‘company’ that hit me was Progressive. The rental car company I believe was Enterprise. I was very pleased with everything.
For your exact situation, I called Enterprise and they told me they could not rent to your son in his specific situation. I called Budget and they said they would allow him to rent from them. I called Avis and they said it depends on the insurance company. Here’s the list of insurance companies where they have arrangements with: Farmers, Mercury, Mutual Benefit, State Auto. If he was hit by one of those companies, your son should have no issues. Through this basic research, it seems like many rental car companies do have exceptions for underage driver’s who were in accidents.
Though what your son can do is call the person’s insurance company and say he needs a car until he can get a new one arranged. Have them sort out the details and of course make sure they pay. Remember, the goal for your son is to make that insurance company is to make your son feel as though it never happened at all. They should be covering everything. And I mean everything. Have him tell them he needs a rental car and if he doesn’t get one, then he will have to add not having a car to the ‘pain and discomfort’ portion of his claim and they will have to pay him that way. Don’t be threatening but let them know what’s up. Things should work out for your son just fine. 🙂
Great post. Great information.
Unfortunately, it still didn’t help my 20-year-old daughter who got stranded this weekend in Louisville, KY. Hertz, the only option for her, does not allow one-way rentals out of Louisville. So, she’ll have to book an expensive flight to her college in Daytona Beach, FL.
P.S.: You might want to take a closer look at your hyperlinks in your article. Several are badly coded. The one for Flightcar and the second one for Zipcar are messed up. I think there are others.
Thank you so much for your comment, Georg! I appreciate you taking the time to leave it. I’m sorry to hear Hertz isn’t allowing one-way’s out of Louisville. I know they do out of most cities. I was just researching this the other day.
Thank you for letting me know about the links. I really appreciate it. 2 or 3 links were broken for various reasons. I’ve gone through and checked every link and everything is back to working 100%.
All the best to your daughter in her travels.
EZ Rent a Car and Fox scare me. I’m looking for a car rental for my 19-yr old daughter to visit my parents in Ft. Myers, FL during her spring break. The reviews are HORRIBLE for the two. I can’t find information regarding many of the major companies’ policies on second drivers being 19 if someone else rents the car. I know your information above says it SHOULD be fine, but I’m not finding it in writing at any of the major companies.
Mary! I’m sorry! I corrected my error in the post. Additional drivers MUST adhere to the same age requirements as the primary driver. If your daughter is underage without you in the picture, she’s still underage with you helping her. Her only options are Zipcar, FlightCar, E-Z or Fox. If it helps, E-Z was bought my Advantage recently so most reviews are outdated. Also, I wouldn’t read into the reviews too much. Many reputable businesses have poor online reviews. Costco has 2.8/10 on trustpilot. Everyone I know loves that store.
Fox is a great car rental company. Along with Ugly Duck, who I use often.
Is there an age requirement for an additional driver? My mom and I are going on a west coast road trip. She is over 25 but I am only 18. If she is listed as the primary driver will there be a restriction on me preventing me from doing all the driving?
Hey Saif,
Great question. Unfortunately, the minimum age requirement applies to additional drivers as well. Otherwise, young drivers would just get someone else to sign as the primary and then they’d drive all the time, circumventing the age requirement altogether. You’re smart for wondering this but unfortunately the rental companies are one step ahead. At 18, you have 3 options: E-Z Rent-A-Car, FlightCar and Zipcar. You can read more details about these 3 in this post: http://www.firstquarterfinance.com/rent-a-car-at-age-18/
Note that many rental car companies also charge an additional driver fee. California, however, doesn’t allow additional driver fees. But every other state does. In Nevada, most companies charge a capped $10.67/day. So consider flying into CA instead of NV if you have the choice. With E-Z rent-a-car, which is who you should go with, charges $9.99 per day. But again, if you fly into CA and pickup your rental car with E-Z, there is no additional driver fee. Don’t forget about the young driver fee which is $35 since you fall into the 18-20 cateogry.
If you have any other questions, keep them coming!
Zipcar will let you rent if you’re 18 and up but I think you have to be in university. It doesn’t have age surcharges and the insurance and gas are included in your rental, if you’re under 21 the 80 dollars a day for most cars is better than most other places I’ve been looking at.
Thank you for you comment. You are right! I’ve added Zipcar to the list. Thank you for helping everyone out.
I just called to try to rent with Hertz and they said they do not rent under 21.
Hi Sara,
I’m sorry that you’ve have to deal with this. Thank you for letting us know. I’ve spent the last 2 hours digging into your issue. Despite what the website says, it’s true, some locations can turn you down for not being 21. And about 10% do. I recommend asking politely for them to uphold what the Hertz website says. Or reserve online and try to get through that way. Or, if you’re able, choose another Hertz location. I’m sorry for the discrepancy between locations. 🙁
I just called a St. Paul MN location which says that their _Nationwide_ policy is minimum age 21. I suspect less than 10% of locations, if any, offer rentals to 20yos, and Hertz wants to cover these locations by pretending they accept age 20 everywhere.
Hi Elliott,
You’re right — car rental companies are bound by the terms and restrictions set forth by their car insurance company, and these vary from one state to the next.
I’m wondering about renting a car myself (well over 25) but adding my daughter and her boyfriend (both 19) as authorized drivers. We’re going on a road trip and I need all of us to be able to drive.
Hi Lisa et al.,
Having more drivers usually makes for a more pleasant road trip. Just keep in mind that minimum age requirements apply to additional drivers just the same as if they were primary drivers. That means if you want everyone to be able to drive, you must rent from a company that will rent to 19-year-olds: Fox, Zipcar, Flightcar or E-Z Rent-A-Car. Also, additional driver fees may be incurred. All states allow rental companies to tack on this fee except California. Thanks for the comment. I hope the trip goes well!
Hey guys just wanted to let you know with Sixt, I am unable to find any cars available for people under 21 in the USA, but 18 in other countries, so that maybe something to include in your post ! but thank you so much for all your help. Been trying to plan a trip with my GF all day to GA, Im 19 and shes 20 , so we’re trying to find the best deal. :]
Yes, you’re absolutely right and I’ve edited the post to reflect the discrepancy between renting in the US and other countries. For your situation, I recommend going with E-Z Rent-A-Car, Hertz (if you care to put the car under her name) or Fox Rent a Car. Have fun and thanks for commenting!
Just wanted to let you know that Hertz rents to drivers under 21 now! I set up a reservation with them to see the price and it was about $130 per day for me being 20.
Thank you for the update! You’re awesome. I know Hertz had a trial period a few years ago where they let 20 year olds rent. It must have gone well since they recently did make it standard policy. I’ve updated all the car rental posts on the site to reflect your comment. I cited the specific page on the Hertz website that says they now rent to drivers as young as 20. Thank you again for the update, Dominique!
Its pretty strange that rental car companies wont rent to us who are under the age of 21. I personally don’t have any problems as I currently have 3 credit cards, an American Express and here at home I own a new BMW and a Audi A8. Obviously they believe that we will as you said “Thrash the car”. I have already gotten hold of a number of rental companies who wanted to charge me $3000 for a couple of weeks in a Chevy Cruze. Crazy. Thanks for writing this, its shed a light onto my hunt for a car.
It’s good to know that an under twenty-five driver can rent a car sometimes. My kids are coming home from college for Christmas and need to rent a car. They are safe drivers, but they aren’t twenty-five. Hopefully, we won’t have to jump through many hoops to get them home.
Check out this article to see what rental company each child could use.