Car rental in the United States
Pay attention to taxes, fees and insurance
Renting a car in the United States is easy. There are many rental companies belonging to national (or international) networks as well as local players. There are many rental companies with particularly attractive prices such as $9.99/day. However, these prices do not include the various compulsory taxes (remember that the prices are almost always indicated exclusive of taxes in the United States ) as well as the various optional but essential insurances . However, if there is a particularly important point if you wish to drive in the United States, it is that YOU MUST ABSOLUTELY BE INSURED . Indeed, in the event of an accident, the damages can reach astronomical sums in the United States.
Several options are available to you for renting a car for your trip to the United States: take a Flight + Car package from France, take your car rental separately on site as soon as you arrive in the United States or pre-book your car online, separately from your flight. Like any other tourism-based country, the process of car booking in USA is digitally advanced as per global standards. For example, if you are travelling to UAE, there you would find multiple of booking modes especially if you are opting for rent a car in Dubai. Similalrly, for people visiting the USA can enjoy hassle free pre or on arrival rent a car facility. After many years of experience, comparing the offers of rental companies and tour operators, we have come to the following final conclusion: the cheapest option (insurance included) and allowing the most adjustment to your needs is booking your car in advance from France, separately from everything else.
Renting locally is always a bad option, much more expensive, and unclear when it comes to insurance. As for the flight + car packages, when they are competitive, they very often reserve unpleasant surprises (insufficient insurance or to be paid on site in addition).
Choose major networks and book before you leave
By booking with a major rental company from Europe ( Avis , Hertz, …), all the essential insurances are included, including the full repurchase of the deductible which guarantees you never having to pay anything, including in the event of a light scratch, small collision or other. The car is thus covered at 100%. Other insurance is then offered as an option on site, in particular for people (individual accident), personal effects (theft of luggage in the car, for example) or assistance in the event of breakdown/accident (roadside assistance). These additional insurances are obviously optional, the most important being above all to be insured with third parties with reinforced civil liability ($1 million generally via the ALI or the LIS), and to have your vehicle covered at 100% in case of theft or accident, even responsible
To get the best price from these big rental companies, however, there is a trick to know: the sites of the various European countries of the renters such as Avis or Hertz do not display the same prices, for products however exactly identical (the difference can easily go from simple to double). In order to get the best price, you will have to do a simulation on all the sites of the different countries in order to find the cheapest.
Start by launching the search on the French site, such as Avis France : you will then have a first overview of the prices for renting your car for your stay in the United States. Then carry out the same search on the other European Avis and Hertz sites (see list and links below).
To get even better prices, you can combine this multi-country search technique with the use of a promotional
At AVIS, the codes that work best right now are You must enter these codes in the AWD field at the bottom of the search form to benefit from them. The first two are generic discount codes, which work for everyone (no need to have a card, to be a member of something etc.). corresponds to the preferential rate for members of the Air France flying blue club. To be a member of this club, simply register for free online .
At Hertz, our current best code is 510000 . You must enter it in the CDP field at the bottom of the search form to benefit from it. It’s also a generic discount code that doesn’t require a card or anything. Another code that sometimes works better than the previous one at Hertz is 22754 . This code is a discount code for people with the IHG Rewards Club loyalty card, a free hotel network loyalty card. To request it, go to the following address rewardsclub/fr/fr/join/register (you will probably not be asked for it when picking up the vehicle, but you might as well have it in case).
