19. Renting a Car

Car is a necessity in most of the places here in U.S. Either you buy a car or you can rent a car. You can pay either a monthly rate or daily rent. Though it’s expensive to rent a car for a month or so, it might be required if you are going to stay at that place for a small period of time. Here is some information you will need OR should know when you want to rent a car.

- The driver/co-drivers need to be at least 25 years old.

- Credit Card is required to rent a car. Else a deposit of about $300 etc...Most companies do not allow you to rent a car if you do not have a credit card.

- You need a valid driver's license to drive a rental car.

- Well-known car renting companies are - Hertz, Avis, Alamo , Budget, Dollar, and Enterprise etc.

- Car Insurance has to be bought for the Rental car. It is a separate charge or is included in the total per day renting cost. Some credit card companies pay for the insurance if you use their card to book a car e.g. American Express Credit Card, in such a case you need not buy insurance from the car rental company.

- You have to register the other drivers too as co-drivers of the rental car while booking the car. They should have valid driver's licenses too. Nobody else should be allowed to drive the car other than those registered!

- Unlimited mileage or fixed mileage is also a criteria, which decides the hiring charges of a rental car.

- You can make the booking over the phone. But you have to go personally to pick-up the car from the renting agency.

- Generally the gas (fuel) tank is full and you are supposed to return it with a full tank.

- Some rental agencies do not allow you to rent their car for travel outside the state.

- There are various types of cars that can be booked. Generally depending on the seating capacity, such as small, medium, compact, large, full-size, premium, mini-van, van etc. One may even choose the make of the car if available. The rental agencies maintain the cars in good shape and generally have new cars.

- The renting charges vary depending on the season, weekend/weekday, for how many days you want the car, how much in advance you are booking, availability, type of car etc.

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