Rental Car Roadblocks

By: Sid Kirchheimer | 2006

From Scam-Proof Your Life: 377 Smart Ways to Protect You & Your Family, by Sid Kirchheimer, 2006, p. 171.

If you’re 65 or older and intend to rent a car outside the United States, you may be headed for a discrimination dead-end. Older drivers are blocked from renting cars in a score of countries worldwide—even if they have already made reservations.

Each country sets its own upper age limit. The precise figure is usually dictated by the nation’s government or its insurers, says a Hertz spokesperson, who acknowledges age limits in Hertz franchises in 13 foreign countries. These include Egypt (age 69); Gibraltar, Kenya, and Morocco (age 70); Tahiti (age 75); and Ireland, where the 75-year-old ceiling can be waived.

Avis spokeswoman Alice Pereira admits that her company’s franchises refuse to rent to older drivers in 10 countries, including Belize, Honduras, and Costa Rica. In Ireland, the age ceiling ranges from 65 to 74, depending on car class. There are no upper-age restrictions in the United States, but most U.S. companies will not rent to drivers younger than 25—or, if they do, it is only at inflated rates.