Rental Car Companies Who Allow Out of State Travel? (Spring: spring break, insurance)

[TowBar]

We will be taking a trip for spring break. We will be travelling several states away, and there will be three of us. Even with the high price of gas I figure the cheapest mode of travel, other than by bus that is, is to rent a car. We could drive one of our cars, but one is too small, and the other has a lot of miles on it already, and I don't trust taking it on a trip for several thousand miles. So my question is does anyone know what rental car companies allow you to take their cars out of state? Looking at their web pages it appears some do allow you to take their cars to "border" states. Others don't have any information published, so I don't know if that means they don't have a policy, so allow it, or if they just don't publish the info on their web site. Enterpise would be very convenient for me as I could just leave my car at work and walk down the street and pick up the rental car, but they are one of the ones with the border state policy.

[majormadmax]

Most major rental car companies will let you take their cars across state lines, but not out of the country....

You may have to pay an extra fee if it is a one-way trip, but if you're gonna return it to the same location that you picked it up from, it shouldn't be a problem.

Cheers! M2

[ShaneSA]

Avis allows out of state travel. I use the Avis office on Bonham St. downtown. I've rented several times from them and always for out of state trips. They rent with no mileage limits, so an out of state trip is less expensive than paying mileage charges.
No rental company allows you to take a car into Mexico. You can go anywhere in the US, and I have. Another advantage of an Avis rental is the road service. I did have one new car break down. They brought me a new car and transferred my stuff into the new car and I was off. They stayed and took care of the broken down car.

[wellguy]

I just returned a rental to Avis (my pickup was having some repairs at a local body shop. The Manager and I were making small talk this morning while the final paperwork was completed and he is worried about Spring Break, Memorial Day Weekend, etc. due to the rising gas prices. Only time will tell if he will have a lot full of unrented cars????

He made the comments that folks need to search the internet, call the rental car compaines main reservation number, and call the local offices. He is confident that folks will find great deals out there. Now if anyone takes advantage of them is another story. He said that Avis has offered full tanks of gas in the past.

For years we would rent from Hertz (Family Vacations) and they always allowed you to take the car out of state.

By the way, as you know you don't have to buy the extra insurance as your own auto coverage will /should take care of any mishaps. Walk the car with a fine toothed comb both inside and out, check the windshield for cracks, and bring it back with the fuel tank as it was rented. With this last rental (State Farm paid) Avis's rental agreement / policy was to charge me over $7.00 per gallon. I filled it up this morning before returning it for a steal at $3.39 . I should have done it last night when it was $3.29.

As stated earlier Avis allows cars to travel out of state. The Ford Fusion I drove had California plates.

[badhornet]

I use Alamo all the time

[sapphire]

We used Dollar one summer to drive to Iowa from here.

[skeet09]

No experience with renting a car for out of state travel but you can get a pretty good deal for rental cars though Priceline. Use the bidding feature on Priceline and search Priceline and Hotwire Forum to find out what others are paying.
Here is their exact link for the rental car area: Priceline and Hotwire Forum -> Priceline Car Rental States N-Z and International

[Bo]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

Most major rental car companies will let you take their cars across state lines, but not out of the country....

The last couple of times I've rented cars in states up north, there has been a provision in the rental agreement that said I could not take the car to a state bordering Mexico. Fortunately, I wasn't planning to drive the car home.

I haven't rented a car in Texas, but it sounds like the OP is finding that rental companies here don't let customers take vehicles into other states bordering Mexico.

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by Bo

The last couple of times I've rented cars in states up north, there has been a provision in the rental agreement that said I could not take the car to a state bordering Mexico. Fortunately, I wasn't planning to drive the car home.

I haven't rented a car in Texas, but it sounds like the OP is finding that rental companies here don't let customers take vehicles into other states bordering Mexico.

If a rental car company tried to tell me I couldn't take their vehicle to a state bordering Mexico, I would find another rental car company!

I understand there are problems with taking a car into Mexico, but the last I checked Texas is still in the USA!

Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America!

Cheers! M2

[Bo]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

If a rental car company tried to tell me I couldn't take their vehicle to a state bordering Mexico, I would find another rental car company!

Don't rent vehicles up north, then.

I just remembered a third occasion about 10 years ago where a car I rented up north couldn't be taken within 100 miles of the border with Mexico.