Help a 20-nothing rent a car!

July 26, 2006 5:45 PM

I need to rent a car in Chicago! Caveat: I'm only 20.

I am 20 years old and am a regional support technician.

I travel for a week pretty much on a weekly basis and I need to rent a car when I arrive. Most say 25 yrs+, some say 21 yrs+, but I'm having a real tough time finding a place that will rent to me if I am under 21. I know that there are additional costs involved and my company is more than willing to pay those costs, but I really do need a vehicle.


I arrive in Chicago on Monday, but will be jumping around the country after that. Hopefully (but not required), I'd like to find a company thaters nation-wide service.

posted by ThFullEffect to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

RentaWreck has a location at Ohare. Last I checked the minimum age was 18.

Also, if you have a corporate account, you can often get the age requirements waived at major franchises.

Thirdly, if you have a travel partner over 21, you may be able to have them be the primary and you the secondary, regardless of your age.
posted by madajb at 5:53 PM on July 26, 2006

madajb has that right on the second count - if there's a corporate travel office or a corporate/department secretary, have them arrange for the travel on their account. I'm under 25, but I've never had a problem renting a car through the major car rental services (mainly Avis) when it is organized by my company.
posted by muddgirl at 6:02 PM on July 26, 2006

Enterprise will rent to you if you're under 25, but you'll have to pay more. A lot just tack on a fee if you're under 25.
posted by Kellydamnit at 7:23 PM on July 26, 2006

As mentioned above, if you just have your company establish a relationship/account with a rental car company they should rent to anyone who's employed by that company and is renting under the company account.

If this isn't possible you may want to just call around the big ones. There are a handful that will do it, I believe all that will will charge a fee, some more than others (between $10 and $25 extra per day IIRC).
posted by jckll at 7:38 PM on July 26, 2006

Enterprise will rent to under-21s.
posted by evariste at 7:39 PM on July 26, 2006

Sorry, under-25s. Not sure if you have to be over 21 though.
posted by evariste at 7:39 PM on July 26, 2006

This may not help you today, but FlexCar looks like it's changing policy to 18+ in the future.
posted by roboto at 8:02 PM on July 26, 2006