Car rental prices different for foreigners
I am traveling to Florida from Europe in a few weeks and wanted to rent a car. I found the prices at Budget to be the best for what I want. But something seems off about the offer.
I select the dates, the pick and drop location, country of origin and i get a very good offer with LDW and Third-Party-Liability included at 0 cost. These options are already selected and can't be unchecked.
If on the other hand I select that I live in the US, I get a slightly better deal but with huge LDW and third-party costs, more than doubling the cost of the rental.
Is there something I'm missing? Am i being scammed? Should I trust them? Below I will attach screenshots with what I am talking about.
Foreigner rental summary
Foreigner rental details
US rental summary
US rental details
Best Answer
It's not at all uncommon for rental companies to offer different prices to people from different regions, and I've always seen lower prices offered for foreigners. Possibly this is because they expect foreign visitors to be tourists and more price conscious, while domestic visitors are more likely to be on business travel. You're not being scammed; just the opposite.
As a dual citizen, I've actually booked a rental car as an EU resident before, and had the guy at the counter give me the side-eye when I handed over my US driver's license (but then get things sorted out anyway). It's possible that a grumpier agent would have made my life more difficult.
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Why are car rentals more expensive for foreigners?
It could be that the renting company knows that you don't have alot of options, beeing a foreigner, and wants to charge you more than an US citizen (because they can buy a car easier than the foreigner) Or they charge more because it's harder for them to charge you fees when you left the country.Which countries have cheapest car rental?
A 16-country study of car hire costs worldwide reveals that Turkey and the USA are the cheapest places to hire a car this summer, and Italy and Portugal are the most expensive.Can foreigners rent cars in the United States?
You may need both your license and an IDP to rent a car in the U.S. If you're planning to rent one, find out the rental company's policies and other requirements in advance. Beware of international driver's license scams. Scammers may try to sell you a fake IDP.Why are US car rentals so expensive?
They found themselves without enough stock to supply the demand for rental cars. As such, they raised prices on the cars that they did have. Car rentals are expensive because the agencies chose to sell off their cars to survive the pandemic financially.What’s Behind the Rental Car Shortage? | WSJ
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Answer 2
In the US as far as i understand the system, a car insurance is bound to a person, so if you have an insurance for your own car, it includes usually rental cars as well in its coverage. So in that case a US resident doesn't need to book insurance to his rental car, which would get him in your case the better deal compared to a foreigner. I guess, that insurers then assume that a resident, which needs insurance with his rental car, doesn't have such personal car insurance, where the reason e.g. could be that he would not be eligible because of financial reasons etc., and they calculate the risk accordingly, which then usually leads to higher insurance costs.
Contrary to that, (that's another guess from me), if you rent a car as a foreigner, you might not drive as risky as a resident, because of the hassle that an accident would include (dealing with police etc.). That would lead to a lower risk for such a customer group.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Karen Laårk Boshoff, Carlos Pernalete Tua, Rachel Claire, Laker