What does "Resident" mean in the context of car rental in US?
When one goes to places like Avis (amongst others) to book a car it asks for the country of which you are a resident of and this does seem to change the price.
My question is, when they ask for "resident" do they really intend to ask people if they are official or permanent residents?
The Help isn't helping at all.
Please select the appropriate country of where you currently reside to ensure the appropriate surcharges and fees are applied and/or certain inclusions/exclusions are associated with your reservation. Certain surcharges and fees, such as GST and one-way fees vary by country and may be mandatory for residents in some countries. In addition to this, your selection will allow us to provide you with the most accurate rate information and total and will help eliminate delays at the rental counter.
I am a Indian citizen on an F1 visa and have been in US for over 7 years and have a US drivers license. Do I really tick "Indian" as country of residence since I don't have a Green Card?
Best Answer
I do not consider that the matter is the driving license. The AVIS rate for US resident is 1179 USD, the rate for not US resident (for example the european resident) is 468 USD. Obviously with the same settings: car, rental options, protections/coverages, 8 days, etc.
The only difference is the "resident".
By looking at price details, the main difference is in Additional Liability Insurance (ALI) 115 USD for US resident versus zero (included) for european resident and Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) 232 USD for US resident versus zero (included) for european resident.
I guess that the difference is the personal insurance that the not US resident should have when visiting US for business or as a tourist. That personal insurance normally covers ALI and LDW.
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Answer 2
They ask for your residency to determine which country you likely have a driver's license from, the risk involved with drivers from that country in both accidents and fraud, the usefulness of personal auto insurance from that country and then this is used to determine which rates are available to you.
This can be beneficial in cases where citizens from high accident prone countries, now live in other countries with lower risk and have a DL from their new home, get to avoid paying the higher rates.
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