Hiring A Car In New England

[alfie_30]

Hi, to celebrate our Golden Wedding we are hoping to do a self drive tour of New England. By the time we go my husband will be nearly 72. Does anyone know if there is an upper age limit for hiring a car. Can’t find any information. Would also be grateful for any tips/info on hiring a car in America. Many thanks

[KARL]

Try any of the online booking engines, autoeurope.co.uk, rentalcars.co.uk, etc. to locate/choose a car, google "cheap car hire in USA". Expect any car you choose to have automatic transmission and remember that they (like mostly elsewhere) drive on the right. Then there is the matter of insurance: In the USA it is common for people to be able to use the insurance on their own car to cover whenever they rent. The result is that it is usually far cheaper to separately take out insurance cover as soon as you have booked your car (some rental companies don't even offer full cover). There are several online options for this, such as insurance4carhire.co.uk, icarhireinsurance.com, etc., google "excess car hire insurance" and go for the North America option/package.

Driving in the USA is for the most part very easy because their infrastructure is so biased in favour of the private car. When you approach a stop sign at a junction, take note of who is there (on the other approaches) as you arrive. If it is a junction where everyone has a stop sign then they have a rule (written or unwritten) where you work on a "place in the queue" principle - must occasionally have at least near misses. Note that there are lots of examples of traffic lights being overhead in the middle of a junction - you really must not fail to notice these. In urban areas the traffic feels a lot "sleepier" than in Europe. Always observe speed limits. We tend to avoid toll roads for fear of being unable to pay correctly. Hope you enjoy your holiday, we found the NE USA comfortable to visit.

[calmck]

I think the limit is 75 years. Try to find a company called Insurance for Hire Car. They offered very could insurance world wide for hiring car. The price was reasonable. Be careful if you are offered an upgrade when you pick up the car as there are hidden extras. I have always found Avis to be honest in the US. Can you do the car hire through the airline you are using? BA usually have good
deals. The company Karl mentions is the one we used

[calmck]

We kept plenty of change in the car for tolls and most of them have at least one manned booth. October in New England is lovely. Enjoy your trip

[zebo]

We've always booked through rentalcars.com and been very satisfied with both price and service, I'm 71 and have had no problems with age.
If you do book with them keep checking the rates, we had a booking for February and I had a look a couple of weeks before we went to find the same car, same conpany was almost £100 with a free tank of fuel and 3 extra drivers!

[alfie_30]

Many thanks for your helpful answers

[Hymie]

I would agree with zebo, I have been booking holiday car hires through Rentalcars.com from when they were Carhire3000 – their prices are hard to beat. They are a consolidator, finding the best offers from a number of hire companies that suit your dates.

I would also recommend taking out car hire excess insurance before you go – it will be far, far cheaper than the car hire company tries to sell you.

I often take fly drive trips to the USA; earlier this year I travelled to LA with a plan to buy a McNallyRand road atlas from Walmart – to find my way around California.
Unfortunately they advised me they have not sold the road atlas for many years – no doubt due to the prevalence of satnavs. So my advice is to buy a satnav with USA maps before you go, you can then load it with places you plan to visit before you go.

I have seen e-bay sellers selling 7 inch screen satnavs loaded with world maps for less than £50. Some satnav manufacturers will want more than that for USA maps alone.

[jno]

check the car before driving off. I've occasionally been given cars so up-to-date that they have features I've never heard of, and that's not good, you need to be confident you're in total control. Remember when you come out of petrol station etc to drive on the right (that's the easiest time to forget). Some states allow you to turn right through a red light; look that up before you go.

Generally US drivers don't speed, much less than British ones, and are very courteous.

If you plan to pick up the car at the airport make sure you arrive in daylight. Driving a new car in the dark after flying eight hours is risky. If you can spend your first night in a hotel with airport transfers and get the car next day when you're rested, do.

Go in the fall if you can, the changing leaves are beautiful. Leaf-peeping websites will tell you where the best colour is to be found.