Even though the official age for renting a car is 25 years, for most rental companies, you can rent cars at just 21 years or even less.
However, as in most cases, there are strict rules guiding this system. One of them is the “under-25 fee” also known as the “Young driver fee,” amongst others.
If you’re under 25 and you’d want to rent a car from Avis, this article covers everything you need to know, from how much the under 25 fee costs to how you can waive or reduce the cost of them.
How much is the Avis under 25 fee?
The Avis under 25 fee cost about $27 per trip on average. However, this varies based on the rental locations, time of renting, and the age of the renter.
Read on to find out a detailed comparison of Avis under-25 fees across several locations and ages.
Most car rental companies have the belief that drivers below the age of 25 are usually rough/bad drivers, hence a risky movement, renting cars out cars to them.
This is exactly what happens when you’re required to provide a credit check on Avis for not using credit cards.
This is said, regardless of the person’s driving skills or driving record, as long as you’re below 25 years
So, how much is Avis’s under-25 fee?
Actually, there’s no fixed figure as to how much the Avis under-fee cost. This is because this fee varies based on several factors such as rental locations and age.
Generally, more popular locations are prone to a higher under-25 fee. And people who fall within the lesser age bracket (by Avis’s definition) would also be charged a higher under-25 fee.
This age bracket is divided into two:
- Renters aged 18-20, and
- Renters aged 21-24
For instance,
In New York, renters who are aged 18-20, are subjected to pay $84 for the under-25 fee, whereas, it only costs $35 for renters who are between 21-24.
Also, if you rent from Michigan, a less populated area, you only have $41 to pay for the under-25 fee provided you’re 18-20 years and $28 if you’re above 20.
Again, Atlanta renters between the ages of 21- 24 all pay an average under-25 fee of $ 27.00 per day.
Read also: All Charges you need to know about when renting on Avis
Lastly, if you stayed in In Quebec, which only accepts renters aged 21+, you’d be required to pay an under-25 fee of $20 per day, provided you fall into the age bracket, of 21-24.
Is there any other limit for Under 25 drivers at Avis?
Alongside the Under 25 fee, there is also a car limitation for renters below 21 years. This limit includes not riding any one of these cars:
- Premium SUVs
- Passenger Vans
- Minivans
- Speciality Cars
- Luxury
- Full-Size SUVs
Does the Avis under 25 fee apply to every location?
Even though Avis’s under-25 fee is targeted to be incurred to every customer below 25 years of age, the policy isn’t widespread yet.
This means that it is still possible to find Avis locations that don’t charge the fee.
For instance, in Saskatchewan, Canada, where the minimum driving age is 18, Avis doesn’t include an under-25 fee for renters.
Note that Avis does not give us more information about what locations it employs this fee.
Only what we know from the company is that the under-fee is determined majorly by the rental location.
Hence, you might need to reach out to the rental location in your area, to properly determine how much the Avis under 25 fee costs based on your location and age.
Does Avis waive the under-25 fee?
Avis, by itself, doesn’t waive the under-25 fee in any way. If you want to waive the fee, you’d need to make use of third-party platforms or programs.
As we said, there’s no possible way to waive the under-25 fee on Avis, directly on the platform. This is irrespective of a discount day, promotion, or even events.
The only exception to this would be when you live in an Avis-under-25 fee-whitelisted state. An example of this is Saskatchewan in Canada.
Other than that, no.
So, what are the ways you can waive the under-25 fee? Read on to find out.
How to waive Avis Under 25 fee
Below is a list of things to do to waive the Avis under 25 fee:
- Use Insurance programs
- Book through third-party booking sites
- Military, Government, and Employer Discounts
Use Insurance programs
One of the best ways to waive the under-25 fee in most car rental companies is through insurance membership programs.
For instance, while in the AAA insurance membership program that cost around $40 to $165 per person, annually, you’re waived off any under-25 fee in Hertz.
We’ve also heard claims that as long as you’re a member even without the annual subscription, you could waive the under-25 fee.
Unfortunately, AAA does not apply this to Avis car rental, as it’s unique to Hertz.
Currently, the only insurance program with an under 25 fee waiver, slightly applicable to Avis is the USAA insurance program.
Read also:Avis Fueling Policy
This is pretty good, considering the fact that it waives the complete young driver fee.
However, following the company’s policy, to leverage this, you’ll need to be in the military or have someone in the state military.
Book through third-party booking sites
There are a number of rental booking sites that claim to waive hidden fees like under 25 fee on Car rentals.
An example of this is rentcarla.com.
Following the company’s statement here, they do offer an under-25 fee waiver.
To confirm this, we had to contact Carla via their email to confirm if they do accept Avis for the under-25 fee waiver. Fortunately, we got a response in a short time.
Their response was positive.
However, to make sure you’re covered, when booking at rentcarla, try to make sure you see a page showing “under age fee waived” after you’ve put in your age when booking the car rental.
Military, Government, and Employer Discounts
If you’re linked to the Military or government sector, work as a business traveller, or in a large company, there’s a high chance that you can get the Under 25 fee waived using any of these mediums.
In fact, Avis has a policy towards this.
Read also: Are there hidden cameras on Avis?
According to Avis, Government personnel (including military and casual workers) renting without a Government leisure pass are waived the Under 25 fee, even when they are not up to 25 years of age.
It’s worth mentioning that this is not exclusive to government jobs.
Depending on the Organisation you work with and how large it is, there could be some sort of partnership or negotiate corporate rates that could work for you, as an underaged.
What is an alternate car rental company to avoid the under-25 fee?
Avis might not provide the best opportunities for you when it comes to the under 25 fee.
As a result, you might want to look over to some other alternatives or possibly, a car rental that doesn’t charge the under 25 fees at all. Below is a list of them.
- U-haul
- Hertz
U-haul
One of the few car rental companies that is yet to include an under 25 fee for its ride is U-haul, the popular American truck car rental company.
Aside from the fact that riding a U-haul can seem old fashioned, using a U-haul is a perfect way to get a total rid of under 25 fees.
The best part is that renting from U-haul is cheaper compared to some other companies like Avis.
Hertz
While U-haul does include an under-25 fee for renters below the age of 25 years, there’s an easy way to get around it.
One of these ways is to sign up for an AAA membership, which cost around $40 to $165 per year.
Coupled with the under-25 fees, there are many other discounts between AAA and Hertz that you might leverage when you’re signed up.
Final Thoughts
You could be frustrated with all the requirements and unnecessary fees needed for renting cars when below the age of 25, however, you shouldn’t.
If you’re having a hard time waiving the under-25 fee on Avis, there are 3 major things you can do:
- Join the USAA insurance program
- Book through rentcarla.com
- Leverage Employer, University, or Government cooperated discounted rates
Meanwhile, if you want to make payments to car rentals with your Paypal account, we’ve created an article on the top list of car rentals that accept PayPal.
