What Is the Car Rental Age Limit for Seniors?

Dear Editor,

What is the car rental age limit for seniors? Where can you find this information online?

Thanks,

—NHT

Dear Reader,

Most rental agencies in the U.S. don’t have a car rental age limit or cutoff for senior renters. I contacted major U.S. rental agencies including Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, National, and Payless, and found that none had a company-wide upper age limit for drivers. However, individual franchise owners may choose to impose age limits. If you’re concerned that your age may be an issue, it’s best to call the rental location directly to find out what the car rental age limits are before booking online.

Outside the U.S., age limits can be a problem. Individual rental companies and franchise owners may impose different restrictions, so you’ll need to ask each location about its rules before booking.

However, some guidelines can be found online. According to Auto Europe, a company that arranges car rentals through more than 4,000 locations worldwide, certain countries impose a strict maximum age cutoff, including Ireland (age 79), Israel (age 75), Malta (age 70), and Romania (age 70).

In other countries without national age limits, many (but not all) rental agencies represented by Auto Europe choose to impose car rental age limits, including Australia (age 75), Greece (age 70), and the U.K. (age 69). You can find out the rules for other Auto Europe destinations by visiting the Auto Europe website and clicking on a country name.

Alamo and Budget also have a comprehensive list of age restrictions for their foreign locations on their websites. Note that these restrictions may be different than the age cutoffs used by Auto Europe rental agencies. For instance, Budget imposes a more strict age limit in Ireland (age 70) than Auto Europe locations (age 79). Other U.S. rental agencies with international locations list that some locations have age cutoffs, but the exact rules can be difficult to find online. I recommend calling the international reservation number to inquire about regulations in specific locations.

If you have a question about senior travel, please e-mail us and include your first name and where you’re from. Because of the volume of e-mail we receive, we can’t guarantee a response to each question.

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