Young driver surcharge for car rental clients
Is Sebastian Vettel too young to rent a car?
Sebastian Vettel just won his second Formula One World Champion title at the age of 24.
He is also one of the best and quickest drivers in the world.
He was born on 3 July 1987 which means if he is renting a car he would pay the “young
driver fee” which usually applies for drivers under 25.
The “young” drivers
Car rental companies and insurance providers believe the younger drivers not that responsible
as the older drivers on the road. If the driver between 18-25 year old they have to pay for
the young driver surcharge. This fee will cover the “extra risk” because the younger driver have a
bigger chance to cause an accident.
The young driver fee
The amount of the young driver fee and the age could be different country by country and by car hire companies.
Young driver fee USA
If you are renting in the US you have to be at least 21 years old and held a driving licence for minimum1 year.
The young driver fee charged by Alamo, Avis, Hertz, National or the other big companies is 25$/day. In some
cases if you want to rent a bigger or a luxury car this could be as high as 45$/day.
Young driver fee UK and Ireland
You have to be 21 years old (with some companies 23 at least) to hire a car in the UK. But they are more
likely to rent a smaller car without extra fee for a 23 year old driver. If the young driver fee applies it is around
10-15£/day.
In Ireland 25 years or older driver can hire cars with out extra fee. However the minimum age is set to 23 with the most companies if you are under 23years old it’s not really possible to get a rental car in Dublin.
Renters under !28! or 30 with Budget won’t be able to rent a 9 seater minibus or a luxury car.
The young driver fee in Ireland is between 10-15€/day
Young driver fee Europe
Similar age rules are in use in rest of Europe. In some countries (ie. Hungary, Sweden, Germany) rental companies would rent a car for younger (18-19years old) drivers if they have 1 year driving experience.
If drivers need to pay the young driver fee in Europe it’s between 5-20€/day.
As you can see it must worth it to check the price with more rental companies if you are under 25 years of age at
the time of the pick up.
Sebastian Vettel could rent a car in Stockholm or Budapest without an extra fee but he should pay 25$ extra
a day being more risk on the road in the US.
(Just for the record he was just 19 when he scored his first point in the Us Grand Prix in 2007)
