Car rental prices different for foreigners

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I have noticed this exact thing and have questioned several rental companies about it. There seems to be no obvious answer to why the residents of different countries should be charged different rates for the exact same rental with the same insurances and add-ons. Some answers have tried to explain this away as different (or "more appropriate") insurance cover or add-ons, yet closer examination show it is the exact same insurance cover and add-ons. The only consistent thing would seem to be in the case of US residents who (I have been told several times) are often able to provide their own insurance cover for a rental car, and therefore can get a lower overall rental cost if they exclude all the rental agency insurances.

In one discussion I had with a rental company some years ago, I asked what would happen if I lied about my residency to get a lower rate. The answer I received was that I could do that if I wished! Make of that what you will.

While I was living in the Netherlands, I used this to my advantage when travelling home to the UK and needing a rental car for the weekend. Since the question was always about where you were resident, and not your nationality or the issuing authority of your driving licence, I picked the residency that gave me the cheapest rental quote, reasoning that if I was ever questioned about it I could supply either a UK or NL address as appropriate. Often, despite making the booking as a NL resident, I then supplied my UK driving license and my UK address when collecting the car. It never even raised an mention at the rental agency desk.

Note however, I never actually tried to claim I was resident in a country where I didn't have an address. It suspect it might therefore get increasingly difficult if you were, for example, an American with a US drivers license, picking up a rental car in Europe while claiming to be a Chinese resident.

Upvote:4

In the US as far as i understand the system, a car insurance is bound to a person, so if you have an insurance for your own car, it includes usually rental cars as well in its coverage. So in that case a US resident doesn't need to book insurance to his rental car, which would get him in your case the better deal compared to a foreigner. I guess, that insurers then assume that a resident, which needs insurance with his rental car, doesn't have such personal car insurance, where the reason e.g. could be that he would not be eligible because of financial reasons etc., and they calculate the risk accordingly, which then usually leads to higher insurance costs.

Contrary to that, (that's another guess from me), if you rent a car as a foreigner, you might not drive as risky as a resident, because of the hassle that an accident would include (dealing with police etc.). That would lead to a lower risk for such a customer group.

Upvote:4

It's not at all uncommon for rental companies to offer different prices to people from different regions, and I've always seen lower prices offered for foreigners. Possibly this is because they expect foreign visitors to be tourists and more price conscious, while domestic visitors are more likely to be on business travel. You're not being scammed; just the opposite.

As a dual citizen, I've actually booked a rental car as an EU resident before, and had the guy at the counter give me the side-eye when I handed over my US driver's license (but then get things sorted out anyway). It's possible that a grumpier agent would have made my life more difficult.

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