[Ford_madhan]

Sorry for the OT. How can you drive with a indian license? What happens if u r stopped by a cop? One of my friend said, he was stopped and given a warning that we are not allowed to drive using indian license.

[aargee]

@Ford_madhan - I was in Troy city (MI) during 2008/09 & Hertz accepted my driving license whole heartedly. I wasn't stopped by any cop, so I don't know. But again, what I heard was, the law depends from state to state. Most state such as NY, MI, MN, CA, OH allows any DL provided it is printed in English.

An IDL is a license that helps to translate the native language to English, that's all. Also, did you know that to obtain a IDL, one need not undergo any test. All we've to do it, simply send the license in native language & 1 or 2 photograph (scanned will help) & remit the fee through a CC including postage (see International Drivers License, International Driving Licence).

Also to obtain a US DL, one has to have a social security number & anyone visiting US in B1/B2 may not be able to obtain a SSN. However things with H1/L1 are quite different & they'll be able to (and must) apply for SSN & thus ppl in H1/L1 need to get DL from US after passing the test & that's the reason I said in one of my post that Indian DL's are valid upto 6 months or so.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Ford_madhan

Sorry for the OT. How can you drive with a indian license? What happens if u r stopped by a cop? One of my friend said, he was stopped and given a warning that we are not allowed to drive using indian license.

You are allowed to drive in your native country license if you are there on a business visa ror short durations. I have done it quite a few times. Have even been stopped by a cop once. If you are there on a longer visa, you need to get a state license.

[bblost]

I have always wondered.
Can you take a rental car in a city A and return it in a city B?
If yes, is there any limit on the distance between the 2 cities.
For example can someone drive from say the west coast to the east coast.

[leodelg]

I got a sweet little upgrade when I recently rented a standard sized car from Budget for a trip to Seattle. The biggest achievement was returning the car without getting any speeding tickets!

[carboy]

Originally Posted by blackasta

@ carboy - yes civic is a compact car by DMV/Govt designations, but does not appear in the economy/compact section of enterprise car rentals :(

It's not just a govt/dmv designation, but what everyone else in the US also calls. Probably except the rental companies.

Looks like Enterprise was the one who started this re-tiering thing. Were followed by Alamo & National. Now some others also do it.

Also economy & compact are still 2 different sections at all car rentals.
Economy/Subcompact is the lowest. Next is the compact.

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by bblost

I have always wondered.
Can you take a rental car in a city A and return it in a city B?

Yes you can.

If yes, is there any limit on the distance between the 2 cities.
For example can someone drive from say the west coast to the east coast.

Some do some don't. Big players do not have such restiction. However why would anyone 'drive' from east to west coast ? Unless he is a T-Bhpian.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by carboy

Also economy & compact are still 2 different sections at all car rentals.
Economy/Subcompact is the lowest. Next is the compact.

Ya I was always referring them as 2 different classes. Sorry if I confused anyone.
They only rent out economy & compact cars on weekend rates, that too with a 100 mile per day cap - thus the price 9.99. If one asks for unlimited mileage, the price goes up to 19.99.
But sometimes when all small cars are rented out and they dont want to lose customers, thats when they throw in the upgrade (provided there is no confirmed booking for the larger car).

[carboy]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

Yes you can.


Some do some don't. Big players do not have such restiction. However why would anyone 'drive' from east to west coast ? Unless he is a T-Bhpian.

There is usually a drop-off charge. And it may be quite huge, I guess.

If you take a car from say California & take it to New York, the car will still have California plates, so they can't possibly rent it out in New York. So they would have to transport it back, I think.

Some rental contracts even charge you extra for driving out of the state where you rented it even if you returned it back at the same point where you picked it up.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Ford_madhan

Sorry for the OT. How can you drive with a indian license? What happens if u r stopped by a cop? One of my friend said, he was stopped and given a warning that we are not allowed to drive using indian license.

I am not sure about other states, but in New York and New Jersey it is legal to drive with Indian License for 2 months from the time of entry to the country. You need to have your passport along with the Indian license. I had got a 3 point ticket on my Indian license which was transferred to my New Jersey license. For renting a car with Indian license you will need a major credit card like VISA/Mastercard.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by carboy

There is usually a drop-off charge. And it may be quite huge, I guess.

If you take a car from say California & take it to New York, the car will still have California plates, so they can't possibly rent it out in New York. So they would have to transport it back, I think.

Some rental contracts even charge you extra for driving out of the state where you rented it even if you returned it back at the same point where you picked it up.

Don't think the above condition holds - I have once rented a vehicle with Pennsylvania plates in Nevada and one with Maryland plates in North Carolina!

[noviceDriver]

You can use coupons to get a discounted rate / upgrade. There are several coupon listing sites, use our friend 'Google'. You can also use your Costco membership (if you have any) to get discounted rate / upgrade.

As already mentioned, the rates vary on the location of the rental office, even if they are in the same city.

It's almost a rule than an exception to charge for a one-way rental; and compared to the daily rates, the drop-off fee is steep.

If you hold an AmEx card and use that card to pay for the rental, you are covered with a certain level of insurance. You can check the coverage with AmEx.

And upgrades are entirely upto the rental office you are visiting. Once I ended up with a Chevy Impala after booking a Chevy Aveo class car from Enterprise even though I did not opt for an upgrade. I presume the location did not have any car from the particular class which I booked. And once a friend of mine was not provided an upgrade even though he had used such a coupon.

When you rent out from an Airport location, you get unconditional unlimited miles from all the rental companies. For other locations, Enterprise offeres unlimited miles on rented cars if you stay within the neighboring states of the state where the vehicle is rented out. Budget offers unconditional unlimited miles on a few classes of cars. Not sure about Hertz, but Avis has limits on driven miles (most probably 500).

[sindabad]

I have driven on Indian DL (in english language) in FL, IL,MI and CA. Each state has a different cap on the number of months you can drive after you arrive into the US. Eg. FL is 6 months and IL is 3 months. I have also read about GA cops giving a ticket for over speeding to someone who drove down from NY to GA on an Indian DL, he was asked to appear in court.

As for insurance - I have noticed one thing about Enterprise - apart from CDW,LDW and PAI they also include a hidden Road Side assistance (which is apparemtly attached to CDW @ 3.XX dollars per day). Hidden because it appears nowhere except on the final itemized bill that they print out when you return your rental. Road side assistance is much cheaper and can be bought off the shelf if your car breaks down mid-way.

Most rental companies require you to have a credit card for renting, in such cases first timers in US should have an internationally valid Credit Card from India (or else where) which the rental company can use to take authorization amount, you can pay by cash,TC etc. upon returning your car and ask them to release the authorization from your internationally valid credit card so that you don't get charged for currency conversion etc.

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by blackasta

Don't think the above condition holds - I have once rented a vehicle with Pennsylvania plates in Nevada and one with Maryland plates in North Carolina!

Really depends on the Rental company and its policies. Avis and Hertz have locations everywhere. I have driven cars in Ohio and California with state plates which I never knew existed. My friend owned a lincoln from Pennsylvania for 3 months w/o problems. I drove a Jeep Liberty from New York.

[akj53]

The photographs posted by you show some superb scenery. The Civic is also looking nice in that blue colour.

Thanks for postings.