The rates for rental vehicles may have seemed so usurious over the past three years — primarily due to the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic and a shortage of critical components for vehicles, which have resulted in pent up demand for travel — that any way to save money on renting vehicles may be tempting…
Up to $1,000 Fee to Take These Rental Cars Out of State?
…and one of those ways to save money is to rent vehicles from a rental car company which offers lower rates — but be careful, as those initial lower rates do not always translate into saving money.
One of those low-cost rental car companies is Easirent, which was founded in 1999 and is based in Liverpool in England. Although the company has greater than 35 locations at airports and in cities in the United Kingdom and Ireland, it also has eleven locations in the United States — eight of which are located within the state of Florida.
“Our steady expansion has been due to great low cost car rental and fantastic customer satisfaction which is why we are the market leader and why our customers come back to us time and time again”, according to the official Internet web site of Easirent. “We operate an impressive fleet of compact, economy, and midsize vehicles in the USA. We aim to cater for every need, whether it’s a small sedan or a convertible mustang. All our cars are in an excellent well maintained condition with an average age of 6 months old or newer. We will do everything we can to ensure our renters are comfortable and have a superb experience with us.”
That sounds quite good — but watch out in the section under the heading of Geographic Limitations in the official terms and conditions of Easirent in the United States, which includes the following verbiage:
Geographic Limitations
For most of our rentals we offer Unlimited Miles, however cars are restricted to the State of the origin of pickup. Arrangements can be made at the branch for exceptions for an added fee. Vehicles that leave the state may be charged a fee up to $1,000.00 or the overage mileage charge — whichever is greater.
Many rental car companies allow you to drive around the country in every state in the 48 continuous United States — so being lulled into automatically thinking that that would be allowed with every rental car company is understandable.
Final Boarding Call
The three states in which Easirent has locations include Florida, Texas, and North Carolina. Customers can likely take a vehicle out of state and return it without anyone at Easirent knowing about it — unless they are involved in an accident, get a ticket or citation from a law enforcement officer, or are involved in some other incident outside of the state where the vehicle was rented. That is when that fee of up to $1,000.00 or the overage mileage charge — whichever is greater — will likely apply.
As with ultra-low-cost airlines and budget lodging accommodations, low-cost rental car companies such as Easirent are a viable option that could save you money — but ensure that you read the official policies, terms and conditions, and the rental agreement itself carefully prior to committing yourself to patronizing the company to get the most value for yourself, because lower prices usually come at the expense of something…
Photograph ©2008 by Brian Cohen.
