Young driver charge - Europcar

[leemin]

As a DJ WP, I enrolled into Europcar's Privilege program at the Elite level.

I recently inquired about a rental car for the first time and the online quote was around $150. It mentioned a young driver surcharge (I'm 22) but didn't have details so I rang Europcar.

The guy on the phone quoted me over $300. Double!

"Would you like to book that now?"
"Argh. No thanks"
"Oh, can I ask why?"
"Because I understand there is a young driver surcharge, but double is ridiculous"
Silence. End of phonecall.

Does anybody know the logic behind this (I understand it's not just Europcar)? Yes, statistically I'm more of a risk, but isn't that why I accept responsibility for the insurance excess?

 

[anat0l]

It's risk. Been there, done that, sucks royally.

Still, could be worse. Some rental joints won't rent to you at all if you're under 21 (or 25 years for that matter).

Some special rates (e.g. some Avis CDPs) smooth this over for you, allowing you to rent without paying the young driver surcharge.

Not sure the effect is double though. It's usually a fixed amount per day, e.g. $25, though if you had a long booking in an Economy car...

Sent from my GT-I9300 using AustFreqFly

 

[Andyc]

Not too long ago when I had issues with rental companies that wouldn't rent to me because of age/license category (or had suer high fees) I found that Red Spot was the most accommodating. They certainly don't have as many locations, but are definitely worth considering.