Rental Cars: Spouse as a (free) authorized driver

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Rental Cars: Spouse as a (free) authorized driver - select states only.

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happysaver
Senior Member

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posted: Aug. 5, 2008 @ 4:07p

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Once in a while I try to look up this info, but can not find it. So for the future reference, let it be known that:

In certain states your spouse is automatically an authorized driver at no extra charge.

The following wording is from National contract, however it seems that the same law applies to any car rental company.

... as required by law in California, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin, Your spouse is an Authorized Driver if (s)he has a valid driver's license and meets the Age Restrictions...

Note: To get advantage of this rule you should not list your husband/wife on a rental agreement, otherwise the standard additional driver fee (if any) will be automatically priced in.

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posted: Aug. 5, 2008 @ 4:07p

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tags: car rental, free, spouse
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norebates
Addicted Member

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posted: Aug. 5, 2008 @ 5:01p

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Thanks OP!

azlv
New Member

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posted: Aug. 5, 2008 @ 6:28p

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Thanks for this. I was also told by Avis that it was a company policy that spouses or life partners are also authorized drivers at no extra charge. Good to know when renting through Avis and not in one of the states listed above.

pulokk23
Member

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posted: Aug. 15, 2008 @ 8:35a

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I've never been charged for a spouse as an extra driver with Hertz, Avis, or Budget. Thrifty, Dollar, National, and Alamo tend to charge. Rent through Costco's travel links and those extra-driver fees disappear--seems to be part of their agreement with those rental companies. And you get a good rate.

clm101798
New Member

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posted: Aug. 15, 2008 @ 12:46p

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This is good to know and very timely for me....I rented a car with Avis (thru Priceline) a while back for my vacation next week. Since I did the renting I am listed as the driver. Unfortunately I have an injury to my right foot so driving may be painful. I wanted to switch the driver to my husband instead of me. I contacted Priceline and Avis and both told me they cannot do that but I could add him as an additional driver for and extra fee.
It would have been nice if one of the companies had mentioned this policy instead of saying add him and pay more money. I will print out the policy from their website and bring it with me!

jaimelobo
Senior Member - 2K

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posted: Aug. 15, 2008 @ 3:10p

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I have no verification (other than the word of the CSR), but I have been told the same thing in foreign countries (Costa Rica and Mexico for example). I don't know if it was a company policy or mandated by law.

Message edited by: jaimelobo on 2008-08-15 17:39:28 CDT

mannyd
Senior Member

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posted: Aug. 15, 2008 @ 5:49p

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national with emerald club is free for spouse, and i have rented at enterprise normally and spouse was free

AzFW
Thrifty Member

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posted: Aug. 23, 2008 @ 12:23a

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Actually, I think it's any 2nd driver. Mom and sis travel a lot and they both are able to drive without an extra charge through National with the Emerald club.

wowe
Member

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posted: Aug. 28, 2008 @ 4:02p

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Alamo wanted to charge me almost $10 per day for my wife to drive in FL. I went with Enterprise where there was no charge for a spouse.

happysaver
Senior Member

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posted: Sep. 2, 2008 @ 9:01p

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wowe said:Alamo wanted to charge me almost $10 per day for my wife to drive in FL.
You are not reading the OP correctly. You should not put your wife/husband's name on the agreement, b/c (s)he is automatically an Authorized diver by law. If you do, regular charges will apply.

Newb888
Broke Member

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posted: Sep. 27, 2008 @ 3:42p

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Does anyone have the exact name and/or link to the act that describes the authorized driver rule? Looking at the link below and it looks like this could be a real PIA to get cleared up if you don't have the spouse on the rental agreement: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/31442.html

Besides, according to a few Credit Card agencies that have included collision coverage when making a purchase on the credit card, they would go with the CAR RENTAL agency is deeming your spouse as UNAUTHORIZED to drive the vehicle since the name is not on the agreement.

Is this clear as mud?

Message edited by: Newb888 on 2008-09-27 16:10:59 CDT

happysaver
Senior Member

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posted: Oct. 8, 2008 @ 9:03p

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Newb888 said:Does anyone have the exact name and/or link to the act that describes the authorized driver rule? Looking at the link below and it looks like this could be a real PIA to get cleared up if you don't have the spouse on the rental agreement: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/31442.html

Besides, according to a few Credit Card agencies that have included collision coverage when making a purchase on the credit card, they would go with the CAR RENTAL agency is deeming your spouse as UNAUTHORIZED to drive the vehicle since the name is not on the agreement.

Is this clear as mud?Evidently these are state laws/acts/whatever. Tracking them down may be PIA indeed. On the other hand the info in the OP comes from an actual rental contract. That is to say when you rent a car, most companies give you a contract jacket with myriad of rules, disclosures, etc (which are automatically part of a contract) and this is one of them.