John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions For Visitors To The USA And Canada - What are all the extra charges associated with car rental?

This does get very confusing. All the car rental companies operate in the same way, and you must expect these costs. While you might feel that you're being cheated by being charged these costs, at least you can rest assured that you're not being treated differently to anyone else. Taking the entire cost of the car rental into account and bearing in mind the kind of mileage that you might do in the car, it is still a reasonable deal in our opinion.

The cost of car rental is made up of the following elements:

Each of these might be paid to your tour operator, the car rental operator in the USA or Canada, or (in some cases) to an insurance company in your own country.

For visitors to the USA or Canada from Britain it's nearly always much less expensive to take out car rental as part of a fly/drive package than to purchase it yourself in North America. I do not know if this is also true for visitors from other countries or not. If you buy car rental as part of a fly/drive package then along with your tickets you also receive a voucher which normally covers the cost of the basic car rental. Sometimes the voucher also includes some of the other cost elements, and since these are considerable you need to check the costs and what they include very carefully when comparing offers prior to booking.

CDW/LDW (Collision Damage Waiver, also called Loss Damage Waiver) is optional in most states, although in a few states it is compulsory and built into the basic car rental cost. Without CDW/LDW you could be held liable for the full value of the car to the car rental operator. CDW/LDW is costly, but in our opinion it would be foolish not to take it out. The cost of CDW/LDW is usually paid directly to the car rental operator, but sometimes it is included (perhaps as an option) in the car rental voucher issued by the tour operator as part of a fly/drive package.

You normally pay state sales tax to the car rental operator, but again this can sometimes be included in the voucher. The percentage rate of sales tax varies quite considerably between states.

Top-up insurance covers your liability with regard to third party injury and property damage, and also means you will receive compensation if you are involved in an incident with a motorist who is not insured or under-insured and who is judged to be the guilty party. You normally take out top-up insurance with an insurance company in your own country before travelling; sometimes it is offered (usually as an option) as part of a fly/drive package. Top-up Insurance is optional, but in our opinion taking it out is a very wise precaution.

There are also additional charges, normally paid directly to the car rental operator, for infant and child seat rental, young drivers and additional drivers if each of these factors apply in your case.

For more information, refer to the Car Rental page.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

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Most recently modified 25-Mar-01