senior car rental

And Ed's other point was, there is no national age limit for car rental, as Mary stated. That's why we rely on experience, not just Google.

We had called Hertz about renting a car in the UK when we are 70 or over, and they told us they had no restrictions.

There's no national age limit. The UK accepts your U S license. All that's left is what the rental companies will do. They vary.

I have read that Hertz UK and Avis in the UK do not have an upper age limit. Try them.

Some rental companies won't rent a car to people over 70. That gets me off the hook, and my wife has a few more years of driving on the wrong side of the road, which she does well.

I googled the question and found that each European country has its own upper age limits for car rental. I believe the UK is 69 but Ireland is 79. Try googling it and see what you can find. Back in 1999 my 78 year old father was unable to rent in England due to age.

'I googled the question.... I believe the UK is 69....' Refer to my previous post.

Ed....what's the issue? I read your post as referring to licensure when I thought the topic was age limit for renting. Licensing age and rental age are not necessarily the same, even in the States.

As clearly as I can put it: You can rent a car if you are over seventy. The only potential limitation is that imposed by the rental agency. Some have an upper age limit, some do not. A uniform standard does not exist regardless of what google sez.

This what I was referring to... http://www.aarp.org/travel/travel-tips/info-03-2011/foreign-car-rentral-restrictions-on-older-drivers.html

Whew! Finally the true hot scoop. A non-automotive, non-governmental, non-British link which does not mention the United Kingdom. Take it to the bank. Well done, Google !

But all it says is that companies in those countries might have limitations - no national restriction, no absolutes.

And that ARAP article is so broad and vague that it is worthless other than to say you might have a problem with being too old with some rental agencies. Which goes to my old rant, "Post what you know from experience and not what you think you might know from reading the internet."

It really does depend on the company in the UK. There are some companies who will not rent to people over a certain age. I'm not specifying the age as it can vary. The issue is insurance costs. Smaller companies don't want to pay the higher costs. I say charge a premium. Geeze. But I've been voted down many times on this issue, but I keep brining it up as I know at some point in the not too distant future I will be deemed too old. So, I will have the option of making my nieces and nephews drive or paying for a chauffeur. All of which is irritating because I like to drive! In the meantime, rent from Hertz which seems to be able to deal with the issue. Pam

Thank you all for your time and expertise.

How old? My father was renting cars in the UK when he was 80 and in Italy when he was 82. He was my inspiration to say I could drive in Italy. And I can.

I would really consider whether you truly want to rent a car and drive it. We are in our early seventies, consider ourselves young and alert but found the driving harrowing. In fact, we turned the car in a week early; we just returned from our trip. My husband is a great driver here and we have driven all over the US, Spain and Italy. But let's face it, our reaction time slows as we age. Switching to the other side of the road and the narrowness of the roads and the many curves will be daunting. Great differences in signage also--little warning for exits and few turnouts. Plus there are cyclists and walkers, esp. in the Cotswolds and Lake District. Driving really diminished our enjoyment of the trip and created undue stress. I know places like the Cotswolds are easiest done by car but there is bus transportation between certain cities (more frequent and regular than Rick mentions in his book) and there are taxis.