Car rental resservations made in US vs abroad

An International Driving Permit is not a driver's license. It is not in any way a replacement for your US driver's license, no matter where you rent a car or drive it. You still need your US license to drive, in the US or in Europe. Is it possible you might be able to rent the car in the US when you get to the Hertz counter and then drive illegally home without your US licenses? Possibly, but I would not bet on it. I would bet that the Hertz rep was misinformed.

A lot of things can affect the price for car rental. Prices can rise or drop based on market conditions, competitive pricing, etc. It makes no sense at all that you'd get a better price just by calling from Europe to make a reservation. You are not "non-US drivers" suddenly just because you don't have your US driver's licenses.

An IDP is a secondary document translating a primary document. I would be very, very surprised if any rental clerk anywhere in the world would allow you to drive off with one of their vehicles without that primary document.

As for how rental car companies set their pricing, their pricing algorithms were apparently set up by former airline seat and fare bucket specialists who found that coming up with plane ticket prices was too easy and the car companies let them get exotic and base their car category pricing on fifth dimensional quantum packets. Or Something like that. There are a few broad patterns that are useful (car rental companies want to move one way rentals into Florida in late fall and them back out of those states after Spring Break season wraps up and often price one way rentals accordingly then) but other than that, pricing can seem quite random, and I've learned to never make a prepaid reservation far out because I can typically find quotes that will shave 40%+ off that first quote by the time I get to departure day.

They won't give you the keys if you don't have a drivers license. Better get out the Uber app.

Several times in using on-line booking engines to check flights, I screw up and price Europe to USA and back instead of the other way around. The price for basically the same flights except for the direction, are several hundred USD less than for Europeans coming here. The airlines have it in their pricing models that Americans are rich and can afford to pay more. Europeans are poor and get a discount to fly to this great land.

The airlines have it in their pricing models that Americans are rich and can afford to pay more. Europeans are poor and get a discount to fly to this great land...

There's a lot more to pricing than that. Dynamic pricing, and a whole raft of government fees for starters. There's little rhyme or reason to what flights cost.

I would be surprised if Hertz gives you a car when you return. Not saying it will not happen, but if I were compelled to make a bet, its you walk away from the counter without a car key.

As for rates, its up to the computer voodoo at any given moment.

Here is the wording from the Hertz website:
An acceptable, valid driver's license issued from your country of residence must be presented at the time of rental. The driver's license must be valid for the entire rental period. If the driver's license is in a language other than English, and the rental is in the United States, an International Driver's Permit is recommended. In all cases, a valid driver's license issued from your home country must be provided, whether or not you possess an International Driver's Permit. You will not be allowed to rent a Hertz vehicle with only an International Driver's Permit.

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/reservation/reviewmodifycancel/templates/rentalTerms.jsp?KEYWORD=LICENSE&EOAG=LAX

Sure hope this wasn't a pre paid non refundable rental.

From experience at Hertz: no physical driver license = no rental.

I am not surprised that it would be cheaper to rent from a European website for a rental within the US. I have seen references to no drop fees for one-way rentals from one state to another, only available to non-US residents, or at least to rentals reserved on the foreign website. This is, in my view, a good thing, helping foreign visitors to keep their visiting costs down. Just as we as non-residents can take advantage of certain train passes only available to non-residents when we visit Europe.

But the drivers’ license thing does not sound right. I cannot imagine any rental company giving you a car if you cannot show a valid drivers’ license. An IDP, as explained above, is not a license, even in combination with your passport. And you cannot legally drive from the airport to your home, no matter how rural, without a valid drivers’ license. If you have lost yours, you need to make some provision for replacement ASAP and carry confirmation that this is underway. In most states, the penalties for driving without a license can be pretty severe.

OP, I really hope you have a plan B for getting home from the airport. Perhaps a friend or relative who will pick you up? Don't know about your state, but here you have to apply in person for a replacement license, so don't think that's a possibility. I guess your licenses were also both in that purse that was stolen?

It is not believable that a Hertz office in the USA seeing a US Passport will not ask for a US drivers license. They may eventually accept the falsehood that you are non-residents but Hertz cannot "make" you a legal driver if you are stopped or have an accident on the way home. It's also not believable to them that you allowed your US license to lapse while an expatriate!

I’ve rented a gazillion cars in my lifetime. The agent always asks the same thing: drivers license and credit card. Let us know how this goes.

I have to say the last two times I've rented cars in the States for trips home (two out of my last three visits), I indeed have found much cheaper prices when logging in from a French website vs. a U.S. one (same company, just whether I was using a VPN to appear whether I was in France or the U.S. ). It was the same company both times. I can't explain it, but I've seen it work in my favor twice now!

Edit to add: (in both cases, even though I rented through the French site, I used my U.S. credit card and parents' home address for the rental . . . so I was an American renter on the French site).

At one time I understood that Hertz in the US is not the same company as Hertz in Europe. They were affiliated with perhaps some corporate connection at a high level, or maybe just an agreement to share the name and coordinate their separate booking software. But otherwise they were separate enough that different rates are likely. Regulations are different too. Maybe someone here knows better.

But the drivers’ license thing does not sound right. I cannot imagine any rental company giving you a car if you cannot show a valid drivers’ license.

Actually, we were able to drive home from the airport in a rented car, after explaining that our licenses had been stolen, on the basis of 1)passport 2)International driver's permit (they regarded this as a form of identification and wrote down the number) and 3)an email from our state's motor vehicle department saying that we had paid for a replacement driver's license and it was being mailed to us (to our home address). We did not have a valid US driver's license in hand.

We found out that another option was going to the state police barracks at the airport and telling them our story and showing the Spanish police report and getting some sort of temporary driving permission from them to bring back to the rental counter. We were told that would probably work as well. However, since what was described in the previous paragraph worked, there was no need to do that.

So sometimes things work out in the real world that certain people cannot imagine happening. Inflexible rules sometimes become flexible.

Glad it worked out. Since the state police (and any large police force) can immediately pull up your license and photo on a laptop I guess not surprised that this option exists.

Note when renting on foreign car websites: there are a lot of protections the EU provides its residents that others aren't eligible for (like high liability insurance, foreigners get the $40,000 variety and have to pay up for more) so be careful renting on European websites for European rentals when not actually European. Also, there's no option to waive the CDW when on a European website, at least for rentals in Europe. So wonder if this option exists for those using European sites to rent for US cars, since not being able to waive CDW would end up costing more.

Marcia, thanks for sharing what worked for you after your driver's licenses were stolen in Europe. That's great that your DMV provided the statement that they had emailed you replacement drivers licenses. Obviously taking care of all this -- filing the police report, requesting the replacement drivers' licenses, and then the statement, plus who knows what else you had to do with regards to your bank, etc. all took time, but I'm glad that it worked out for you to have a means to get home.