Car Hire In USA Questions

consafe0

Hi There,

I am planning a trip to USA in March and plan on hiring a car for a few days.

I was wondering if anyone could see any issues with the following circumstances

• Pick up and drop off in separate locations (Pick up in San Francisco, Drop off in Las Vegas)

• Full Irish Drivers Liscense which although valid for the duration of the trip, is due to expire in the next 12 months. I have a valid AA International Driving Permit

• I was hoping to use a Visa Debit Card as oppose to a Visa Credit Card.

Has anyone experienced issues with the above when trying to hire a car in the USA?

Thanks.

consafe0

Hi There,

I am planning a trip to USA in March and wanted to make sure all my documents were in order.

My passport was issued in 2009 but is not biometric. Is a biometric passport a requirement to enter the USA?

I have applied for a Visa Weaver and paid the $14 fee. The screen following the payment has a status of Authorization Approved but I have received no email confirmation of this. I was also not asked of travel dates when filling in my details, which I thought was odd.

Do I need to follow this up? And if so where?

Thanks,
Mark

bee06

You don't get any email when you apply for the ESTA. You don't give travel dates either. It lasts two years so it doesn't matter when you are travelling within those two years.

Per the below link all Irish passports issued after 26/10/2006 can be used under the visa waiver program.

http://dublin.usembassy.gov/mobile/nivwaiver.html

Yamanoto

consafe0 wrote: »

• Pick up and drop off in separate locations (Pick up in San Francisco, Drop off in Las Vegas)

• Full Irish Drivers Liscense which although valid for the duration of the trip, is due to expire in the next 12 months. I have a valid AA International Driving Permit

• I was hoping to use a Visa Debit Card as oppose to a Visa Credit Card.

• Not an issue, though you'll be charged a supplement for the privilege

• Again not an issue & your international permit is absolutely unnecessary in the States - your Irish license suffices.

• Debit card policy varies from company to company (and even between local franchises of the same brand).

They're widely accepted by Alamo (once you can show proof of return travel). If you have a credit card I'd recommend using it, as it's just less hassle overall. If not, you'll naturally need sufficient funds in place to cover any hold placed on the card and be comfortable enough with the possibility those funds may be off limits to you for a longer period than you might reasonably expect.

al2009

i rented from alamo last december with a debit card, no problem, once they saw the visa logo they didn't care. I thought they'd take the full amount in advance but they didn't. Also no issue with the irish licence, they didn't ask for the international permit.

ProudDUB

US car rental companies couldn't care less about customers having an International Drivers License, if you are presenting a license from an English speaking county and/or your license uses the Roman alphabet. If the staff at the desk can read & understand what is printed on your regular license (which they will if you are the holder of an Irish license) then that is all you need to rent a car.

All the international license does, is translate your own licenses details into other languages. It is not a stand alone license on its own. It will be useful if you are going to the US from Russia or China or Japan, or other countries that use text not commonly used or understood in the US. If you are coming from Ireland, its a complete waste of money. Great little money spinner for the AA though ! :rolleyes:

Alamo and Enterprise both have good reputations for allowing pick ups with just a debit card. They aren't all are so generous, so research the fine print of each companies policy, as they are not all the same. Their debit card policy can often vary too, if you are picking up at different locations within the same city, so do your homework.