Category: Money Saving

There are five verified ways to get the under-25 young driver fee waived in the US — and several widely-repeated methods that simply don’t work. The strongest are a USAA membership (waived at six major brands), AAA with Hertz (ages 20–24), and government or military travel orders. Where no waiver applies, the next best saving is picking the cheapest supplier for your age, which is what DiscoverCars is for.

The Five Waivers That Actually Work

1. USAA membership (the broadest)

USAA has the widest young-renter waiver in the US market. Hertz waives the surcharge for USAA members aged 18–24; Avis, Budget, Enterprise, National and Alamo waive it for ages 21–24. The conditions matter: the waiver is limited to USAA insurance-eligible members, you must book through the USAA portal so the discount code attaches, proof of membership or a military ID may be requested at the counter, 21–24 renters may still face vehicle-class limits, and the benefit does not apply internationally.

2. AAA membership with Hertz

Hertz waives its young renter fee for AAA members aged 20 to 24 — you must book using the AAA rate or discount code for it to apply. The Prestige, Adrenaline and Dream Car collections are excluded, as are prepaid ’Slash Deals’ rates. Note this is a Hertz-specific benefit: AAA membership does not waive the fee at Enterprise, Avis or Budget.

3. Government and military travel orders

This is the most consistently documented waiver of all. For authorised government travel with official orders presented at the counter:

• Avis — rents from age 18 with no surcharge on government travel orders (including FEMA, USPS and military).
• Budget — 18+ with purchase or travel orders, no surcharge.
• Enterprise, National, Alamo — US military personnel and government employees aged 18+ incur no youthful surcharge for authorised government travel, on presentation of official orders.

Leisure travel does not qualify. The orders must be genuine and shown at pickup — a military ID alone is not enough for this particular waiver.

4. Insurance-replacement rentals

If you’re renting because your own car is being repaired, Budget officially waives the young driver surcharge for replacement renters aged 18 and over from approved insurance providers, naming Allstate, Progressive, State Farm and Travelers. Budget also waives it for renters with disabilities where the renter or an authorised driver is over 25.

5. Corporate or university discount codes

Real, but negotiated per contract rather than published: some employers and universities have corporate codes (CDP/BCD numbers) that include an underage-fee waiver, and many do not. It costs nothing to ask your HR or student travel office whether your organisation’s code covers the young driver fee.

Methods That Don’t Work (Despite What You’ll Read)

These circulate widely and will cost you money if you rely on them:

Claimed method	Reality
Costco Travel waives the fee	False. Costco’s own help pages confirm under-25 members get the member discount but still pay the underage fee, can’t book online, and must call. Costco does reliably include one free additional driver – but an under-25 additional driver still pays the surcharge.
Credit card rental coverage waives it	False. Card benefits replace the insurance/CDW upsell. They have no effect on the age surcharge, which is a separate line item.
Enterprise student waiver	Stale. Traces to an expired 2020 programme that temporarily dropped the minimum to 18. Any current claim of this is out of date.
Turning 25 during the rental	No. Your age at pickup governs the whole rental. There is no partial refund.
Add an over-25 driver to skip the fee	Doesn’t work as described. Every listed driver under 25 pays the surcharge, so this only helps if the under-25 person isn’t a listed driver – meaning they can’t legally drive.

If No Waiver Applies, Compare Instead

Here is the part most guides skip: no booking site can remove a young driver fee — the surcharge is set by the rental company and collected at the counter. What comparing suppliers actually does is show you, side by side, which company charges the least for your age at your exact pickup location. Budget publishes $27/day while Enterprise, National and Alamo average around $25 — and Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty and Sixt publish nothing at all, so their fee only appears at quote stage. That spread is real money, and it is invisible until you compare. Checking DiscoverCars puts every supplier’s total in one list before you commit.

A few practical savings that stack with comparing:

1. Avoid airport pickups where possible — surcharges and airport fees both tend to run higher there.
2. Check Michigan versus New York if you’re under 21 and flexible — Michigan is roughly half the New York rate.
3. Shorten the rental — with no cap, every extra day adds the full surcharge again.
4. Book a smaller class — under-25 renters are barred from premium classes anyway, so there’s little point paying up.
5. Compare before you commit — the daily spread between brands at one airport can exceed the cost of a tank of fuel.

For the full brand-by-brand numbers see our under-25 fees by company comparison, for the legal minimums see rental car age by state, and for the overview start at the rental car age requirements guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can you avoid the under-25 car rental fee?

Five methods are verified: a USAA membership (waived at Hertz for ages 18 to 24 and at Avis, Budget, Enterprise, National and Alamo for 21 to 24), AAA with Hertz for ages 20 to 24, government or military travel orders, insurance-replacement rentals at Budget, and some corporate or university discount codes.

Does Costco Travel waive the young driver fee?

No. This is one of the most common myths. Costco’s own help pages confirm that under-25 members receive the member discount but still pay the underage fee, cannot book online, and must call to reserve. Costco does include a free additional driver, but an under-25 additional driver still pays the surcharge.

Does AAA waive the under-25 rental fee?

Only with Hertz, and only for members aged 20 to 24, booked on the AAA rate or discount code. The Prestige, Adrenaline and Dream Car collections and prepaid Slash Deals rates are excluded. AAA membership does not waive the fee at Enterprise, Avis or Budget.

Do credit card benefits cover the young driver fee?

No. Credit card rental benefits replace the insurance or collision damage waiver upsell. The young driver surcharge is a separate charge based on your age and is unaffected by card coverage, a distinction that is frequently conflated online.

Can a booking site remove the young driver fee?

No third party can remove it, because the surcharge is set by the rental company and collected at the counter. What comparing suppliers does is show which company charges the least for your age at your specific pickup location, where the daily spread can exceed $30 in New York.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to DiscoverCars. If you book through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Fees verified September 2026 — rental companies change them without notice, so always confirm the total at booking.

In 48 US states the minimum rental age is 21, set by company policy rather than law. Only New York and Michigan require companies to rent to drivers as young as 18 — and neither caps the surcharge, which is why they carry the country’s highest young driver fees. Because the rules come from company policy in most states, the same age can be accepted at one brand and refused at another, so comparing suppliers on DiscoverCars matters more than most renters realise.

Minimum Rental Age by State: The Real Picture

Where	Minimum age	What sets the rule
New York	18	State law (GBL § 391-g) makes age-only refusal of 18+ unlawful
Michigan	18	Civil-rights law (Elliott-Larsen Act) as applied by the courts
Alabama / Nebraska	19 at Hertz only	Hertz company policy, not state law
All other 46 states + DC	21 (20 at Hertz/Dollar/Thrifty)	Company policy – no state or federal statute

Two widespread errors worth correcting here, because almost every competing article repeats them:

1. Alabama and Nebraska are not ’19-year-old states’. That 19 minimum is Hertz’s own rental policy. Enterprise, Avis and Budget still enforce 21 in both states, so a 19-year-old in Alabama can rent from Hertz and be turned away elsewhere.
2. Neither New York nor Michigan caps the young driver fee. New York’s statute allows companies to pass through the actual extra insurance cost attributable to age — a cost-justification standard, not a dollar limit. That is precisely why New York fees are the highest in the country.

New York: You Can Rent at 18, But It Costs the Most

New York General Business Law § 391-g makes it unlawful to refuse to rent to anyone aged 18 or over solely because of age, provided insurance for that age is available. The New York Court of Appeals upheld this in People v. Alamo Rent A Car (1997), and a knowing violation carries a $500 penalty.

What the law does not do is limit the surcharge. Companies may recover the genuine additional insurance cost, which produces figures like $68.75/day at Enterprise and $84/day at Avis for ages 18–20. An 18-year-old renting for a week in New York can pay more in surcharge than in base rate — which makes comparing suppliers there unusually valuable.

Michigan: The Cheaper Way to Rent Under 21

Michigan has no rental-specific statute. The age-18 floor comes from the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act’s public-accommodation provisions, applied to car rental by the Michigan courts and a state Attorney General opinion. So it is accurate to say Michigan requires rentals from 18 — but it comes from civil-rights law, not a rental statute.

Practically, Michigan is far cheaper than New York for the same young driver: $34/day versus $68.75/day at Enterprise for ages 18–20, and $15.50 versus $33.25 for ages 21–24. If your trip could plausibly start in either state, that difference is worth planning around. Compare Michigan and New York pickups on DiscoverCars to see the real totals side by side.

Here is the part most guides skip: no booking site can remove a young driver fee — the surcharge is set by the rental company and collected at the counter. What comparing suppliers actually does is show you, side by side, which company charges the least for your age at your exact pickup location. Because the floor is company policy in 48 states, a 20-year-old refused by Enterprise may be accepted by Hertz, Dollar or Thrifty at the very same airport. That spread is real money, and it is invisible until you compare. Checking DiscoverCars puts every supplier’s total in one list before you commit.

Can a Rental Company Refuse an Under-25 Driver?

Outside New York and Michigan, yes. With no federal minimum-age law and no state statute in the other 48 states, companies may set any minimum they choose — and in practice they refuse under-21 renters almost everywhere (under-20 at Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty).

Vehicle-class refusals are legal everywhere, including New York and Michigan. Even where the law compels a company to rent to an 18-year-old, it does not compel them to hand over a premium SUV. For the full fee breakdown by brand see our under-25 fees by company comparison, and for the age basics see the rental car age requirements guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the minimum age to rent a car in the US?

In 48 states the minimum is 21, set by company policy rather than law (Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty start at 20). Only New York and Michigan require companies to rent to drivers aged 18 and over. There is no federal minimum rental age in the United States.

Which states let you rent a car at 18?

Only New York and Michigan. New York’s General Business Law makes age-only refusal of renters 18 and over unlawful, while Michigan’s age-18 floor comes from its civil-rights law as applied by the courts. Both carry high young driver surcharges as a result.

Can you rent a car at 19 in Alabama or Nebraska?

At Hertz, yes, because Hertz company policy sets 19 as the minimum in those two states. This is not a state law, so Enterprise, Avis and Budget still require 21 in Alabama and Nebraska. The same 19-year-old can be accepted at one brand and refused at another.

Do New York and Michigan cap the young driver fee?

No. Neither state caps the surcharge. New York’s statute allows companies to pass through the actual additional insurance cost attributable to age, a cost-justification standard rather than a dollar limit, which is why New York has the highest young driver fees in the country.

Can a rental company legally refuse someone under 25?

Outside New York and Michigan, yes: companies may set any minimum age, and most refuse under-21 renters. Restrictions on which vehicle classes under-25 drivers may rent are legal in every state, including New York and Michigan.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to DiscoverCars. If you book through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Fees verified September 2026 — rental companies change them without notice, so always confirm the total at booking.

The under-25 young driver fee runs roughly $25 to $27 per day at most major US rental companies — but in New York it reaches $68.75 to $84 a day for drivers aged 18–20, and four big brands don’t publish a figure at all. Because the same 22-year-old can pay wildly different amounts at the same airport depending on the brand, comparing suppliers on DiscoverCars is the only reliable way to find the cheapest option for your age.

Under-25 Young Driver Fee by Rental Company

Here is what each major US company actually charges drivers aged 21–24, based on their own published policies as of September 2026. Note how many simply don’t tell you:

Company	Minimum age	Young driver fee (21–24)
Enterprise	21 (18 in MI/NY)	~$25/day, varies by location
National	21 (18 in MI/NY)	~$25/day average
Alamo	21 (18 in MI/NY)	~$25/day average
Budget	21 (18 in MI/NY)	$27/day at most locations
Avis	21 (18 in MI/NY)	Surcharge applies; no flat US figure published
Hertz	20 (19 AL/NE; 18 MI/NY)	Not published (’Age Differential Charge’)
Thrifty	20 (18 in MI/NY)	Not published – varies by location and car class
Dollar	20 (18 in MI/NY)	Not published
Sixt	21 (18 in NY)	Not published – shown at booking only

That four of the nine biggest brands refuse to publish a number is the single most useful thing to know here. Hertz calls it an ’Age Differential Charge’ without a figure; Thrifty says only that it ’varies based on renting location and car class’. For those brands the fee is genuinely unknowable until you reach a quote screen.

Here is the part most guides skip: no booking site can remove a young driver fee — the surcharge is set by the rental company and collected at the counter. What comparing suppliers actually does is show you, side by side, which company charges the least for your age at your exact pickup location. At a New York airport the gap between suppliers for the same 19-year-old exceeds $30 per day — over $200 on a week’s rental. That spread is real money, and it is invisible until you compare. Checking DiscoverCars puts every supplier’s total in one list before you commit.

Where the Fee Gets Expensive: New York and Michigan

New York and Michigan are the only two states that require companies to rent to drivers as young as 18 — and because neither caps what companies may charge for the extra risk, they also carry the highest surcharges in the country. These are published figures, so they are worth stating precisely:

Company	New York 18–20	New York 21–24	Michigan 18–20	Michigan 21–24
Enterprise / National / Alamo	$68.75/day	$33.25/day	$34.00/day	$15.50/day
Avis	$84.00/day	$35.00/day	$41.00/day	$28.00/day

A correction worth making, because most articles get it wrong: the widely-quoted ’$121.50 New York Enterprise fee’ is the truck and van rate, not the car rate. The car rate for ages 18–20 is $68.75/day. If you see $121.50 quoted for a car, the source has confused the two tables.

Michigan is dramatically cheaper than New York for the same age — $34 versus $68.75 at Enterprise for an 18-year-old. Since these are the only two states where 18–20 renting is possible at all, that difference matters if your trip could start in either. Compare both on DiscoverCars before deciding which airport to fly into.

Which Cars Can Under-25 Drivers Actually Rent?

The fee isn’t the only restriction. Every major company also limits which vehicle classes you may take, and these limits are published:

• Avis — under-25 renters are excluded from Full-Size SUVs, Luxury, Minivans, Passenger Vans, Premium SUVs and Specialty vehicles.
• Enterprise — ages 21–24 are limited to economy through full-size cars, cargo vans, minivans, pickups, and compact/small/standard SUVs up to 5 passengers.
• Hertz — excludes the Prestige, Adrenaline and Dream Car collections.

If you need a large SUV or a van for a group trip, this is often a harder blocker than the fee itself — and it varies by brand, which is another reason to compare rather than default to one company.

Is There a Cap on the Young Driver Fee?

No major US brand publishes a per-rental cap. You’ll see figures like ’$280 maximum’ repeated online, but no official rental-company source confirms any specific cap in the US market. Plan on the basis that the fee accrues every day of the rental: at $27/day, a ten-day trip adds $270 before tax.

This is exactly why the daily amount matters so much, and why a $2–$3 daily difference between brands is worth ten minutes of comparing. For the full picture on age rules see our rental car age requirements guide, and for the legitimate ways to get the fee removed entirely, see how to avoid the young driver fee.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is the under-25 car rental fee?

Roughly $25 to $27 per day at most major US companies: Budget publishes $27/day, and Enterprise, National and Alamo average about $25/day. New York is far higher at $68.75 to $84/day for ages 18 to 20. Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty and Sixt publish no US figure at all.

Which rental company is cheapest for under-25 drivers?

It depends entirely on your pickup location, because every company describes its fee as location-dependent. Enterprise, National and Alamo average slightly less than Budget’s $27/day, but the only reliable answer is to compare suppliers for your specific airport and dates, since the spread can exceed $30/day in New York.

Is there a maximum young driver fee per rental?

No major US rental brand publishes a per-rental cap, so you should assume the fee is charged for every day of your rental. Figures like a ‘$280 cap’ circulate online but are not confirmed by any official rental-company source.

Why won’t Hertz or Thrifty tell me their under-25 fee?

Both describe the charge without a figure: Hertz calls it an Age Differential Charge, and Thrifty says it varies by renting location and car class. For these brands the amount only appears once you reach a quote, which is why comparing several suppliers side by side is the practical workaround.

Can under-25 drivers rent an SUV or minivan?

Only some classes. Avis excludes full-size SUVs, luxury cars, minivans, passenger vans, premium SUVs and specialty vehicles for under-25 renters. Enterprise limits 21 to 24-year-olds to economy through full-size cars plus compact to standard SUVs up to 5 passengers.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to DiscoverCars. If you book through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Fees verified September 2026 — rental companies change them without notice, so always confirm the total at booking.