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Get startedThe quoted price is not the price. If you are under 25, a daily surcharge gets added that can exceed the cost of the car itself, and it appears late enough in the process that people discover it at the counter.
There is a second problem that catches even more people, and almost nobody writes about it: your debit card may not be accepted at all.
Here is what the rental companies actually publish, what it costs by age and country, and how to plan around both.
The Surcharge, in Published Numbers
Rather than generalising, here is what one major company states in its own terms. Avis is used throughout this article because it publishes specific figures on its own pages, which most of its competitors do not.
In the United States, Avis "rents to customers age 21 and up in most U.S. states and Canadian provinces", with New York and Michigan as exceptions where the minimum is 18.
In those two states, the published surcharges are:
- New York: $84 per day for ages 18 to 20, and $35 per day for ages 21 to 24.
- Michigan: $41 per day for ages 18 to 20, and $28 per day for ages 21 to 24.
Source: Avis US age requirements.
Sit with the New York figure for a moment. At $84 a day, a week-long rental carries roughly $588 in age surcharge alone, before the car, the tax or the insurance. For a 19-year-old that is frequently more than the rental itself.
At other US and Canadian locations, Avis states that a surcharge applies automatically for ages 21 to 24 without publishing a single flat amount, since it varies by location. Two Canadian provinces are specified: Quebec at $20 per day for ages 21 to 24, restricted to sedans, and Saskatchewan, where the minimum age is 18 and "No underage fee applies".
That last one matters as a principle rather than as a destination. The rules are set locally, so a blanket statement about "renting under 25" is almost always wrong somewhere.
Europe Works Differently, and Costs Less
A genuinely useful distinction, because most advice written for Americans assumes American rules.
Avis UK sets its minimum hire age at 23, and additionally requires that you have "held a driving licence for at least one year". That licence-held requirement does not appear on the US pages, and it catches people who passed their test recently.
The published approximate young-driver surcharges are considerably lower than the US figures:
- United Kingdom: around £40 per day
- France: around £26
- Spain: around £17
- Italy: around £16
- Germany: around £9
Crucially, Avis states that "These fees are capped at 10 days", which changes the arithmetic entirely for a longer trip. A fortnight costs the same surcharge as ten days.
⚠️ Two cautions on those numbers. Avis itself describes them as approximate, and its FAQ notes that the amount "varies by country and will be quoted when you book". Treat them as an order of magnitude, checked in August 2026, not as a price list.
Minimum ages also vary widely across Europe. Avis lists France, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland at 18 to 19, Germany at 19, and Greece, Ireland and Spain at 21.
So a 21-year-old American who assumes European rules mirror home has it backwards. In much of Europe the minimum age is lower and the surcharge is smaller, though the cap makes the biggest difference of all.
The Debit Card Problem
This is the one that ruins trips, and it is barely covered anywhere.
Avis states that most US locations accept debit cards with a Visa or MasterCard logo as credit identification at the time of rental "if you are at least 25".
Read that condition again. Under 25, at Avis in the US, a debit card is generally not accepted as credit identification. Which means an under-25 renter is effectively credit-card-only, and a great many students do not hold a credit card at all.
Some further published detail worth knowing. Where debit is used, it triggers "an authorization hold against your account for the estimated charges", and Avis states in capitals that "THESE FUNDS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR YOUR USE" until the rental concludes. Prepaid debit and gift cards are not accepted as credit identification at all. Certain locations, including parts of New Jersey and Philadelphia, do not accept debit, and Canadian locations do not accept it as credit identification.
The practical consequence is blunt. Sort out a credit card in your own name before you plan a driving trip, or verify in writing that your specific pickup location will accept your specific card. Arriving at a counter with a booking, a licence and a debit card is a common way to lose both the reservation and the day.
The Car You Are Allowed to Rent Is Restricted Too
Less costly than the surcharge, more likely to disrupt a plan.
Avis permits under-25 renters "Economy through Full-Size cars, Premium cars, Convertibles, Intermediate SUVs and Standard SUVs". Excluded are full-size SUVs, luxury vehicles, minivans, passenger vans, premium SUVs and specialty cars.
The exclusions that matter for students are the minivans and passenger vans, because those are exactly what a group would want for a road trip or a move. A group of six under-25s cannot simply book a van, and discovering that after everyone has committed to dates is a genuine problem.
Quebec's restriction to sedans for ages 21 to 24 is a sharper version of the same principle.
Your Driving Record Is Checked
Published and rarely mentioned. Avis publishes standards in its rental requirements. They include no reckless driving conviction within 36 months, no DUI, DWI or DWAI within 48 months, a maximum of two moving violations within 24 months, and a maximum of two accidents within 36 months.
Worth knowing because it applies regardless of age and is not something you can resolve at the counter.
If You Are Driving Abroad on a US Licence
An adjacent question that comes up constantly and is widely misunderstood.
An International Driving Permit is a translation document. AAA, which states it is "one of two official organizations authorized by the U.S. Department of State to issue IDPs", is explicit that an IDP "is only a translation of the license, not a license to drive". It translates your details into ten languages and AAA describes it as valid identification in 150 countries. The permit fee is $20.
Three things follow that people get wrong.
You still need your actual licence. Avis's own foreign-licence guidance states that "An International Driver's Permit is not acceptable by itself" and must be presented with the original local licence.
Only certain bodies can issue one for a US licence. AAA states plainly that "Another country cannot issue an IDP to be used in conjunction with a US driver's license". So a permit bundled into a membership or sold by an overseas platform is not the document AAA is describing, whatever it is called. If you hold a US licence and need an IDP, get it from an authorised US issuer.
It is not a universal European solution. The EU's own guidance states that international driving permits "are not regulated at EU level and may not be recognised" in other EU countries, and advises checking recognition with authorities in the destination. Separately, rental companies may require one even where a government does not.
Insurance Is Where the Second Surprise Lives
Age affects more than the daily fee, and the insurance conversation at the counter is where under-25 renters lose the most money without realising there was a decision to make.
Three things are worth understanding before you arrive.
The excess, or deductible, is what you pay if something happens. A basic rental includes cover with a large excess attached, often more than a student has available. The counter will offer to reduce it, at a daily price, and that offer is made when you are tired and holding up a queue.
Your own card may already cover it, and may not cover you. Many credit cards include rental cover as a benefit, which is a genuine reason to have one beyond the identification problem above. But those policies frequently carry conditions on driver age, vehicle class, country and rental length. Read yours before travelling rather than assuming, because "my card covers it" is a common and expensive assumption.
Third-party excess policies exist and are usually cheaper, bought in advance from an insurer rather than at the desk. The trade-off is that you pay the rental company first if something happens and claim it back afterwards, which requires having the money available.
None of this is age-specific in principle. It becomes age-specific in practice because under-25 renters are more likely to be excluded by a card policy's conditions, and less likely to have the cash flow to absorb an excess or a claim-back.
Decide which of the three routes you are taking before you get to the counter. The one thing that reliably costs the most is deciding there.
Do Booking Platforms Help?
A fair question, since comparison sites are where most people start.
The category divides into two kinds of business and the difference matters when something goes wrong. Meta-search sites compare prices and hand you off to whoever supplies the car, so your contract and your support are with that supplier. Booking platforms, sometimes called brokers, are themselves the contracting party, which means the platform handles your booking and any problems with it.
QEEQ's platform is an example of the second kind. Its own announcement of its rebrand from EasyRentCars, published in April 2020, describes coverage of 200 countries and more than 100,000 rental locations, operating from Hong Kong.
Neither model removes an age surcharge. The fee is set by the rental company and by local rules, and no intermediary waives it. What a platform can do is surface the total earlier, and let you compare suppliers whose age policies differ. That is genuinely useful when the difference between two companies at the same airport is a daily fee.
⚠️ One caution that applies to any platform. On Trustpilot, where QEEQ holds a score of 4.5 out of 5 across nearly 21,000 reviews, the most common complaints concern unexpected additional charges and losses through currency conversion. Those are the two failure modes of the whole intermediary model rather than of one company: a total that grows between booking and collection, and a currency choice made for you. Check what currency you are being charged in, and get the full expected total in writing before you travel. A platform's payment terms page is where that detail should be stated.
Practical Ways to Reduce the Cost
What actually works, given everything above.
Check the specific pickup location, not the country. Rules are set locally. Saskatchewan charges no underage fee where neighbouring jurisdictions do.
Rent for longer where the cap applies. In Europe, a surcharge capped at ten days means a two-week trip costs the same age fee as a ten-day one.
Compare suppliers on age policy, not just headline price. A cheaper daily rate with a higher young-driver fee is frequently the more expensive booking.
Get a credit card in your own name. This is the single highest-value preparation, and it takes weeks rather than days. If you have recently arrived in a new country and do not yet have local banking sorted, our step-by-step guide to opening a bank account covers the first step. A card usually follows once an account exists.
Budget for the surcharge as its own line. Treating it as part of the rental cost hides how large it is. Our budget tracking guide is a practical way to keep travel costs visible rather than discovering them afterwards.
Consider whether you need the car for the whole trip. Renting for the three days you actually leave the city, rather than the full fortnight, often costs less than the surcharge saved. Our what backpacking Europe actually costs covers the alternatives honestly.
Add a driver over 25 if one is genuinely travelling with you. Additional-driver rules vary and it is not always cheaper once the second driver fee is counted, so check rather than assume.
Book early and read the total, not the daily rate. Age surcharges are applied per day, so they scale with the length of the rental in a way the headline figure disguises. A quote that looks competitive at $29 a day is a different proposition once $35 of surcharge is added to each of those days. The only number worth comparing between suppliers is the full total for your exact dates, at your exact age, at your exact location.
College Life, the global club for young internationals, hears the same story from members every summer. The trip was planned around the quoted rate, and the surcharge or the card rule turned up at the counter. Both are avoidable with an hour of checking.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much extra does it cost to rent a car under 25? It varies enormously by location. Avis publishes $35 per day for ages 21 to 24 in New York and $28 in Michigan, with $84 and $41 respectively for ages 18 to 20. In Europe its approximate figures are lower, around £40 in the UK and £9 in Germany, and capped at ten days.
Can I rent a car at 18? In a few places. Avis sets a minimum of 18 in New York, Michigan and Saskatchewan, but 21 in most US states. Several European countries permit 18 or 19, while Avis UK requires 23 plus a licence held for at least a year.
Can I use a debit card to rent a car under 25? Generally not. Avis accepts debit as credit identification in most US locations only if you are at least 25, which makes under-25 renters effectively credit-card-only. Prepaid and gift cards are never accepted as credit identification.
Why is Europe cheaper for young drivers? Lower published surcharges and, importantly, a cap. Avis states its European young-driver fees are capped at ten days, so a longer trip does not keep accumulating the charge.
Do I need an International Driving Permit? It depends on the country and sometimes on the rental company. It is a translation of your licence rather than a licence in itself, must be carried alongside the original, and can only be issued for a US licence by an authorised US organisation. The EU warns that IDPs are not regulated at EU level and may not be recognised everywhere.
Can a booking site remove the young driver fee? No. The fee is set by the rental company and by local rules. A platform can help you compare suppliers whose age policies differ, which sometimes saves more than the headline rate does.
What cars can I rent under 25? Fewer than you might expect. Avis permits economy through full-size cars, premium cars, convertibles and intermediate or standard SUVs, while excluding minivans, passenger vans, full-size SUVs and luxury or specialty cars. The van exclusion is the one that disrupts group trips and moves.
Does my driving record matter? Yes, and it is checked at every age. Avis publishes standards covering reckless driving convictions, drink-driving offences, moving violations and accidents within set time windows. It is not something you can resolve at the counter.
Should I buy the insurance they offer at the desk? Decide before you arrive rather than there. Your credit card may already cover it, though card policies often carry conditions on driver age and vehicle class that exclude younger renters. Standalone excess policies bought in advance are usually cheaper than the counter offer.