My fiancé and I are planning our honeymoon to California. We have done a lot of traveling but have never rented a car, due to age. Although we have eliminated the need for a car at the beginning and end of our trip in San Francisco, we will need it for the rest of our itinerary. We have a good rate from one company totaling $219 for the ten days we need it. The problem however is we are both under 25, so even with only one of us driving; we will have to pay an additional $25 a day. Which means we are paying $250 in addition to the rental that is less than that! Does anyone know of a company out of San Fran that will rent to us without this appalling rate? We both have perfect driving records, great credit, and are willing to leave a deposit.

I think you might be stuck paying the extra rate. When I was under 25, I remember having some problems too - I think only Avis and maybe 1 other company would even rent to people under 25. It has nothing to do with your individual driving records since rental companies don't check that stuff. It's just a blanket policy. Since you will be married though, the $25/day surcharge should only apply once, even if both of you drive. Spouses are not considered additional drivers on car rentals.

I have a friend who is under 25 and has to travel on business frequently. He said he rents from Budget.

When I was under $25 and rented a car, every major rental company would make me pay an extra fee. I always found Enterprise to be the cheapest, even with the extra fee. I am now a few years older and haven't had to deal with that in quite sometime, but my advice is to contact every rental agency in the area and find your best deal.

Consider yourselves lucky. When I was under 25, I couldn't rent a car anywhere but Florida. It's all based solely on accident statistics and probability of loss according to age group.

I live in San Francisco, and the younger one is 21. One day he devoted to getting quotes from ALL rental places who'd to rent to under 25. I believe it's not only $25 additional, they charge arm and leg for insurance in addition to daily/weekly rates. He simply gave up. Sorry. Check out other options: Amtrak, Greyhound, Green Tortoise, tours.

I second JCorrea. My husband and I were only able to rent from Avis when we were under 25. You will have to pay the fee. You need to look for discount coupons through AAA or Entertainment or group discounts. I know it stinks.

Good luck with wedding and honeymoon!

Chris...By chance does either of your employers have a Corporate Discount with any car rental company?Most will allow under age drivers with no additional fee provided the 'CD" number was used when making the reservation.I used a CD number with Hertz prior to turning 25 and never once had a question asked nor a fee charged.Good LLuck!

I know your situation from when I was under 25. Avis used to refrain from such surcharges but gave up on that policy a few years ago. Alamo filled in, but I think they have also introduced an under 25 surcharge by now.
Avis, however, charges only $ 10.- per day currently to my knowledge.
So if BeachBoi's excellent suggestion might not be applicable to you, you might want to check them out!

Good luck

From what I understand, anytime someone does a rental car bid on Priceline or Hotwire, and they are under 25, it almost always gives them Budget. However, I'm almost positive that they charge a fee on this. Maybe you can try bidding on the car rental so bring the costs down.

My husband and I went through this several times before we both turned 25. Unfortunately there is probably nothing you can do. A lot of rental companies won't even rent to a driver under 25. Alamo was the only one I could recall that would even rent to us, and they always added that stupid underage driver fee.

I feel your pain. Good luck!