If you are planning or were planning to rent a car, you asked yourself at least one time how many miles can I put on a rental car? And that’s a great question to ask, as how many miles can you put on a rental car is not disclosed when you are booking a car, and it usually takes some more research to find that information.
After all, if you are thinking about renting a car, you probably want to go on a vacation with it, and rent car mileage limit is important information that you need to know.
So, in this article, we are going to cover everything you need to know about car rental policies on mileage limits. And we are going to answer the most asked question of all which is how far can you drive a rental car.
What Are Mileage Limits and Unlimited Mileage?
So, do rental cars have mileage limits? The short answer is yes, almost every car rental company has its mileage limits. Those limits are usually fixed and if you go over them you will have to pay for every extra mile that you drove. The price of the extra miles is usually fixed as well as the mileage limits, and in case the company doesn’t disclose their mileage limits you are free to drive it for as long as you like.
In Europe, there are car rental companies that allow you to go over as many miles as you want. But, in the US the situation is different and every company has its mileage limits.
Let’s take for example RealCar NYC. If you got, for example, a luxury SUV rental with them, you will have a 200 miles per day limit for rentals on a daily and weekends basis. If you take it for a week you will have 1000 free miles, and if you take it for a month it would include 3000 free miles. So, an average rental car mileage per day is about 100-200 miles.
If you go over that, you will have to pay a fee of $0.75 per mile. And in case you want to have unlimited miles you can pay an additional $50 per day and drive as far as you want.
Another thing to pay attention to is the zero-mile policy, This is common with international rental companies and rentals in remote areas. In this policy, you are charged for every mile that you drove the car. But, it’s cheaper than the extra miles we mentioned above.
Where Do You Choose Which Option?
It’s for the best that you plan out your trips. What do we mean by that? Before renting out a car, you should research and calculate how many miles you will really have to travel to reach your destination. If you don’t do that you can unknowingly pass the limit and therefore you will need to pay a fee. Keep in mind that this fee can pretty quickly go to incredible numbers.
So, if you calculate that you don’t need that much to reach your destination you can pick up the car which has a mileage limit. Cars with mileage limits are usually cheaper, so if you can pick them up. At some rental car companies, you can even lower your mileage limits so you get an even better price.
But, if you calculate that you will need more miles than the limits says, you should for sure rent out a car that doesn’t have a limit. This way you don’t even need to think if is there a limit to how far you can drive a rental car.
If there isn’t an option of unlimited miles on a car, then it must be at the check-out page like in RealCar NYC. Keep in mind that unlimited mileage is usually a paid benefit, so it’s best that you calculate first and not just click it because it too can quickly up your bill a lot.
Hidden Conditions
There is no better or worse choice when it comes to deciding which you want to pick, a limited or unlimited mileage plan. Everyone should pick exactly what they need, that way your price is justified.
But, in both scenarios, you need to read the fine print and double-check your miles with the staff of the car rental. Why should you do that when you have already said what you need your miles to be? Well, there are instances where unlimited miles aren’t really unlimited and you can end up banned at that car rental company.
Another question you need to ask the staff of the rental company is “Are there any geographical limits”. That question is supposed to let you know if you are free with the car to go wherever you please, or if you need approval from the car company.
For example, you can have unlimited miles but you can’t go over the borders of the state you rented your car in. Which is then useless if you planned your vacation outside the state you are living in.
So, you need to be sure to look at everything before signing and you should also ask a lot of questions. You don’t need to worry you aren’t ‘boring’, you are just a paying customer who wants to know what they can and can’t do with the car.
Closing Thoughts
The question of whether there is a limit on how far you can drive a rental car, is now surely answered. Now, you should know everything there is about mileage limits in rental cars and how you can get unlimited miles. So, if you are interested in renting a car be sure to understand everything we said here so you don’t get scammed.
