Question: My wife and I try to make one major trip abroad a year. This year we thought we would go to Northern Ireland in September, but every auto rental agency I’ve contacted has a maximum age for a car rental. I happen to be 82. Is there any way I can rent a car for this vacation?
–Jerry Gluck, Laguna Woods
Answer: This is what I love about travel. So much to learn, most of it fascinating. So many surprises, some of them aggravating. Like this one.
Although many of us know that it can be tough for someone younger than 25 to rent a car, who knew there could be upper-age limits on foreign car rental? Some car rental companies did, including Hertz, which posts this on its site: “The maximum age for Hertz rentals in Northern Ireland is 75 years. Customers aged between 76 and 79 years can rent with specific conditions (you must drive on a regular basis, you will need to provide to the counter a letter from your doctor to state you have been in good health for at least 12 months and a letter from your insurance company to state you have not had an accident within the last five years).”
We called around and there are some companies that will rent to older drivers in Northern Ireland, including Enterprise and Avis.
