Post By: Nishchay Ravi Agrawal, Peer Mentor 2022
You’ve made it to UCI! Congrats! Now – time to experience California and get some nice food! But how to get it? The purpose of this blog post is to answer that question. I’ll give you some resources to find car rentals. Though this is not an extensive list, I hope it gets you started. I’ll also share some of my own experiences and travel tips.
Most big cities in the US have a nicely developed public transport system. Unfortunately, places (Walmart, Irvine Spectrum Center, and other good restaurants) in Irvine are a little far away from UCI, so sooner or later, you might feel the need to get a car. Assuming you don’t feel like buying a car just yet, the next best option is to rent a car.
Even if you end up buying a car, this blog might still be relevant if you need to rent a car for some emergency in the future.
We will go through the things you need before you can rent a car.
Driver’s License
To drive a car, you would need a driver’s license acceptable in the U.S. You could rent a car with your own country’s driver’s license/ with an international driver’s license but I would recommend you to consult with the closest DMV(Costa Mesa/Santa Ana/Laguna Hills) about this since these rules often change.
Alternatively, you could also give the driver’s test in California and get a driver’s license here. The driver’s test has two components – a written knowledge test and a hands-on driving test (a.k.a Behind the Wheel test). All the resources needed to prepare for a driver’s test are provided on the California DMV’s website. An added bonus of getting a California driver’s license would be that you wouldn’t need to carry your Passport every time you go out of your house or a bar.
Credit Card
Most rental car companies take a security deposit from you when you rent a car (the amount varies from company to company) which is returned when you return the car. Hence you would need a credit card to rent a car. Many car rental companies also “accept” debit cards/cash deposits but it is really dependent on the person helping you out with your rental. This may or may not work. Sadly, you need an SSN to get many good credit cards but there are some companies like Deserve, Discover, and Journey which offer credit cards without SSN as well. I would personally recommend getting a credit card and booking the car to avoid any hassle at the counter.
Car Insurance
Insurance is almost as important as getting a license to rent a car, if not more important. Insurance in the U.S. can get really confusing really soon and the rental car company salespersons are really good at pitching you all different kinds of insurances and charge you a lot of money for it.
There are many different types of insurance but the most common ones you should be concerned with would be CDW/LDW(Collision Damage Waiver/Loss Damage Waiver) and liability insurance.
CDW/LDW basically protects you from being pursued by the company if you cause any external damage to the car when you have rented it. Many good credit cards provide this insurance as a benefit to their customers. Make sure to call your credit card company to clarify this before opting in/buying the car rental company’s insurance. Many other companies like Metromile, State Farm, and Geico also provide cheap car insurance.
Liability insurance covers damage caused to other cars/property/people by an accident caused by you. This is compulsory insurance you are supposed to have on top of the car’s insurance when you rent a car in California. I generally get this from the car rental company but you can also get it through insurance companies.
Car Rentals
Now that you know what you would need to rent a car, let’s talk about the fun stuff! Renting the car! There are many different rental car companies here and each of them has a different target customer. I will go through some common ones that most students use in Irvine.
- Zipcar: This is a car rental startup that is known for its hourly rental model and free fuel (for up to 180 miles) in rental cars. It is based on a membership model. As a UCI student, you can get the car for as cheap as $5.5 per hour but generally, the rate varies between $8-10 per hour which is still the cheapest from my experience for short trips in and around Irvine.
- Hertz/Enterprise: These are two big car rental companies that have their offices in different places around the U.S. But both of them are mostly present at every big enough airport. They are not the cheapest car rental companies but they provide the best cars and customer experience/service. Additionally, if you are a UCI employee (or a teaching assistant/ research assistant), you can get some nice discounts negotiated by UCs with these companies. Pro-tip: Book the cars to be picked up from airport locations since they have a wider selection of cars, higher availability (you don’t want to plan a trip and reach the car rental pick up and know that the car is not available), and better customer service.
- Thrifty/Budget – There are many cheaper alternatives to Hertz and Enterprise. Many of my friends have used them as well for some of their trips.
- United Auto Rentals, Allied Rent-A-Car, Stop-N-Go Rent-A-Car – If you would like to rent a car for longer periods like a month or so, you can use these companies since they provide sweet discounts for renting a car for the whole month.
If you plan on renting a car from any company apart from Zipcar from somewhere close to UCI, John Wayne (Santa Ana) Airport would be a nice option for you since it’s really close to UCI(~6 mins drive).
Pro-tip: Don’t forget to take your driver’s license and passport, I20, I94(these 3 only needed if you are using your international driver’s license) whenever you rent a car.
Have fun renting cars and stay safe!