Hiring a car in the United States: licence, insurance, pitfalls

Yes, the major rental companies accept a French licence in the United States, but an international driving permit is still advised, because each state sets its own rules. Allow for a minimum age of 20 or 21 depending on the company, a surcharge up to the age of 25, and three lines that swell the bill: insurance bought at the counter, drop-off fees and electronic tolls. The car itself is essential in the parks of the West, pointless in New York.

These rules were noted on official pages at the time of writing this article, in October 2026; a rental company’s rules apply to that company alone. Reread the terms of your booking.

French licence or international permit: what the states and the rental companies ask for

The federal portal usa.gov does not settle the matter for the whole country: depending on the states you cross, an international driving permit may be required in addition to the national licence. The French embassy in the United States states that a person passing through can drive on their French licence “for a set period”, without putting a figure on it.

• Alamo asks for the licence from your home country and refuses digital licences. The international driving permit is recommended for a licence in the Latin alphabet that is not in English.
• Hertz asks for a valid licence and passport, and recommends the international driving permit when the licence is not in English.
• Avis only accepts the international driving permit together with the original licence.

None of the three will hire out a car on the international driving permit alone. And Alamo’s French-language guide, for its part, asks for it whenever the licence is not written in English, which is the case of the French licence.

Tip: Get one: it is the safest rule, since usa.gov refers you to each state and Alamo’s two websites do not say the same thing. You apply for it online on the France Titres (ANTS) website, it has cost €7.25 since March 2026 and it is issued for three years, according to service-public.gouv.fr; usa.gov only recognises it as valid for one year in the United States, so get a new one if yours is older. Apply at least a month before you leave: the United States does not issue them to foreign visitors.

Minimum age and young driver surcharge

The reference age for hiring a car is 25, as the FTC, the US consumer protection authority, points out. Below that, most rental companies charge a surcharge.

• Alamo and Enterprise hire from the age of 21, 18 in Michigan and New York State. The surcharge for 21 to 24 year olds is around $25 a day, and rises to $33.25 in New York State with Alamo.
• Hertz hires from the age of 20 at most branches, with a young driver surcharge.

Over two weeks, $25 a day comes to $350: to be built into the budget for a trip to the United States.

Rental insurance: CDW, LDW and third-party liability, without paying twice

• The CDW or LDW (Collision or Loss Damage Waiver) is not insurance, Alamo specifies, but a waiver: the rental company undertakes not to charge you for all or part of the damage to, loss or theft of the vehicle. It covers neither your injuries nor your belongings, the FTC points out.
• Supplementary third-party liability cover (SLP with Alamo, LIS with Hertz) covers damage caused to third parties, up to $300,000 per accident with Alamo.

Both are optional, and the trap is paying for them twice. Alamo states, on its French website, that in the United States and Canada its “all-inclusive” rates already include damage cover. According to the FTC, many bank cards offer a CDW when they pay for the rental, provided you decline the rental company’s.

Watch out: None of these protections replaces travel insurance. Medical care is very expensive in the United States: good medical cover remains essential.

Car hire in the United States: the essentials, item by item

Item or rule	What you need to know
Licence	French licence accepted, international driving permit to take to be safe
Age	21 with Alamo and Enterprise, 20 with Hertz, surcharge up to the age of 25
CDW or LDW	The rental company waives charging for damage to the vehicle; sometimes already included in an all-inclusive rate
Supplementary third-party liability cover	Damage to third parties, $300,000 per accident with Alamo
Drop-off fees	Possible when the car is returned elsewhere, varying by branch and season
Tolls	With Alamo, outside the Chicago area, $4.95 per day of use, $34.65 at most per rental, tolls on top
Fuel	Return the tank full, otherwise the rental company charges above the local price
Red light (California)	Turning right is allowed after a complete stop, unless a sign says otherwise
Four-way stop (California)	The first to arrive is the first to go
School bus (California)	Stop in both directions when its red lights are flashing
Speed	In miles per hour: 65 mph is around 105 km/h

Drop-off fees, tolls, fuel: the three lines that swell the bill

Drop-off fees. Returning the car to a different branch can trigger, with Alamo, drop-off fees or a mileage surcharge, announced at the time of booking. They vary by branch and season. A road trip in a loop removes them. Before cutting a route short with a domestic flight, work them out: two one-way trips can cost more than the drive you avoided.

Tolls. Some no longer accept cash: the Golden Gate Bridge no longer takes any, and the crossing towards San Francisco has cost $10.25 to $11.25 for a car since 1 July 2026. With Alamo, in California as in the Northeast, the TollPass electronic toll service costs $4.95 for each day you go through a toll, $34.65 at most per rental, on top of the tolls, charged to your card around four to six weeks later. The Chicago area has its own flat rate.

Fuel. Alamo offers to let you pay for a full tank at the start or to return the tank full; failing that, the missing fuel is charged at more than the local price. Fill up before entering a national park: petrol stations there are few and expensive.

Driving in the United States: the rules that surprise a French driver

Traffic law depends on each state. Here are the rules from California’s official driver handbook; consult the handbook of the states you cross.

• Turning right on a red light is allowed after a complete stop, giving way to pedestrians, unless there is a “No Turn on Red” sign. A red arrow forbids it.
• At a four-way stop, everyone comes to a stop, then the first to arrive is the first to go. If you arrive together, you give way to the car on the right.
• Facing a school bus whose red lights are flashing, everyone stops, in both directions, unless the bus is on the other side of a road with separated carriageways or with at least two lanes in each direction. The fine can reach $1,000.
• Speed limits are in miles per hour: 65 mph (around 105 km/h) on most major Californian roads, 55 mph (around 89 km/h) on an undivided two-lane road, 25 mph (around 40 km/h) in residential areas.

Road trip or public transport: how to get around the United States by region

It all depends on what you want to see in the United States.

In the parks of the West, a car is essential. Yellowstone National Park says so itself: no public transport, a vehicle generally necessary, and around 80 km of road between two sites as heavily visited as Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. This is self-drive country: our itinerary through the Great West comes to around 17,000 km, in a loop from Seattle so that the car is returned where it was picked up. It sometimes stays in the car park: Zion Canyon is visited by free shuttle, compulsory except in winter: cars are, most of the time, only allowed in from December to February. And several high-altitude roads close for part of the year, see when to go to the United States.

In New York and the big cities of the East Coast, it is pointless. New York can be visited entirely by subway, and driving into Manhattan south of 60th Street costs $9 a day in the daytime with an E-ZPass tag, according to the MTA. Washington is done by metro and, further west, a night’s parking costs $40 to $70 in Chicago. Between Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, Amtrak’s Northeast Regional train links the city centres several times a day.

Tip: Return the car when you arrive in a big city and pick up another when you leave, after comparing the drop-off fees.

So, should you hire a car in the United States?

Yes for the West, the parks and any road trip between two cities. No for New York, Washington and the centre of the big cities, where it costs money without being of any use. Before you book:

• apply for the international driving permit a month before you leave;
• check what your rate and your card include before accepting insurance at the counter;
• draw a loop, or work out the drop-off fees.

Our travel books follow the same logic: the car for the parks, the subway for New York. They are brought together on the United States page.