About driving in America, how to rent a car in America (1)

Not long ago, I went to the United States and made a go on road trip on California Highway 1, in which I learned some details about driving in the United States and matters needing attention in renting a car. I hope sharing here can help you. Driver's license You must have a driver's license as long as you drive on the earth. No matter which country you are in, if you come to the United States, you should not only have a China driver's license, but also bring a notarized translation, so that you can communicate more conveniently when the car rental is stopped by the police. Special note: 1. China driver's license can be used directly in some states of the United States, and the laws and regulations of each state are different, so it is best to bring the official translation certificate when going to the United States. 2. Regarding the application for an international driver's license in China, please note that since China is not a party to the international driver's license organization, it is not allowed to apply for an international driver's license with China nationality. The international driver's license in China is fake and illegal, so it is likely to be troublesome to use it abroad. Tip: The English name of "International Driver's License" is International Driving License (IDP). In short, it is the certificate that the driver holds a valid national driver's license. IDP is formulated to help drivers overcome the difficulties they may encounter when traveling in other countries, which may have different requirements for driver's licenses. Nowadays, many advertisements selling "international driver's licenses" on the Internet and other media will only fool people who go abroad. The reason for being fooled is that they don't know what an "international driver's license" is and who has the right to issue it. In fact, the "international driver's license" issued by some "international organizations" that handle international driver's licenses is not only worthless, but also illegal to use. Not only do they spend money improperly, but they may also fall into unnecessary legal disputes in the future. An international driver's license must be issued in the same country as someone's domestic driver's license. According to paragraph 7 b of Article 4 1 of the United Nations Vienna Convention on Road Traffic 19681KLOC-0/8th of the month, the contracting state does not recognize the international driver's license issued by a country (region) other than the country (region) where the driver lives. That is to say, if the driver's license comes from China, only the China institution designated by the China government as a contracting party can issue him a valid international driver's license. China is not a party to the Convention at present, so it will not issue an international driver's license. An IDP issued by a foreign institution for a person's China driver's license has no legal effect according to the treaty and cannot be recognized by other contracting parties. Second, overseas car rental must be reserved in advance, otherwise the price of on-site car rental is very high. In the United States, I recommend you to rent a car with Avis, because its website has a Chinese translation and the page interaction is better, but the car rental price in the United States is slightly higher. In addition, Hertz and Enterprise are also good car rental companies in America. Third, the payment of fees If you choose to rent a car online, you don't have to pay the car rental fee in advance. As long as you choose the right model and book it successfully, you can pick up the car at the scheduled place, and you can pay with the reserved credit card when you pick up the car. Special note: China people love to use cash, but they must use credit cards in car rental companies, mainly to avoid future vehicle violations and facilitate the deduction of fines. 4. Vehicle Pickup When renting a car in China, you can choose to pick it up in the city or at the airport. Here's a tip to save money. If you rent a car at the airport, you can enjoy a lower car rental price. After arriving at the airport, you can see many signs that say car rental. Follow the signs and you can reach the handling point of the car rental company. Just show your printed order, driver's license and credit card at the processing point. If you forget what configuration you chose in China or want to change cars, you can tell the on-site service personnel. Don't be afraid of language barriers. They will understand it in a few simple sentences, such as change. Dear friends with children, if you rent a car in the United States, you must pay attention to using child safety seats. If you find that you don't need it, the car rental company won't give you a car. Here's a trick, because you can only book cars online, don't rent SUVs or compact cars. You can just say the car you want at the counter, such as Mustang or Camaro, because the car rental agent won't ask you what kind of car you want. You can pick up the car after completing the formalities. Picking up the car here is self-help. You have to pick up the car according to the relevant information given by the counter, such as parking spaces. Many car rental companies in the United States have large parking lots, which will be arranged according to the model or other means. Don't worry about finding a car, just look at the picture. I suggest you choose domestic auto insurance, because it is in Chinese, so it is convenient to operate. Don't buy insurance just because you save money. You'd better choose to buy a kind of insurance called super insurance, so that even if there is a traffic accident, you don't have to bear any compensation, and all of it will be paid by the insurance company. The following pronouns can help you if you need to increase or decrease insurance items in the process of renting a car. 6. Regarding navigation, if you choose to rent GPS navigation when renting a car, it is no different from domestic navigation, because most of the navigators in the United States are Garmin. You can go to the counter in China to get familiar with how to use it. The domestic interface is basically the same as that of foreign countries. In addition, if you don't rent GPS, you can also use your own mobile phone software to navigate. Of course, you can also buy a GPS navigator pre-installed in the United States in China. Seven, other precautions for renting a car, you don't have to care so much about the scratches on the car, because in the United States, it is basically a new car for three months, there will be no scratches, and some small scars will not claim compensation from you. As for the amount of fuel, remember to fill it up when you return the car, because you also fill it up when you rent a car. If the car rental company finds that the car is not full of gas, it will charge you a high gas fee. Generally, the price of a liter of oil is three times higher than the market.