If you go to Expedia.com, you can plug in the date and type of car you want, and it’ll let you know what all the different places, Hertz, Budget, Alamo, Enterprise, etc., offer and sort by price. It’ll also sort by nearest to farthest away.
Car rentals are the only time I still use Priceline. I almost exclusively am renting from airports so location is not a big deal. Just use Expedia or even Priceline to find prices and then bid lower. I bet I average 20% lower than the lowest listed price.
Right now the OP has a lot more administrative issues than finding the lowest price. issues the websites can’t reliably help with.
Once he gets those under control then shopping for price is a great next step.
That’s actually generous of them. It used to be that if you were under 25, you simply could not rent a car (or you at least had a really hard time finding a company willing to do it).
Someone with more knowledge than I will shortly give chapter and verse but there’s a part of the brain which deals with risk assessment and management that doesn’t actually finish developing until about age 25.
I remember the days when I had to plead and grovel just to be allowed to drive to several adjacent counties – that was in the mid-1980s.
I’ve noticed several people mention this sort of thing. The only restrictions I’ve ever heard of are occasional notorious tourists spots with dirt roads. Several spots in Hawaii are listed as restricted by rental car agencies.
East coast rentals even have multi-state Toll passes available.
I do seem to recall rental cars agencies attempting to do away with unlimited mileage back in the late 90’s or early 00’s but fortunately that didn’t catch on.
I used to rent cars to drive to Memphis and back, sometimes putting nearly 3,000 miles on them in a week. The rental agents were never the least bit ticked off - they were actually sometimes amused by it.
Once, I did encounter a clause in the contract that the car could not be driven west of the Mississippi. I had planned to spend a few hours just across the river in Helena, AR, but I kept that to myself. I remember bracing myself for a GPS-triggered alarm as I crossed the MS-AR line on the bridge, but nothing happened. I did keep a little closer eye on the car until I got back to MS, not wanting to file a claim in forbidden territory.
I have left the country and gone to Canada in an Enterprise car. Ask before you rent, but it should be fine.
One thing, be careful about photographing the car and getting every small ding marked down before you leave the lot.
I only rent cars (Enterprise usually) when I’ve got a lot of weekend driving & they have a good deal; good enough that it’s not worth it to beat up my car. As in, 600 miles for $30ish. This sometimes involves states that aren’t even neighboring my neighboring state. Never had an issue.
When did she get a new job?
We rent from Enterprise fairly often for longer trips - our cars are both getting up there, mileage-wise (the newer one has just under 140,000 miles). Unlimited is indeed a thing.
I do make a point of letting them know roughly where we’re going to make sure there aren’t any restrictions - we took the rented car to Florida once, and another time up to New England.
Renting for your niece, on the other hand: they DO have limits on who may drive, including minimum age, and there may be surcharges for younger drivers. Definitely ask them what their policy is.