Itinerary Advice
The title explains itself. I work as a desk operator for an Italian car rental company, located at the airport of Firenze. My company has a very strict ruling of not renting cars to people residing outside the EU who do not provide their International Driving Permits along their local driver's licenses, because they might incur in expensive fines if stopped by the police, and their personal insurances usually do not cover them if they have accidents. This is written on our website and also stated on the vouchers sent by broker websites (for instance Booking.com or Rentalcars.com) when booking cars.
Unfortunately, most customers usually do not read these terms and conditions before picking up the car at the rental agency, and therefore desk operators are usually forced to refuse to rent them the vehicles. This leads to the customers getting angry at the desk workers, which is always unpleasant.
So please, be sure to read every part of your booking voucher when you reserve a car through internet, and be sure you understand the terms and conditions regarding the insurances you purchase on third party websites. If anything is unclear, refer to the website you booked upon or directly to the car rental supplier where you will get the car.
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Isn't this dependant on the rental agency and location? I've rented cars in Italy with just a US license.
Has to be. I've rented all over Europe and central America without ever being asked for an IDP.
Until Japan when it was clearly written on the website.
Tbh not sure why it exists. I didn't know AAA was the arbiter of licensed drivers.
It exists because of the 1949 Geneva Convention and the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic.
Some countries state in their laws that all you need is to be licensed in your home country.
Some countries state that you need the IDP in order to legally drive. Many rental car agencies will just rent you the car anyway because they don’t care if you get fined. Many police officers might just let you go too, if they deem it not worth the hassle, or if they don’t know about it. Just because a friend didn’t have any trouble without an IDP doesn’t mean that you will face the same.
I do know for a fact that South Korean law requires the IDP along with the original license, if your home country doesn’t have a reciprocal agreement with Korea to recognize the license by itself.
New York (along with most US states) does not require an IDP. A small handful of states (Connecticut is one) do require it if the original license isn’t in English/Spanish.
It usually depends on the rental agency, if it's a big international enterprise like Sixt or Hertz then they do not give a damn; this is risky though, because it's something that is required by the law here. Obviously it's situational, you may be stopped by the down to earth policeman that will close an eye on you not having the IDP, but you may also find the newly hired zealous policeman that abides to the law by the letter and fines you. Most enterprises do not want to take this kind of risk, but there are exceptions.
This sounds like an Italian problem, I used to have a British license when we were in the EC and I think that would come under restrictions on travel.
The IDP is a translation of your license, and that's all it is. Italy (and some other countries, though few in Europe) require one because it means they don't have to employ traffic cops who can read basic foreign languages. It's kind of anachronistic these days as most licenses are laid out in a similar manner and many non-Latin alphabets have the information on them in a Latin alphabet too. But its purpose remains; it's there to help the cops find out your details quickly if they stop you.
Yes, of course they're not going to ask for one in Australia if you have a US license. They can just read your license. Actually, so can the vast majority of Italians, but they've decided to require it just in case you get stopped by one that can't, and that's fair enough.
Last time I rented a car in Italy they never asked for one.
YMMV
Can confirm the hertz in Catania did not ask to see mine
I’ve rented cars in Spain, Italy , Germany, USA and Australia over the last forty years , I’ve never been asked for an international driving license, which is good as I’ve never had one.
I got one ages ago (like decades) when my husband and I did our first vacation in Europe. No one cared. Anyone who wanted to see my license wanted to see my real license. The one I got in the US. The International License was treated like a souvenir I’d picked up for the hell of it. Kind of made sense. I didn’t have to do anything to get it except show that I already had a US license. There was no picture or any way for them to really know there was any validity to it until I showed the US license that procured it for me. I never bothered again, and it’s never been an issue. Good heads up that things may have changed, but based on the replies I’m seeing, I don’t think it’s changed that much, unless, perhaps, you’re dealing with a local rental from a smaller company, which, admittedly, I’ve never done.
Yeah, getting stopped by police internationally is always a risk. Good heads up.
Not really I have been stopped several times in several countries and my uk license was fine every time
I'm not sure if the IDP rule applies to EU/UK citizens driving in non EU countries, I have to admit
That's interesting.
I've rented cars in Italy, France...all over western Europe, really. Always had my International Driving Permit with me. Kinda paranoid about it, really--some European countries are known for their love of rules, bureaucracy, and paper--and I don't want to be in an airport somewhere and be unable to get where I'm going because I didn't have it.
Not once--not one time--have I been asked for it. Literally never.
My theory about getting a new one each year is that it's cosmic insurance against wasting time. As long as I have it with me, no one will ever ask to see it.
I have rented cars all over the world. The first time, I had an IDP. No one asked for it. Since then, I use my Canadian license. No issues. Last year I rented cars in Albania and Croatia and was never asked.
I have cars booked in Bulgaria and Romania this coming summer. No mention was made of having an IDP. I won’t bother.
I'm not willing to run into the one rule-following clerk that wants it and now it's a hassle.
It depends on the agency.
Moreover, it has become an increasingly important requirement in the last couple of years - plus the agency I work for is completely Italian so I think that's the biggest reason why it's such an important matter.
Another topic related to our agency is that we had some complaints from non-EU citizens that were stopped and fined by the police for driving without IDPs that demanded refunds for those fines and caused more than a couple headaches to both desk operators and HQ workers.
This is definitely agency and specific and but I have never been asked for one. I have driven in three other counties this year and never asked
After reading all of the comments in this thread I am more and more convinced that this is agency specific - but since I am seeing more people getting their rentals refused every day because of this I thought that maybe it was an important topic to bring up on this Reddit.
I usually use a big agency which I have membership or a broker but last trip I just walked to the ones at the airport and no issues whatsoever.
Must admit not driven in Italy but pretty sure they follow the same rules as Spain, Portugal etc which I have driven in pre/post Brexit
It costs $20, takes me fifteen minutes, and lasts for a year. Of all the hassles I tolerate while travelling, an International Drivers Permit is pretty trivial. If it prevents me from having an unpleasant conversation in a foreign language while I'm jetlagged and thousands of miles from home, I'll keep one for the rest of my life.
It’s sweet that you consider Reddit as the go to forum for this sort of question.
For people living in the States, it looks like AAA is the "official organization authorized by the U.S. Department of State to issue IDPs. Be aware of other websites that claim to issue international driver’s licenses or IDPs. Many are fraudulent and may try to scam you out of money or personal information."
https://www.usa.gov/international-drivers-license
https://www.aaa.com/vacation/idpf.html
I've always walked, used Uber/Lyft or taken public transport around major tourist cities in Europe. Learned something new today!
It takes five minutes and costs like $20 at AAA. It is so easy that it makes me wonder what the point is. There’s no test or qualification, you’re literally just buying a piece of paper.
Is a translation of your license…
Correct, and it doesn’t make sure you understand signage or driving laws in Europe. Which I found out in a small town in Germany that had a confusing set of signs indicating right of way in a complicated intersection. Lesson learned.
I rented a car last year through Enterprise. They're my go-to for car rentals. I was never asked to provide an IDP.
An international driving permit is just a document that translates your license. No extra testing or anything. They just put your photo on a document that explains what you are allowed to drive (so any weight or passenger restrictions) and then translate that information into other languages.
Never been an issue. Picked up in one city, dropped off in another. Multiple times.
Maybe this has changed recently, or its agency specific, but I have rented cars in multiple EU countries as a non EU citizen and have never needed an IDP. This was only major care rental companies, though, not local or regional agencies.
Me too. You do NOT need one. I have driven in several countries around the world and have gone through traffic stops where the police see my UK licence and wave me on
It’s good to have when you’re dealing with corrupt police. That’s the document I’m okay with being confiscated.
I have rented in Italy with my Dominican Republic driving license.
Not essential. Drove a renal all over Europe without one. Even got pulled over in Certaldo, Italy (beautiful place), for starting down a restricted road by mistake. He was fine with me not having one and just had me back back onto the main road.
Instead of making people who are inexperienced or don't want to read a 30 page policy, why don't you send an email to your customers when a booking is made bullet pointing things like this?
If it's an annoyance or a pain at the counter, take some initiative and forewarn them through other means. 3rd party apps couldn't care less about forwarding this info and should not be trusted...
Avoid it altogether and make them upload the permit before arrival and make it "CLEAR" a car will not be available until this is verified.
Or, you could be proactive, pick up the phone and use your mouth instead of pointing to links and policies.
Do you really think that desk operators worldwide should start emailing and calling every single customer on their reservation lists at least a month prior their arrival at the selected location just to tell them to take a walk to the embassy and ask for a document which is required by law? I'd gladly do it for my office if it was my only daily task, which I can assure you it's not, we have lots of other things to do, most importantly serving customers which are personally inside our offices. While your suggestion, albeit a bit rude, is clever and on paper absolutely useful, unfortunately it's not feasible in practice. Note that the usual workload of a car rental agency goes from 35 to 100+ reservations daily.
Furthermore, reservations put through from third party websites do not carry customers' personal informations on our systems, so we are not able to see telephone numbers or email addresses.
Sounds like a reason not to use/support 3rd parties. They're scum anyways, the fact you don't even know who's utilizing your services is complete crap. Out of sight, out of mind, "those" reservations aren't your responsibility, right?
Emails can be automated to shoot these things out before any given time/date. You're doing this already for other things.
It's not uncommon for the travel industry to send out reminders, I get calling everyone is unrealistic, but if it's this big a problem to warrant a post, do something different to minimize the impact at the counter.
This is a great remark, but unfortunately the situation is always the same: the majority of customers will most likely ignore the email regarding IDPs and complain about it being unclear. Plus, it's common practice for car rental agencies and third party websites to be unclear on purpose to lure customers into either paying more for additional services, so unfortunately I am not surprised by this thing not being clear; the IDP problem could be used as pivot to make customers buy an additional insurance package, for example.
So make it clear(er)...
It's not issued by an embassy though. Maybe you meant a different word. It's just a translation of the document.
Sorry if this was wrong information, I am reporting what has been said by our HQ when giving us informations about IDPs.
That's fair but it also creates unnecessary tension between you and visitors.
Obviously, visitors should always check local laws. It's just unexpected because many countries don't require any kind of translation if the license was originally issued in English. I feel very lucky most of the time.
I know some rental companies have a local translation service on call for same day work. It's got to be good money even at 20 euro or similar for a very small document.
I mean, you should be getting it anyways. It’s not the rental agencies job to tell you this.
It's not their job? Of course it is.
Would you walk into a rental car agency in the US and think you could rent a car without a drivers license? This is common sense.
Also, it likely is in the terms you didn’t read. Do you expect an airline to email you that you need and ID or a passport to get on a plane?
If this specific company requires it, then yes. Read the room, it's not the norm.
Airlines do this, at least the ones I take. Especially if it's not on your profile, they constantly send reminders on what documents are needed, provide checklists/warning notifications on their apps and through emails. The main ones I use even send texts as reminders if it's getting close and hasn't been uploaded.
Especially during Covid, emails and notifications galore along with certain countries requirements.
It’s the law, not a rental agency rule. If you want to risk not getting your rental car or risk a run in with the police while on vacation that’s up to you. Their job is to take your money & give you a car according to their company policies. Your job is to obey the laws of the country you’re in.
Can you people Google?
It's required in Italy but not in all of the EU. Nobody is saying it's not a good idea but it's not required in a lot of countries.
Their job is to see the transaction through and that's not happening so take some responsibility if your business is being interrupted, don't come here and complain about it.
This isn't exactly true.
Yeah, after the comments it's clearer that it's an agency specific thing. I was just trying to do something nice because it's something quite unclear when renting cars abroad '
Understand. But it souds like it's required when it's not usuallt required at all. Even with smaller agencis no one has asked me for it. So now I don't bother getting one.
We (from Canada) rented cars in 15 different countries within the last couple years. We had our internal driver's permits, and were not once asked to show them. I guess we got lucky.
Yeah, i don’t think so. I’ve rented cars in Europe for 25 years and never had an international drivers license. This must be a small operation.
Every car I've rented in Europe has been no trouble with only my US DL.
Rented from Enterprise in Germany with a Canadian license.
I've never been asked for one throughout the UK, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, etc... BUT I did just submit for one for an upcoming trip to Italy. It's $20 and reading just one horror story was enough for me!
The headache with an IDP is they only last 12 months. Fortunately the AA that issues them where I am is only 15 mins away by foot but it's a hassle to remember to do it.
Drove in Costa Rica, Italy and Portugal never had to worry about an international permit. I even was pulled over at checkpoint in Italy and still no issues.
Rented a car from sixt in Milan, they didn't care. Was stopped by police in Florence....they didn't ask for it. We had them just in case but it wasn't needed.
I've rented cars in multiple European countries. The first time, I diligently got the international permit. No one ever asked me for it. I've not gotten one since and no one has ever asked me for it either.
OP just works for a scam company that will give a surcharge if the renter doesn't have one
I've bought and insured cars in the EU with my US license only
Italy is different in this regard to many of the other EU countries - it’s not just the OP’s company’s rules. See what the US State Department has to say: https://it.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/transportation-driving/#:~:text=Americans%20visiting%20Italy%20as%20tourists,Heathrow%2C%20FL%2032746%2C%20tel.
Yeah, this isn’t a thing, just need a copy of the translation.
Per embassy website:
Tourists may also use their valid American driver’s license if accompanied by an official translation in Italian. Americans registered as residents with the local Vital Records Bureau (known as Anagrafe) must apply for an Italian license within one year of the date of registration.
That's an international law thing--you can operate a car without the permit in Italy. That's all my IDP seems to be anyway--a translation of "he's allowed to drive in the U.S."
Your rental car company, though, can require whatever it wants. Every company I've rented from said on its website that it wanted the IDP.
None of the desk clerks have ever asked me to see it.
Europcar was simple. Use the app, show up, drive away. Maybe they have translated my license?
Can’t think of anywhere that has demanded an idp. Rented in multiple continents, countries and islands.
You still need an "official translation" into Italian, which is all the international driving permit is. There are services that will provide an official translation, but they typically cost more than the $20 for getting the IDP.
Europcar doesn’t require. I’m good
But the Italian police will if you get pulled over or in an accident.
What will they do? If Europcar can translate the license, the police better be able to, or there are bigger problems.
I don't know why so many people are saying this isn't a thing just because they haven't experienced it. I've never experienced it but I'm renting from a smaller company in Italy this summer and it says on the booking you need one. The message is, read the fine print.
This is absolute nonsense.
The only country we had to have one was Italy. After that fiasco, we just always have one. Not a big deal, get it via AAA.
It's Italy-specific. A certified translation is also acceptable under the law, although the agency might not accept it.
Other EU countries, like many others, do not require the IDP for visits under 90 days.
Depends where in europe and from where you are. Never had a problem with my french-canadian drivers license in France...no idea why...
All Germany required was a driver license in English. Biggest hold-up was proving the license had been held >3 years. Original issue date isn’t listed and had to obtain a driving record from the first US state I had ever lived in to proceed.
Does Italy require IDP even if home country license is in English?
I thought the IDP was needed only if your license was in a non-English script. Never had issues using a US license.
Rented a car in Switzerland. As long as your license was in English, german, or French it was fine. The main reason is to ensure the local police can get your information if needed.
If I was from Thailand then yes, I'd need an international driver license since my license would be in my native language and not possible for police to read.
I think mine is expired now but I saw that it was required in both Japan and Greece. I don't think I was ever asked for it.
That said, it's like $20 and 10 minutes of your time to stop by an AA office before your trip.
I had an international driving permit. Never had anyone ask for it when renting a car in Europe. After it expired I never got another and still no one asks for it.
A lot of Ignorant Americans in this thread
LOL. Not a chance.
I agree, it's better to go on foot or with public transports.
Take an hour out of your day and get the license, it’s not hard. I got one and never had to use it but I did have one just in case :)