IN THIS CASE
- Car rental age policies on Priceline are vague and inconsistently applied, especially for older travelers.
- When a reservation is denied due to unclear age limits, travelers are often left to pay inflated walk-in prices.
- In cases like the Goodwins’, companies dodge accountability while passing blame to third-party providers.
Is Jan Goodwin too old to rent a car from Priceline? According to the company, the answer is no. Wait, I mean yes.
I mean, maybe.
And that’s what brought her case to us. Our advocacy team can’t figure this one out either.
For Goodwin, it was too late. She tried to rent a car from Priceline at the Tampa Airport. A car rental employee turned her away because she was 82 years old.
Goodwin’s rental confirmation said she might have to pay extra if she was over 70 and that the maximum rental age was 85. She and her husband had to rent from a different car rental company at a higher rate.
“Priceline could not fulfill our contract, requiring us to find other means at a greatly inflated cost,” says Peter Goodwin, her husband. “We want Priceline to refund the cost difference.”
Instead, Priceline has only offered a refund of the original rental rate.
This case raises a few important questions:
- What are the age restrictions for renting a car through Priceline?
- What should you do when a rental agency refuses to honor your reservation?
- Is Priceline responsible when a rental car company won’t rent to you?
First, let’s have a look at the Goodwins’ issue.
“We paid a premium price”
The Goodwins had found a great price for a rental car through Priceline — just $50 for two days.
Maybe that was the first red flag. The price was almost too good to be true.They thought, hey, Priceline is a known brand — what could possibly go wrong?
But this was red flag number two: The rental was through a company called OtoQ, which is not a known brand. So when the Goodwins arrived at the counter at Tampa, they were almost expecting trouble.
And they found it. A rental agent at OtoQ informed them that it could not rent a car to Goodwin. The reason? Jan Goodwin was 82, and the cutoff was 75.
I’ve written about age limits for cars in the past. There’s a good reason to restrict people from renting a car based on their age, but you should always disclose it before the booking. Interestingly, O2Q’s terms say the cutoff age in Florida is 85. Maybe it’ was someone’s first day on the job.
“We trekked back to the airport and searched among several rental agencies for an available car,” says Goodwin. “Unfortunately, it was a high-demand day as there was a soccer match being played in the Tampa area on that day, and car availability was minimal.”
They finally found another car from Dollar Car Rental — for $542.
“We paid a premium price because we were walk-ins,” he explains.
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Priceline’s response
Goodwin sent a brief, polite email to Priceline and escalated to the Priceline executives we publish on Elliott.org, our consumer advocacy website, asking for a refund of the rate he’d paid Dollar.
Priceline offered an unsatisfactory response.
“We understand your concern that the counter did not allow you to rent the vehicle due to age restrictions,” it said in an email. “We have contacted our partner and confirmed that your booking was marked as a no-show. They added that when customers do not meet certain requirements, such as age restrictions, they provide alternatives to help ensure that the reservation can proceed. Since the booking was not utilized, we have processed a full refund of $50. However, we are unable to refund the difference in rates.”
Goodwin’s response?
“This is utter nonsense squared,” he replied. “In front of other customers, all waiting to rent a car, the OtoQ rental agent flatly refused to rent a car to us. And he offered no option.”
So what happened? Did Goodwin fail to read the terms and conditions of the rental — or were the terms and conditions unclear? Let’s find out.
Have you ever run into age-related roadblocks when trying to rent a car — even with a confirmed booking?
Did the fine print make sense, or were you left guessing like the Goodwins?
Share your story in the comments below. Your experience might help someone avoid a costly rental surprise.
What are the age restrictions for renting a car through Priceline?
Priceline’s age restrictions seem clear. It says Priceline offers car rentals to drivers between the ages of 21 and 24 years old “in select locations.” Rentals for drivers between the ages of 18 and 20 are available in New York and Michigan only.
There’s no mention of an upper age limit on its rental restrictions page. (Here’s our best guide to renting a car.)
The confirmation Goodwin received only said a surcharge might apply for drivers over 70.
Elsewhere on the Priceline site, it gets really confusing. Here’s what our advocate, Dwayne Coward, found when he tried to find the upper age restrictions.
Screenshot of Priceline’s age restrictions from its website.
Huh? This is so utterly confusing, I’m not even sure what it means.
Bottom line: You have to be at least 21 to rent a car on Priceline. Anything over 70 and you might face an extra fee or worse — you might not be able to rent at all.
But Goodwin had no way of knowing that based on the confirmation he received from Priceline.
Before booking with Priceline or any online travel site, double-check age restrictions on the rental agency’s official website — not just the confirmation page. When in doubt, get written assurance or take a screenshot to protect yourself at pickup time.
What should you do when a rental agency refuses to honor your reservation?
Priceline made a valid point, sorta. Maybe the Goodwins should have pushed Priceline or the car rental agency to “provide alternatives,” as noted in Priceline’s response to the couple.
When a car rental company doesn’t have the vehicle you reserve — and in the Goodwins’ case, the car for which you prepaid — don’t just leave.
- Ask for help. Most car rental companies will have a policy for accommodating customers who can’t rent for policy reasons. For example, the company may offer to cover your rental from a different company.
- Contact your online travel agency. Believe it or not, Priceline is an online travel agency, which means it is both an intermediary between you and the car rental company and your advocate. If your car rental company can’t help, contact Priceline and lean on it to fix the problem before spending $492 of your own money on another rental.
- Get in touch with your credit card or travel insurance company. You may have travel insurance coverage through your card, but if you have a regular travel insurance policy you should contact the issuer and see if it can help. Most major travel insurance policies have 24/7 concierge desks that can rebook you and may even cover the extra expense, depending on the circumstances.
As a last-ditch effort, you can also appeal your case to one of the company executives on my consumer advocacy site.
But if you end up having to rent from another company, should Priceline cover the difference? That’s the question at the heart of Goodwin’s case.
Is Priceline responsible when a rental car company won’t rent to you?
Priceline would strongly argue that it is not responsible when one of its partners refuses you a rental car — or denies you boarding or doesn’t provide a hotel room, for that matter.
Section C of its terms and conditions are clear:
It notes that the travel service providers are “independent contractors” and that, to the extent permitted by law, Priceline does not not assume liability for “any injury, damage, death, loss, accident or delay due to an act or omission of a Travel Service Provider and does not accept responsibility for any damage and/or delay due to sickness, pilferage, labor disputes, bankruptcy, machinery breakdown, quarantine, government restraints, weather, terrorism or causes beyond the Covered Parties’ control.”
Phew, that’s a lot of exclusions.
However, as a practical matter, Priceline rented the Goodwins a car that they couldn’t use. Neither the car rental company nor Priceline could fix the problem, so the couple had to rent from another company.
In a situation like this, of course, you would ideally want to get something in writing from Priceline before renting another car that offers to cover your expenses. But alas, the Goodwins did not get such a guarantee. Their request fell in a gray area between what Priceline was legally required to do (nothing) and the right thing to do (take care of their new car rental).
So in a sense, Priceline is both responsible for their rental, and not.
Will they get a refund for their new rental?
Goodwin should have obtained approval for getting a new, more expensive rental. But Priceline should have taken care of them.
Our advocacy team wondered what Priceline had to say about this case, so we asked.
“We dug into this further and confirmed that the information on our website is the rental car company’s correct policy,” a representative said. “The customer experienced an unfortunate miscommunication from the counter agent or cited incorrect information.”
Priceline said it secured a refund from the car rental company of $492 to reflect the price difference in the rentals.
“I found the Priceline comment, about an unfortunate miscommunication, to be a pathetic excuse,” Goodwin told us. “It was miscommunication all right — but not at our end.”
“That said, all’s well that ends well, and we are certainly grateful,” Goodwin added.
So remember — if your car rental company won’t rent to you, reach out to the booking agency and confirm it will take care of your replacement rental. If you take matters into your own hands, you might have to contact my advocacy team. Of course, we’re always happy to help.
How to handle car rental age disputes
FAQs
Check both the third-party site (like Priceline) and the actual rental agency’s website. Age restrictions often vary by company, location, and vehicle type.
First, ask the desk agent to call a supervisor. Sometimes they can override the system or offer alternatives. If that fails, contact the booking platform immediately for support.
No. OTAs facilitate bookings but don’t control the rental agency’s policies. If the agency refuses service, the OTA may help mediate but can’t force them to comply.
It depends on the policy. If age limits were disclosed and you booked anyway, you may not be eligible. But if the restriction wasn’t made clear, you should push for a full refund.
Always review the fine print during booking. Look specifically for “minimum age” and “young driver fee” terms. If in doubt, call the rental company directly before finalizing your reservation.
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