Rental Cars
Find rental information and provisions online through the Texas Comptroller’s Office Web site.
Take the following steps to rent a car for university-related business travel.
- Step 1: Select a rental car vendor
- Step 2: Make a reservation
- Step 3: Get rental car insurance
- Step 4: Pay for the rental car
Selecting a Rental Car Vendor
The State of Texas has rental car contracts with Avis and Enterprise. You should use one of these vendors whenever possible to ensure that you are driving a vehicle with collision and liability coverages included in the rental rate. Consider the following information when deciding which vendor to use:
- Most rates include collision damage waivers, primary liability coverage, and unlimited free mileage within the state of rental when the vehicle is returned to the same location, however there are some exceptions.
- If you drive a personal vehicle, the vehicle owner - NOT THE UNIVERSITY - is liable for any injury or damage to your person, car, and any injury or damage to other vehicles, property, or persons outside your vehicle which may occur as a result of an accident.
- You’ll probably want to use Enterprise Rent A Car instead of Avis if you or your traveler plan to return the car to a location other than where the car was picked up. This is because Avis does not allow unlimited mileage when a rental car is returned to a different location.
- Avis requires the traveler’s credit card number to hold reservations for mini vans, 12-passenger vans and all specialty-class vehicles.
- The University has special rules which apply to the rental of 15 passenger vans.
- You should only use a non-contract vendor if all of the state-contracted vendors are sold out or do not have a rental location where you are going. When using a non-contract vendor, you should purchase the offered collision and liability coverages . In certain circumstances, this expense may not be reimbursable.
Making Rental Car Reservations
You may make rental-car reservations any of the following ways:
- Make reservations online through QuickTrip.
- Call one of the university’s two contracted travel agencies and make the reservation through them. A service fee may apply.
- Call the rental-car vendor directly at one of the numbers below. When you call, remember to give the vendor the university’s corporate ID number to make sure you get the proper rate and insurance coverage.
| Vendor | Discount number | Phone number |
|---|---|---|
| Avis | F999721 | 1-800-331-1212 |
| Enterprise | TX721 | 1-888-291-0359 |
- Find special box truck rental rates and information on the Texas Comptroller's Web site.
- SuperShuttle or Star Shuttle may be able to assist you with chauffered van and bus rentals for your visitors, groups and meeting attendees.
Getting Rental Car Insurance
When you use a contracted vendor…
Contracted vendors include collision damage waiver and liability damage waiver (CDW/LDW) insurance in most of their rental rates, so you usually won’t have to worry about getting insurance when you use a contracted vendor.
Important note about Avis and insurance
If you use Avis, keep in mind that some of their locations do not include CDW/LDW insurance coverage in the rental rate. Check out the Texas Comptroller’s Web site to find a list of Avis locations that don’t include CDW/LDW insurance in their contracted rental rates — scroll down to the middle of the page and click on the PDF entitled “Avis Contract Exceptions.” If CDW/LDW isn’t included in your destination city, check to see if you can rent a car from one of the other contracted vendors instead. If you can’t use another contracted vendor, accept the CDW/LDW insurance when picking up the Avis vehicle. Make a note of this on the reimbursement voucher, and you’ll be reimbursed for the CDW insurance as long as the other contracted vendors have no available cars or have no rental stations at that particular destination.
When you use a non-contract vendor…
CDW/LDW insurance coverage is not included in the rental rate when you use a non-contract vendor. If you use a non-contract rental company, accept the CDW/LDW insurance and liability option. This expense is reimbursable as long as Avis and Enterprise have no available cars at your destination.
Are you a Diners Club member?
Diners Club includes primary CDW/LDW insurance as a benefit to UT Diners Club cardholders who use Diners Club as the method of rental-car payment. If you or other travelers in your department frequently need to use non-contract car-rental vendors, travelers may want to consider getting a Diners Club card.
Paying for Rental Cars
You may pay for rental cars any of the following ways:
- Pay by individual credit card and seek reimbursement upon return.
- Centrally bill the rental through the Travel Management Services Office — to use this payment option, make the car reservation using the applicable Avis or Enterprise corporate ID number, and complete the Rental Car Central Billing Request form.
- Use a departmental direct billing account number — if your department has this unique direct billing account, you can use this option and your department will receive the billing statement directly from the car-rental company for payment processing through your department and the Office of Accounting. If your department is interested in establishing a departmental direct billing account with State of Texas rental car vendors, e-mail Travel Management Services.
