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Nine times out of ten when Thomas and I rent a car on a trip we do so through Turo. If you’re never heard of Turo, it’s basically Airbnb for cars. People can list their cars for rent on the app/website, set the price, parameters, etc. and you can book them to use on your trip. Some cars offer features like airport drop off/pickup, car seats, roof racks, etc (usually for an additional fee).

Before we ever booked our first Turo, I remember that I’d vaguely heard of the company but was kind of weirded out by the idea. Thomas and I had previously exclusively rented cars through Hertz, where you only had to be 21 years old if you had a AAA membership (which is why we rented through them when we were young and then continued out of habit).

However, they say “necessity is the mother of invention” and while the phrase isn’t perfectly applicable here, it’s good enough. We first booked a Turo when we had no other viable options. We were taking a flight that arrived after midnight and the Hertz location (and all other rental car offices) closed at 11PM. I did a bunch of Googling and rediscovered Turo. We found a host that allowed us to pick up the car from the airport parking lot via a lock box so we didn’t have to meet them in person and keep them waiting late at night. When we arrived, the process was super simple – the owner sent us directions to find the car, we opened our app, followed the instructions, took pictures of the car and our drivers licenses, and were on our way. No need to wait in a long line at a rental counter. Bringing the car back at the end of the trip was just as easy (and mostly the same process in reverse).

Since that first trip, we’ve booked many more Turos and will continue doing so in the future. If you’re hesitant to book your first Turo or just want to know what the catch is, here are the pros/cons we’ve run across:

PROS

24/7 Access

As mentioned, this was the main reason we tried Turo in the first place, but you don’t realize how valuable this is until you need it. Not every rental car on the platform has this flexibility, but you can enter what time you’ll be picking up the car in the search, so you can find cars that are available when you need them to be.

Remote Unlock

Not every car offers this, but many offer a remote unlock, whether through a lockbox with a code or through the Turo app itself via Turo Go. I try to always book cars with this feature so that we don’t have to deal with the hassle of meeting the owner in person, especially if we aren’t sure exactly what time we’re going to arrive.

On our recent trip to Portland, we did rent a car where the driver dropped off/picked up the car in-person to our hotel and this experience was seamless because we had more control of our schedule. If we’d been doing an airport pickup, I would have been more worried about flight delays causing us to frustrate our host.

Lower Age Restrictions

The absolute minimum age to book a Turo is 18-years-old, but anything under 25-years-old comes with some restrictions and additional fees (which are explained here). Despite the constraints, Turo is a viable option for young people where traditional rental cars may not be.

Easy to Add Additional Drivers

There are no fees for adding additional drivers on Turo, but it takes just a bit of advance planning because you must add them at least 24 hours before your trip starts. It only takes a couple minutes the first time (and seconds every time thereafter) and is important to do because if anyone drives who isn’t approved, your protection plan is voided. More info on the terms and exact steps to add a driver can be found here.

Wide Car Variety

Traditional rental car companies buy cars in bulk, so they offer only a few makes and models. Because Turos can be rented out by anyone, all sorts of cars end up on the market, from Smart Cars to Teslas to giant SUVs. This has enabled us to easily choose the perfect car for each individual trip (ex. we always book big SUVs for ski trips, but often get sedans for city trips). It’s also an underrated way to test drive cars you may be considering for more than the 10 minutes a traditional dealership test drive allows for.

It’s worth clarifying that unlike a traditional rental car company where you book a car by category (ex. a 4-door sedan) but the exact make/model isn’t confirmed until you get there, you are guaranteed the exact car you book with Turo. What you see is what you get, no surprises.

Cheaper Than a Rental Car

When we book Turos, I always cross-check the price of cars with Hertz and I’ve always found Turo to be the cheaper option, usually by a significant amount. There are definitely pricy options on the app, but there’s usually plenty of affordable cars as well.

Partnerships to Earn More Points

Turo has partnered up with Delta airlines to allow you to earn SkyMiles on every trip. After you link your Delta and Turo accounts, you can earn 2,000 SkyMiles after your first Turo rental and 500 on each subsequent trip.

Turo has also partnered with Capital One, so if you pay with a Venture X Rewards credit card, you can earn 10x points on Turo rentals (alternatively the Venture Rewards credit card will year you 5x points). This Capital One partnership is unfortunately short lived, as it’s set to expire on May 16, 2023.

In the long run, Turo does code as a travel expense, so if you pay with a credit card that earns extra points on that category (ex. the Chase Sapphire Reserve gets 3x on travel) then you can quickly earn even more points for trips in the future.

Free Cancellation

Turo offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before your trip begins, which allows for a lot of flexibility. You do pay up front at the time of booking, but get refunded if you cancel.

CONS

Need to Buy Insurance

If you have a travel credit card, there’s a good chance that it includes rental car insurance, so you don’t have to buy the additional coverage when you get a car at Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, etc. However, Turo is not covered under that umbrella as it’s not seen as a rental car company in this regard, so I highly recommend buying at least the minimum coverage on every trip.

Pick Up/Drop Off in the Same Place

With a traditional rental car, you have the option to return the car to another rental location or even another city. It makes sense that this isn’t an option with Turo as you’re renting someone’s personal car, but it does make Turo impractical for some trips. For example, we had to book with Hertz when we went to Maine because we flew into Boston and flew out of Portland, Maine, returning the car a couple of hours away from where we picked it up.

Supposedly Not Great Customer Service

Thankfully, we’ve never had any issue that required us to call customer service, but I’ve seen *very anecdotal* comments online complaining about Turo’s poor support. I cannot personally vouch for this and “the plural of anecdote is not data” so take this with a grain of salt.

Hosts Can Cancel on You

Although it’s rare, hosts do have the ability to cancel your reservation on you (just like Airbnb). We have never had this happen to us, but it’s for this reason that we typically try to book with “All-Star Hosts” who have lots of good reviews and minimal cancellations. The reviews section is also where you can see an automated message each time the host cancelled a trip, so you can see how often they are guilty of this.

Limited Countries

Turo is currently available in the United States, 8/10 Canadian provinces, and the United Kingdom. There are also some limitations on crossing borders – all details can be found here. Hopefully in the future they’ll expand worldwide!

If you’ve never booked a Turo, I recommend trying it out on your next trip! You just might save some money and find a new go-to rental car company.