I rented a car from Easirent for $27 per day, which was reduced to $2 after using credits, through the Hopper app. The next lowest price was three times higher, so I figured why not.

It was early in the morning and I was first in line. It took about 10 minutes to pick up my car because they required an unusual amount of documentation. They required:

1. ID and credit card
2. Proof of insurance with declaration page
3. If you don’t have comprehensive insurance, you need to buy their insurance or
4. Show that you have primary Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) through your credit card, which requires showing that the credit card was used for the rental car purchase, and the benefits guide for the credit card
5. A confirmation of an outbound flight – if you don’t have one then you will considered a local rental

For some reason the CS person insisted that it must be primary CDW, even though secondary should work just as well. The local rental restrictions are severe: a cap of 150 miles/day, and you have to show documentation matching the driver license address. Of course, you can bypass this if you buy a refundable outbound ticket.

They gave me a relatively new Nissan sedan with 9000 miles, but with only 25% left in the tank (55 miles). It needed an oil change and wiper fluid replacement but otherwise ran fine. I would strongly recommend recording the car before and after pickup in case you’re charged for any damage.

The return was pretty smooth but there was an additional 15 minute wait for the shuttle. There was also a long line for pickups at 1PM (roughly 10 people), and 3 people working the counter, or roughly a 40 minute wait.

• las-vegas
• travel