Tips4 min read
One-way car rental, explained
Pick up in one city, drop off in another. How one-way rentals work, when they’re worth it, and how to keep the fee small.
A one-way rental — collecting in one place and returning somewhere else — turns a road trip into a true point-to-point adventure. Here’s how to do it well.
When one-way makes sense
- Open-jaw flights: fly into one city, out of another.
- Linear routes — coast to coast, or down a famous driving road.
- Skipping a long backtrack just to return the car.
The one-way fee
Because the agency has to get the car back, most charge a one-way fee. It’s usually smaller within the same country and larger across borders. The trick is to compare the fee against the time and fuel you’d spend driving back — often one-way wins easily.
How to book it on DRIVO
Filter for agencies that allow a different drop-off and check each listing’s terms — the fee, if any, is shown up front with the rest of the all-in price. No surprises when you hand back the keys.