Travel

The Big Ten has contracted with National Car Rental and Enterprise Rent a Car to be the supplier of car rental services to all Big Ten institutions, including Penn State. Penn State employees are also eligible for no-fee membership in National’s Emerald Club. Travelers are encouraged to book their car rentals at Travel OnLion or the direct link to National Car Rental and Enterprise Rent-A-Car .

The corporate or promotional rate, whichever is lower, is available for both business and personal use. If National and Enterprise is not available in the area where you will be traveling, you may use another vendor for car rental. You must print the search results screen from Travel OnLion and attach it to your Travel Support form as proof that National and Enterprise is not available at your location.

National and Enterprise car rentals can be direct-billed to the Purchasing Card only if the card is in the traveler’s name.

If you are involved in an accident with a rental car, you must file a police report and also contact the rental agency to report the accident. You are required to take these steps to ensure we have not violated the terms of our contract. You should also contact Penn State Risk Management to report the accident when you return from your trip.

* Note: Enterprise Rent a Car is a sub-contractor of National Car Rental for this contract. Get more information on the rental car contract .

Insurance

The University requires insurance coverage on all cars rented for University business.

National and Enterprise provide free Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) insurance for the full value of the car at all National and Enterprise locations within the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. Insurance is provided by National in Latin America, the Caribbean (LAC), Asia, and the Pacific Basin. Insurance is provided by Enterprise in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). National and Enterprise also include Single Limit Liability coverage in the amount of $100,000 bodily injury per person, $300,000 bodily injury per accident, and $50,000 for property damage. This coverage is provided at no extra charge. To get these no-cost insurances, be sure to use Penn State’s corporate discount number (XZ40034 for National and Enterprise) and decline all insurances when booking with National or Enterprise. When comparing National’s and Enterprise’s corporate and promotional rates to other car rental rates, the cost of insurance should be included in the non-contract rates to give a true comparison.

Travel Tip: When renting a car, always refuel prior to returning the car to avoid excessive fueling charges.

Toll Booths

Many toll booths are no longer accepting a cash payment option, which means travelers must use a transponder/easy pass otherwise they are billed for the toll after passing through.  In these situations, where there are no cash lanes and no transponder, the traveler will receive a bill for the toll in the mail at a later date.

If the traveler uses a rental vehicle, there will be a fee associated with the toll payment and the traveler will receive a second invoice from the vehicle rental agency.  Travelers can be proactive in minimizing the administrative fee and time lag associated with these toll charges by requesting a transponder when picking up a rental vehicle at National and Enterprise Rental.  There is a nominal fee for the transponder, but in most cases, it is usually cheaper than the cost of the toll and administrative fee charged by the rental agency.  We ask that travelers use their best judgment when deciding if requesting a transponder is the best option.