I'm planning a trip to Florida with some friends, and we are looking for a car hire company that doesn't penalise us for being under 25. I have been driving for almost seven years and will be just five months shy of my 25th birthday at the time of the trip. Any thoughts? Robert Cunningham, Huddersfield

Sunday Times travel expert, Richard Green, responds: The dreaded "Young Driver's Surcharge" is an irritating bugbear for under-25s wanting to hit the open road on holiday. It's charged by all of the big car hire companies, usually at $25 per day, if the person hiring and driving the car is aged between 21 and 25 ­ that's £87 a week extra.

However US Rent A Car (0845 226 8523) is a UK based brokering firm that can help. It offers a week's inclusive hire in Florida, picking up from any of the international airports, without any young driver surcharge. Weekly rates start at £129, good for a driver aged between 21 and 24. Equally unusual is that there isn't an additional driver fee either, so you can share the driving with your friends, providing you let the company know when you book, at no extra charge, even if they are also under 25.

If there are a group of you, an eight, 12, or 15-seater minivan might work out cheaper. US rent a car does charge an additional $19.95 per day if you are under 25, and if someone in the group is either 19 or 20 years old, they can hire a car with a surcharge of about $20 per day.

Incidentally, the company offers rentals on the same basis throughout the USA, though at higher rates, with Budget Rent A Car, but for anyone heading to Canada, you'll have to budget for the young person's surcharge.

Transhire (0870 789 8000) also doesn't charge a young persons surcharge for one driver, plus a free named driver (if they are over 25), or $25 a day for another under 25 driver.

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