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Timeline for Passport Requirement to Rent a Car

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Oct 21, 2019 at 0:43 comment added phoog Let us continue this discussion in chat.
Oct 21, 2019 at 0:34 comment added Mark Johnson @phoog That a car rental is required that the customer has a valid driver's licence can be assumed. Checking that a foreigner is a visitor would be part of that process. The answer addresses that with As a visitor under the 90/180 days rule (entry stamp in passport) it is clear for the car rental (and any policeman stopping you while driving) that there is no problem from that aspect., which you choose to ignore.
Oct 21, 2019 at 0:23 comment added phoog But this answer does not assert that the passport is being used as proof identification but rather as proof of "legal status inside the Schengen area." And it is quite clear that rental agents do not verify that, because they check neither the stamps nor the visas in the passport.
Oct 21, 2019 at 0:09 comment added Mark Johnson @phoog You would have to ask the rental for their reasons for this requirement. For the police it definitely is a valid reason and therefore adrresses the question. Proof of proper identification is a requirement in most countries and that is what, for foreigners, a passport is for.
Oct 21, 2019 at 0:01 comment added phoog But my passport is not used as proof that my driver's license may be used, is it? Because I am quite certain that no use was made of my passport other than to check the biodata page. This invariably happens right in front of my face in the space of a minute or two. So this answer does not address the question.
Oct 20, 2019 at 23:27 comment added Mark Johnson @phoog Be it as it may, the question was What practical purpose (reason) and an answer to that was given that you did not address (proof that your driver's licence may be used, for car rental and police). You had your passport with you, what you believe to have not observed is not a reason to downvote a valid answer.
Oct 20, 2019 at 16:56 comment added phoog "Keeping a passport in the hotel safe is a bad idea, because if you need it you won't have it": it is a bad idea only if the likelihood of needing it and the cost of not having it in those circumstances outweighs the likelihood of not losing it and the cost of being without it permanently. In my experience, it is rather a very good idea to keep one's passport in the hotel safe. Furthermore, no car rental agent has ever investigated passport stamps or other evidence of legal presence when examining my passport.
Oct 17, 2019 at 20:54 history edited Mark Johnson CC BY-SA 4.0
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Oct 17, 2019 at 20:33 history answered Mark Johnson CC BY-SA 4.0