Rent a Daily or Short-term Vehicle

Reservation

• All reservations are made directly with Enterprise.
• A validated chart string is required for all reservations.
• Evanston or Chicago campus short term rentals are reserved online, and picked up at an Enterprise campus location:
  • Maple Avenue, Evanston
  • Chicago Millennium Park, 20 E Randolph Street, 3rd floor, Chicago, 60601
  • Vehicles are returned to the same Enterprise branch location.
• An online demo about this process can be found in myHR Learn: Reserving daily Enterprise vehicle rentals for direct billing

Pickup

• Bring your valid driver's license.
• Students must bring their defensive driving certificate.
• Add an I-Pass transponder, if needed. Display I-Pass as suggested.

Payment

Procurement will be invoiced by Enterprise for all rentals twice a month through a consolidated bill file that includes the chart string for each rental. A journal entry will be generated to charge each department for their rental. Note:

• There may be an additional charge if the vehicle is returned with less gas than the vehicle had when it was picked up.
• Any missed tolls will be charged to the same chart string during a future billing cycle.
• There will be an additional $10 per day charged to cover insurance.

Vehicle Returns

Rentals should be returned to Enterprise during Enterprise's business hours.

After Hours Returns

If after hour returns are needed, take the vehicle to 1810 Maple Ave, Evanston and the follow the directions below:

1. Pull into the parking garage. The Enterprise parking lot is located just before you take a parking ticket to the right. Park the vehicle in a space if available, remove all personal belongings, lock the vehicle, and put the keys in the drop box located next to the door. If you rented additional equipment such as a toll pass waiver, leave it on the dash or in the cup holder.
2. If there are no parking spots, pull the vehicle as far forward as possible in the Enterprise lot in the ready lanes. It is ok if you are blocking in other cars as these are other returns that have been dropped after hours.
3. If the ready lanes are full, vehicles can be parked in parking lot behind Hilton Garden, as far west as possible, furthers away from the hotel. Then place keys in 1810 Maple Avenue's key drop box.

All student drivers are required to complete and pass the Office of Risk Management's Defensive Driving Course. To access the course, students must complete a Safe Driver application.

Reservation

• For student groups or organizations needing to rent a vehicle on campus, Northwestern staff must make reservations on behalf of Student Organizations. Students must be 21 years of age to drive a rental vehicle on behalf of student organizations.
• Business Use is defined pursuant to the Big Ten Agreement. Individual students renting vehicles on University business or in conjunction with required course curriculum should book under Business Use.
• The largest vehicle permissible to rent for young drivers (21-24 years old) is a minivan.
• Damage waiver and liability insurance is not included with Student Organization rentals.
• New users must review the vehicle rental information prior to making a reservation.
• To reserve a vehicle, including a local vehicle, and pay for it with your chartstring, visit the Student Group reservation page
  • A short demonstration video can be found in myHR Learn.

Local pickup

• Maple Avenue, Evanston
• Chicago Millennium Park, 20 E Randolph Street, 3rd floor, Chicago, 60601

If flying is the most economical mode of travel but you have circumstances that prevent you from flying, please communicate this with your supervisor.

Reservation

• For departments or schools needing to rent a vehicle for business use
  • Business Use is defined pursuant to the Big Ten Agreement. Individual students renting vehicles on University business or in conjunction with required course curriculum should book under Business Use.
• Students renting a vehicle for business use must be 18 years or older. A fee of $15 will be assessed for drivers 18-20 years of age. The largest vehicle renters between 18-20 years old can rent is a minivan.
• Local vehicle rentals are reserved online, using the reservation link below
• To reserve a vehicle and pay for it with your chart string, visit the Business Use reservation form.
  • A short Business Use Reservation demonstration video can be found in myHR Learn.
• New users must review the vehicle rental information prior to making a reservation.

Local Pickup

• Pick up and drop off is at an Enterprise branch location, on the Evanston or Chicago campus:
  • Maple Avenue, Evanston
  • Chicago Millennium Park, 20 E Randolph Street, 3rd floor, Chicago, 60601

Travel Outside of Chicagoland

For departments or schools needing to rent a vehicle for business use, outside of Evanston or Chicago.

• This type of rental is reserved online and paid for with a Northwestern Corporate Card or a personal credit card (if a personal card is used - charges are reimbursed through an Expense Report)
• New users must review the Commercial Vehicle Rental and Insurance policy.
• National vehicle rentals may be made using Key Travel or Enterprise:
  • To reserve a vehicle using Key Travel, visit the Key Travel website.
  • To reserve a vehicle using Enterprise, visit the Enterprise reservation page

For travel to destinations more than 300 miles beyond the point of origin, the following recommendations apply:

• A cost comparison for reasonableness should be made between the total cost of renting a car plus any tolls and parking costs, and the least expensive round-trip air fare between the nearest commercial airport serving the origin and destination cities, plus associated transfer costs to and from the airport.
• Documentation of cost comparison should be included in travel expense report.

• Faculty, staff, and students that are considered employees of the University can obtain a personal purchase discount with Enterprise
• Users must be 21 to book
• Personal credit card required
• Note: insurance is not included
• Enterprise has added their subsidiary Alamo Car rental to the program, giving travelers three choices of rental companies: Enterprise, National, and Alamo.
• Discounts will be a minimum of 5% off retail rates up to 20% off depending on factors at individual locations, like number of cars on hand at the time of booking. Enterprise recommends booking as early as possible to get the highest available discount.
• To reserve a vehicle for personal use, visit the Personal Rentals reservation page.