Many people are going out of town this summer, which means that you may want to start thinking about your travel plans. When it comes to planning, you need to book a hotel, airfare and if you are heading to a location that requires the use of a car, you will need a rental car too. This last one can be tough for a lot of travelers because it can be hard to know what some of the laws are regarding renting a car in other states. If you were going to Europe, you could simply search “car rental Portugal” or “car rental Italy,” but if you are sticking around stateside, you need to make a few more considerations.

Here are five things to consider when renting a car for out-of-state travel.

1. Cost

This is an important consideration to make when you are renting a vehicle because different rental car companies will have different rates. Not only that, but different locations will have different rates too. For instance, if you rent a vehicle at your airport gate, the price maybe a little more expensive as opposed to a car rental place a few blocks away from the airport. Also, name-recognized companies tend to have higher rates than companies you may not have heard of.

2. Insurance

Before you rent a car out-of-state, you want to find out what your insurance company covers. Some insurance companies may only cover damages incurred within your state, so you may have to take out a second policy from the car rental company. This will be an added expense, but it may be important if you don’t have full coverage provided by your primary insurance carrier.

3. Size

When it comes to renting a car, size is an important consideration to make. If you are going out of town with a family – more than three people – you most likely need some kind of SUV. If you are simply going out of town with your partner or spouse, you may only need a two-seater or a small sedan. The last thing you want is to pay more for a vehicle you don’t really need.

4. Primary driver.

Before you rent a car, you want to assign a primary driver. In most cases, you will need one primary driver on the account, so you want to make sure that the person you choose has his or her license and all other applicable information. Not only that, but you may want to find out if the primary driver’s credit score is good or not, because the company will charge more if the credit score is not high – they don’t want people running off with vehicles or not paying bills.

5. Expenses

On top of the base cost of renting the car, you want to find out what all the fees and surcharges are going to be, because they may be a lot different – and a lot higher – than you think. These fees include taxes, gas, and a number of other expenditures that are in the fine print. In the end, you want to make sure you catch everything.