US Drivers License?

For those of you who are US citizens -- did you retain a US license when you moved?  I understand that you must get a UK license w/in 1 year. 

What address did you put on the license (we are selling our house)?  Can you easily rent cars in the US with the UK license?

Any other advice on the topic would be appreciated!

Thanks!

I've kept my FL driver's licence just for that reason - to rent cars when we go to visit my mother in FL.  I use her address, which was my last address in Florida before we moved, and I can renew it online with a credit card.

I don't drive here in the UK, but I do know that you can drive for up to a year on your US licence.

I just kept my regular US address on my license.  I haven't driven here either (yet), and probably won't do so before my one-year expires.  But yeah, I'm holding onto (and continuing to renew) my US license for car-rental in the future...and for whatever else I might need it for when visiting the US.

I am getting a UK licence this year and I intend to hold on to my US license and keep renewing it also.

Having been here 5 years, I have since renewed my Texas license, using my parent's address....but somehow, it got lost in the mail....so outside of having it renewed 'officially' (as far as the Dept. of Public Safety is concerned), I don't have the physical proof (until I go home again). However, the last time I was home, I used my UK license to rent a car......no problemo! I didn't see the need to keep the license renewed just for renting cars? I did give them the Texas DL number, but they preferred the UK one as I had a picture on it.

I look at it this way.....at this point, my UK license makes me more qualified to drive in the states than before. I mean, for those of you who have gone through the hassles of the UK license, you will attest to the fact that a lot more things are covered on the test and it makes you better prepared. But as long as I can continue to renew....might as well have it covered on both sides of the pond! (some states will let you renew by mail...might be worth checking out)

You can't have more than one driving license at a time. It's against the law. You can continue to have your US license (and keep renewing it) if you don't drive in the UK. But if you want to drive in the UK, you must have a UK license by the first year.

I was naive and felt my US license would carry over since it's technically an International license. and I wasn't too keen on having to take the test here.

I was also naive in thinking that I could also keep my current US license renewed to make car rentals easier in the US.

Trouble is, you'll also have to keep a US car insurance going for that to make any difference whatsoever. Except...they won't do it.

I have no trouble renting a car in the US. It may be more expensive for the insurance, but it would be the same cost even if you had a US license...simply because you wouldn't be carrying the liability insurance to begin with.

Actually, when I priced rental cars on the same site using the UK as my place of residence and then the US as my place of residence, it came out cheaper to rent the same car for the same time frame using a US-based address.  And that was including signing up for the insurance because I obviously don't have any in the US because I no longer own a car there.

When I put in that I had UK-based address, they automatically added on pre-paid fuel (which because of how/when/why I was renting the car was not the best option for me) and one other thing that I know from experience is NOT required (can't remember what it was, though).

Besides, because I have a US checking account and US credit cards, it just makes it easier when I'm there visiting to have a commonly accepted US form of I.D.  U.S. passports aren't commonly enough used as I.D. and it just opens up a whole line of personal questioning that I might just feel isn't anyone's business when I'm simply trying to buy a pair of shoes!   

Or renting a car! 

Although it's not proper (or legal), I have had my passport rejected in the US as a form of ID--never at a bank or gov't office, but several times at shops and once at a bar.  I've also been rudely and intrusively questioned as to why I carry a passport in the first place, as if that were some sort of crime.  (Unbelievable, isn't it?)  In addition, when I visit my family I have the use of one of their cars and am named on the insurance (as an "infrequent driver")...it could be a big problem if, Goddess forbid, something happened on the road and I was found to be without a US license.

AFAIK, the UK does not require you to surrender your US license because it is not an exchange (as it is with Commonwealth licence holders), it is a new licence altogether and they simply extend us the courtesy of not having to have "L" plates while we are learning.

Although it's not proper (or legal), I have had my passport rejected in the US as a form of ID--never at a bank or gov't office, but several times at shops and once at a bar.  I've also been rudely and intrusively questioned as to why I carry a passport in the first place, as if that were some sort of crime.  (Unbelievable, isn't it?)  In addition, when I visit my family I have the use of one of their cars and am named on the insurance (as an "infrequent driver")...it could be a big problem if, Goddess forbid, something happened on the road and I was found to be without a US license.

AFAIK, the UK does not require you to surrender your US license because it is not an exchange (as it is with Commonwealth licence holders), it is a new licence altogether and they simply extend us the courtesy of not having to have "L" plates while we are learning.

All of the above are really my reasons.  A friend of mine had his wallet stolen while he was out-of-state last year and used his passport as ID in the meantime.  He was refused entry into bars on several occasions and was quizzed endlessly about it when he tried to check into a hotel.  As a result, it's just easier for me to keep hold of my license...I'll use it in situations like those and to drive my relatives' cars when we're home on a visit.