** Vehicle Hire queries **

just get a credit card

Nigzcurran

coylemj wrote: »

'Worth every single cent' :eek:

Last Feb., I rented a five-door Opel Corsa from Europcar in Lanzarote, the total cost was €99.27 for seven days rental, I declined their insurance. There was no hidden costs and no hard sell on the insurance, I paid not one cent more than what was quoted on the original booking.

Had I wrecked or caused severe damage to the the car, the excess (the maximum I would have had to pay) was just €870. Which I would have paid when checking out and then claimed back from my AIG excess policy. And they would have reimbursed me in full. All for €50 for a year to cover rental anywhere in Europe.

The insurance you buy at the rental desk is a complete rip off.

Yep but did you need to leave a credit card as security?

ted1

glasso wrote: »

just get a credit card

It’s not that easy. Some people , my misses for example use it as if it’s free money. While it’s fair to say get one and only use it for car hire. To some people it’s like giving them a bag of smack. And they’ll max it out and in my pay off the minimum, thus costing them
More.

Dodge

I’ve rented with Alamo (booked through UK website) and Avis (arranged at an airport in France)with a debit card and the hold was minimal (it was actually nothing with Alamo). While some may place holds of ‘thousands’ as a previous poster said, it certainly isn’t all of them

coylemj

Nigzcurran wrote: »

Yep but did you need to leave a credit card as security?

You dont 'leave' a credit card as security, Europcar took a €300 charge on my credit card. Which they promptly cancelled when I returned the car, it didn't even show on my next statement.

If you have a credit card and you rent a car or you check into a hotel, they will reserve or ring-fence an amount of money from your credit limit. It costs you nothing and once you return the car undamaged or check out of the hotel and pay your bill, the reserve is lifted and you will see no reference to it on your next bill.

Car rentals companies do this if you decline their insurance. Hotels do it all the time, in case you do a runner or you go mad in the local restaurants or shops, blow your credit limit and then cannot pay your hotel bill when checking out.

Whereas if you rent a car with a debit card and decline their insurance, they will debit your card with the excess and you usually have to wait a few days before this money is refunded after you return the car. A lot of people don't have that amount of money in their account, so they're effectively forced to buy the rip-off insurance provided by the rental company.

Dodge

coylemj wrote: »

You dont 'leave' a credit card as security, Europcar took a €300 charge on my credit card. Which they promptly cancelled when I returned the car, it didn't even show on my next statement.

If you have a credit card and you rent a car or you check into a hotel, they will reserve or ring-fence an amount of money from your credit limit. It costs you nothing and once you return the car or check out of the hotel and pay your bill, the reserve is lifted and you will see nothing on your next bill.

Whereas if you rent a car with a debit card and decline their insurance, they will debit your card with the excess and you usually have to wait a few days before this money is refunded after you return the car. A lot of people don't have that amount of money in their account, so they're effectively forced to buy the rip-off insurance provided by the rental company.

They treat debit and credit cards the same in most situations. Both ring fence an amount and that is unavailable to you. I’ve only used a debit card for car hire and I’ve never encountered the issues you have

tabby aspreme

Sixt will rent to Debit card holders in some European countries

Akabusi

I'm not sure about other European Countries or how big a car you need but in Dublin you can pick up a mini bus without a credit card.

coylemj

Dodge wrote: »

I’ve rented with Alamo (booked through UK website) and Avis (arranged at an airport in France)with a debit card and the hold was minimal (it was actually nothing with Alamo). While some may place holds of ‘thousands’ as a previous poster said, it certainly isn’t all of them

+1 My excess with Europcar (Open Corsa) was €870 but they only reserved €300 on my credit card.

The difference with renting from the cowboys is the policy that comes as standard when you rent from them has a very high excess. Which means they can quote a lower rate on the web to bait suckers, then they screw them at the rental desk. Especially if they have a debit card.

coylemj

Dodge wrote: »

They treat debit and credit cards the same in most situations. Both ring fence an amount and that is unavailable to you. I’ve only used a debit card for car hire and I’ve never encountered the issues you have

But in the case of a credit card, the reserve comes off your credit limit. Which is not real money. Whereras in the case of a debit card, they debit the money from you. Which is real money.

dragona

Very interested. Am looking to hire a car this Sumner in Italy. Don't have a credit card, and never ever will. Have a debit card of course. What are my options then?

LillySV

Get a credit card... they will look for it when u arrive to get car I bet... not worth the hassle! U have to pay stamp duty each year..that’s the only downfall

ted1

glasso wrote: »

just get a credit card

It’s not that easy. Some people , my misses for example use it as if it’s free money. While it’s fair to say get one and only use it for car hire. To some people it’s like giving them a bag of smack. And they’ll max it out and in my pay off the minimum, thus costing them
More.

Nigzcurran

coylemj wrote: »

You dont 'leave' a credit card as security, Europcar took a €300 charge on my credit card. Which they promptly cancelled when I returned the car, it didn't even show on my next statement.

If you have a credit card and you rent a car or you check into a hotel, they will reserve or ring-fence an amount of money from your credit limit. It costs you nothing and once you return the car undamaged or check out of the hotel and pay your bill, the reserve is lifted and you will see no reference to it on your next bill.

Car rentals companies do this if you decline their insurance. Hotels do it all the time, in case you do a runner or you go mad in the local restaurants or shops, blow your credit limit and then cannot pay your hotel bill when checking out.

Whereas if you rent a car with a debit card and decline their insurance, they will debit your card with the excess and you usually have to wait a few days before this money is refunded after you return the car. A lot of people don't have that amount of money in their account, so they're effectively forced to buy the rip-off insurance provided by the rental company.

That’s great but the title of the thread is car rental WITHOUT a credit card!

Del2005

dragona wrote: »

Very interested. Am looking to hire a car this Sumner in Italy. Don't have a credit card, and never ever will. Have a debit card of course. What are my options then?

Have enough for the excess available in your current account. Don't forget that you will need to eat and the money won't be unblocked till a few days after you return the car., so you will need to have enough money in your account to pay any bills/ standing orders after you get home or even when you are away on top of the excess they charge.

Or else you can get the very expensive and restricted insurance from the rental company and not worry.

Dodge

coylemj wrote: »

But in the case of a credit card, the reserve comes off your credit limit. Which is not real money. Whereras in the case of a debit card, they debit the money from you. Which is real money.

Either way they’re treated the same. Either they hold money in your current account or they hold money on your credit limit.

A person may have a small credit card limit but much more in their account. It’s up to them how they manage that. Sounds like a CC hold suits you better but I’m just pointing out that every company I’ve dealt with has treated them the same

coylemj

Nigzcurran wrote: »

That’s great but the title of the thread is car rental WITHOUT a credit card!

So we're not allowed to discuss the differences between renting with the two types of card?

This topic always ventures into the advantages of having a credit card when renting a car.

My daughter worked in a well known relantal company office for a while.

Make sure you get separate insurance or you could end up with many tens of thousands in bills should you have an accident. They not only charge to fix the damage but charge full premium rental rate while the car is off the road. One person had an € 3000 bill when a bird flew into the grill of the car on the motorway. Apparently it was a hard to find part and the car was off the road for 2 months or so they said.

coylemj

Deleted User wrote: »

My daughter worked in a well known relantal company office for a while.

Make sure you get separate insurance or you could end up with many tens of thousands in bills should you have an accident. They not only charge to fix the damage but charge full premium rental rate while the car is off the road. One person had an € 3000 bill when a bird flew into the grill of the car on the motorway. Apparently it was a hard to find part and the car was off the road for 2 months or so they said.

Please name this 'well known' rental company.

When you rent a car, there is an 'excess' which you need to cover, the rental company's insurance covers the rest. You cannot be liable for 'tens of thousands in bills', that is complete garbage.

Claiming that the radiator grille was a 'hard to find' part was really taking the p1ss.

Boxcar_Willie

I use Indigo all the time .
UK based but will arrange a car anywhere.
It's usually an Enterprise car .

Pay nothing on booking then €200 deposit on debit card at time of rental which is refunded on return .

Good rates too . Ask for debit card rental .

https://indigocarhire.co.uk

CelticRambler

Contrary to (what seems to be) the majority opinion on this thread, it is not normal in continental Europe to have/use a credit card. At all.

My sister's lived in Germany for about ten years and has never had a credit card; I've lived in France for more than 15 years and only got one last year specifically for the purposes of car-hire in Africa.

So just about all the rental companies are used to dealing with people who only have a debit card. Other forms of security are proposed if you ask. As it turned out, the credit card I ordered didn't arrive on time, so it was a waste of effort; the car hire company gave me three other options for leaving a deposit - debit card, cash or bank transfer.

CelticRambler

CelticRambler wrote: »

Contrary to (what seems to be) the majority opinion on this thread, it is not normal in continental Europe to have/use a credit card. At all.

My sister's lived in Germany for about ten years and has never had a credit card; I've lived in France for more than 15 years and only got one last year specifically for the purposes of car-hire in Africa.

So just about all the rental companies are used to dealing with people who only have a debit card. Other forms of security are proposed if you ask. As it turned out, the credit card I ordered didn't arrive on time, so it was a waste of effort; the car hire company gave me three other options for leaving a deposit - debit card, cash or bank transfer.

yes but you just proved the point really.

I have a credit card pretty much only for the purposes of car hire and staying in hotels. (and possibly for the purpose if I need to get out of hole in an emergency). For a lot of people it's the case.

with a debit card you'll have to have maybe 1500 in your account and willing to have that taken for the purposes of car hire

bank transfer is a lot of hassle even with internet banking (setting up new iban to transfer to etc, do it days in advance etc)

cash - also an annoying option (especially where it could be another currency)

CelticRambler

glasso wrote: »

yes but you just proved the point really.

I have a credit card pretty much only for the purposes of car hire and staying in hotels. (and possibly for the purpose if I need to get out of hole in an emergency). For a lot of people it's the case.

Nope, point not proven! I had to jump through several hoops to get the card, and it didn't arrive on time. Now it's just one more card/account that I have to keep track of and serves no useful purpose for me, living in a continent where debit cards are the norm.

The OP isn't asking if/why/where they should get a credit card, but whether/how to rent a car without one. :rolleyes:

CelticRambler

CelticRambler wrote: »

Nope, point not proven! I had to jump through several hoops to get the card, and it didn't arrive on time. Now it's just one more card/account that I have to keep track of and serves no useful purpose for me, living in a continent where debit cards are the norm.

The OP isn't asking if/why/where they should get a credit card, but whether/how to rent a car without one. :rolleyes:

So you get a credit card for the purposes of renting a car and you don't see how that proves the point of requiring a credit card to rent a car?



There may be ways around using a credit card for car rental but

1. it may restrict your choice to a higher cost provider

2. it's usually way more hassle unless it's where a debit card is an option and even then you need to have a largish amount of money in your current account purely for the purpose of this situation and have it taken out of your account rather than just blocked out on a credit card.

And the same goes for staying at hotels.

CelticRambler

glasso wrote: »

So you get a credit card for the purposes of renting a car and you don't see how that proves the point of requiring a credit card to rent a car?



There may be ways around using a credit card for car rental but

1. it may restrict your choice to a higher cost provider

2. it's usually way more hassle unless it's where a debit card is an option

And the same goes for staying at hotels.

It was way more hassle to get the credit card than it was to use one of the other methods offered by the rental company! Simple as that. I have never (ever) had any trouble paying for a hotel with a debit card.

Oh, and the rental company I used was the cheapest I could find. They even included a paragraph in the Ts&Cs to say "don't worry about the vehicle getting scratched, we're used to it."

wonski

Car rentals, boat rentals etc. Credit card just makes it all easier.

Including the continent. After Visa debit became more common some companies are more willing to accept, or just accept or even some card numbers (happened to me with Halifax debit card) are linked to credit card on the system rather than debit.

Reality is credit card makes it easier and the block on the card is easier to manage.

Debit card is becoming more and more like a credit card when it comes to acceptance, but there are advantages using a credit card.

CelticRambler

Mr.S wrote: »

Nonsense.

Germany is the exception.

Well I regularly take payment by card from members of the public in France, and it's a rare day that I see a credit card presented, so I'm sorry to say that the two biggest economies in Europe are not exceptional. :P

Mr.S wrote: »

And didn't you just prove the point of having a credit card is far easier because you don't need to deal with extra deposits

See above. It took two months to get a credit card, which was 6 weeks too late to be useful; it took 2 minutes to sort out an alternative deposit.

CelticRambler

Mr.S wrote: »

Yes but the point is it you already had a credit card, you wouldn't have to do any sort of extra deposit or hold.

The point is that the OP doesn't have a credit card, and may not be able to get one (or want one). For all we know, this may be first and last time they hire a car, so all this advice to simply apply for a credit card doesn't address the OP's enquiry.

wonski

CelticRambler wrote: »

The point is that the OP doesn't have a credit card, and may not be able to get one (or want one). For all we know, this may be first and last time they hire a car, so all this advice to simply apply for a credit card doesn't address the OP's enquiry.

Therefore the op can pay extra for the rental company to not to have weeks wage blocked while on holidays and this was also posted here.

There are just two options.

One costs a lot of money, one doesn't.

Let the op decide.

The general idea was if one doesn't want it just because, then he will have to pay premium when it only costs 30 a year in general unless you use it for something else.

We are adults and know how credit card works. You don't have to use it. But it helps sometimes.

CelticRambler

CelticRambler wrote: »

It was way more hassle to get the credit card than it was to use one of the other methods offered by the rental company! Simple as that. I have never (ever) had any trouble paying for a hotel with a debit card.

Oh, and the rental company I used was the cheapest I could find. They even included a paragraph in the Ts&Cs to say "don't worry about the vehicle getting scratched, we're used to it."

I'm not talking about paying for a hotel.

if you've every stayed at a hotel with a minibar or room service or room-charging you would know that upon check-in they look for a credit card to put a charge block on - same concept as car rental