Car hire with debit card only in Germany

Our man in Havana

Does anyone know of any firms at either Düsseldorf or Frankfurt airports that will hire just with a debit card?

munchkin_utd

Europcar should do it.
They accept EC-Karte (i.e. maestro system) debit cards for cars smaller than "Mittelklasse", so a "Kompact" class car like a golf can be rented no problem.
http://www.europcar.de/EBE/module/render/pkw-vermietung
(not sure where theres an english version of that though)

They allow reservation with payment on the day so you can make the reservation first and then just pick up the phone and ring the branch directly and ask for confirmation that your card is ok for paying with (who knows if your exact debit card type is ok, theres so many types incl. debit visa card and whatnot)

The one negative is that they might book a few hundred euro off your card as a deposit on top of the hire cost.
But if you dont want to pay by credit card thats probably a hit you'll have to take regardless of where you book.

Our man in Havana

Thank you so much for that info.

I has 2 debit cards, 1 visa debit and 1 visa electron. I hope one of them will do the job. I only need a small car for 3 or 4 days.

Hopefully there will be no problems.

keithclancy

Visa Debit and Visa Electron do not work in most of Germany, Maestro is usually only accepted along with EC-Karte. Even Maestro is hit and miss, hence why I have a German EC-Karte because my Dutch Maestro Card and Irish Visa Credit card just simply don't work in allot of places, same with the Missus's Mastercard debit card.

Also if you do hire with Debit Card then you need to take the extra insurance to reduce your excess to Zero, otherwise you will need (in the case of Europcar) 850 euros (For a normal class car) available on your Debit card for them to hold which will be either refunded or released upon return and inspection of the Vehicle.

You can see this under the "Haftung / Selbstbeteiligung" Section:

you can create a Collision Damage Waiver (LDW) from, you reduce your liability to the ever-remaining excess. This amounts per claim EUR 850, - for cars up to the upper middle class, € 1050

For renting cards form Sixt,Europcar,Hertz etc, A Visa Credit card with sufficent balance to cover the hirers excess is the only option thats ever worked for me.

In short, the only thing you can rely on is that it will work in an ATM Machine.

I also have seperate insurance policy to reduce my Car Hire excess to Zero, however this does not reduce your personal liability to zero, hence you still need to let them hold the excess.

Our man in Havana

Back to square one again.

I have never had a problem using visa debit in hotels, petrol stations etc in Germany. Actually I found the ATMs more hit and miss.

mikedragon32

Travel to Germany frequently and have used Visa Debit with no problems at all, even in the ar$ehole of Bavaria!

Anyway, subject to the card working Keith's advice is spot on!

Our man in Havana

So am I on a hiding to nothing?

mikedragon32

If worst comes to the worst and they don't accept your card, they may accept cash?

keithclancy

mikedragon32 wrote: »

Travel to Germany frequently and have used Visa Debit with no problems at all, even in the ar$ehole of Bavaria!

Anyway, subject to the card working Keith's advice is spot on!

Work in Germany every day and don't bother with foreign Debit cards anymore, .. had to drive to two seperate ATM's to get out 800 euros to pay a bill a a few months ago.

ATM has always been fine, unless its some mickey mouse Sparkasse in a tiny village.

I always carry cash incase the Plastic doesn't work Never have a problem in Hotels though, shops, i'd say maybe 50-60% takes Visa Credit cards in Duesseldorf, the rest are EC-Karte only.

Maybe give them a ring and ask if you can pay in cash, just in case.

Honestly its no different for a foreigner going to Ireland, why the f won't Tesco take my Maestro card but Dunnes do

Our man in Havana

I have found ATMs that only accept Maestro cards and this was in a city too. Also ATMs that had the visa sign that would not work resulting in a having to try another bank.

I reckon a major company like Europcar would accept visa debit.

keithclancy

Our man in Havana wrote: »

I have found ATMs that only accept Maestro cards and this was in a city too. Also ATMs that had the visa sign that would not work resulting in a having to try another bank.

I reckon a major company like Europcar would accept visa debit.

Indeed, thats because an EC-Karte is a Maestro Card. I've never had a problem with my ABN Amro Maestro card in ATM's, its even cheaper to withdraw money on my Dutch Card than my German Card (Stadtsparkasse Duesseldorf) at a non Sparkasse ATM.

Maestro - always fine in ATM's
Maestro at Payment Terminals - hit and miss, allot of the time ONLY EC-Karte/Maestro accepted, foreign Maestro cards not accepted.
Visa Credit, usually fine at Hotels, Car Rental.
German Visa Debit - Fine.
Foreign Visa Debit - Useless.

Thats my experience anyway since 2008 till present day as a cross border worker (Netherlands - Germany)

AFAIK its to do with the Fees for different payment systems.

With my Irish MBNA Card i've never had a problem renting anywhere in the world. With a Debit card it works fine in your own country, dont rely on it at payment terminals abroad.

The staff won't know for sure anyway until they stick it through the card reader.

munchkin_utd

keithclancy wrote: »

With a Debit card it works fine in your own country, dont rely on it at payment terminals abroad.

The staff won't know for sure anyway until they stick it through the card reader.

Probably the essential essence of the thread there in that sentence!

Or you could read it as why not get a proper credit card and be done with it!
If you're often enough abroad then it'll be worth having just to be assured that you have a card that will work than might work.

Our man in Havana

I have moved away from Ireland for a while now, so I can't get a proper credit card. I has plenty of cash should it come down to having to leave a deposit.

So the long and the short of it is if the card works they will take it as a payment method?

keithclancy

Our man in Havana wrote: »

I have moved away from Ireland for a while now, so I can't get a proper credit card. I has plenty of cash should it come down to having to leave a deposit.

So the long and the short of it is if the card works they will take it as a payment method?

You've answered your own question, if it works then they take it as payment.

If its not a Credit Card then you'll have to either take out maximum insurance or leave a deposit.

Fratton Fred

Apparantly you can use a "One Trip Travel Order", whatever the hell that is.