Car rental without a credit card?

Intifada

Going on holiday next week and have just found out you need a credit card to rent a car, presumed you could just use a debit or a cash deposit or something

One of the people in the group does have a credit card but they don't drive. The person(s) who drives have debit cards.

We absolutely need a car for where we're going.

Are we f***ed?

henryporter

I think it's pretty standard for all car hire companies to require a credit card in the name of the driver - they normally put an amount on the card way higher that the rental amount in case you mangle the car. Any chance of getting a credit card organised before then?

whomitconcerns

debit card generally cant be used. I think you have a serious problem. For the major rental companies anyway.

Solution...Person who has CC rents car and pays for extra driver, Extra driver is actual driver.

Does cc person have a licence?

Marcusm

Some will accept a hold on a debit card or cash deposit but I don't think it's a good way to go. If the charge for an additional driver is not too high and the person is willing, add them for the credit card usage. I did that a number of times in the past before I had any type of licence.

Intifada

Fair to say the person with the credit card doesn't have a license, otherwise there wouldn't be any issue.

I don't understand why the driver has to be the one who pays. What difference does it make as long as they're paid?

BailMeOut

where are you going? If by chance you are heading to Portugal I know of a company that does not need a credit card.

Intifada

France unfortunately, but thanks for the thought

Marcusm

Intifada wrote: »

Fair to say the person with the credit card doesn't have a license, otherwise there wouldn't be any issue.

I don't understand why the driver has to be the one who pays. What difference does it make as long as they're paid?

The person who signs the contract (generally called main driver) has to be the one with the credit card as otherwise the rental co doesn't have a clear legal claim against them. As a non licence holder, I rented in Italy, Spain, Iteland and the UK and used my card. Generally I did all the arrangements and my friends did the driving. If you set it up that way, I would hope the rental co wouldn't have a problem. You might need to reinforce that they won't do any actual driving!

readytosnap

or load a prepaid credit card before you go, once there is enough on it there shouldnt be a problem.

ProudDUB

readytosnap wrote: »

or load a prepaid credit card before you go, once there is enough on it there shouldnt be a problem.

Most car rental companies treat pre paid cards the same way as debit cards. They won't accept them, as they can only come after you for the amount that you have on the card. So if you do damage to the car that costs more to fix, than you have on the card, they have no come back against you. With a credit card that is issued by one of the major credit card companies (such as AmEx, Visa, Mastercard) the car rental company can bill them and, then the credit card company come after you.

readytosnap

ProudDUB wrote: »

Most car rental companies treat pre paid cards the same way as debit cards. They won't accept them, as they can only come after you for the amount that you have on the card. So if you do damage to the car that costs more to fix, than you have on the card, they have no come back against you. With a credit card that is issued by one of the major credit card companies (such as AmEx, Visa, Mastercard) the car rental company can bill them and, then the credit card company come after you.

Le Bicycle so

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Fratton Fred

I've rented cars in Ireland and Spain without a credit card. You have to take out the full level of insurance /cdw and they take a deposit on your card, but it's easily do able.