Car rental without a credit card-possible?

TheCorkman22

Hi there, I'm travelling to the continent in June and I'm currently looking for a rental car. I don't have a credit card and don't want one either, most require it as proof and for payment, so any suggestions about companies that accept cash or debit cards are appreciated.

coylemj

Going to 'the continent' is so 1960s!! A lot of car rental involves franchises so the rules can vary from country to country, even within one of the majors. Say what country you're going to so people can quote from experience and you'll know the rules that apply in the country you're planning to visit.

Your best bet in my opinion is to go to the websites of the major rental companies in the country you're visiting and see what they say in the terms and conditions.

munchkin_utd

before you go killing yourself going through reams of terms and conditions you should be happy to pay the full rental amount in advance on pickup of car, plus either pay the excess (€1800 or more) or the super duper insurance plus a tank of petrol, in cash. I wouldn't even be surprised if they wanted a bit extra of a deposit too, just in case you were late dropping the car back or incurred a cleaning charge or other charge not covered by any insurance.
And all that is the reason why a credit card is preferable to a debit card from the car rental companies perspective.
To answer the specific question, I researched it for Germany and only sixt seemed to do it, but even then seemingly only for German debit cards.
If going to the euros(in June) then consider the train which is as little as €15 for Paris to Bordeaux for example if booked in advance, and you can book already for main tgv routes.

K.Flyer

Enterprise car rentals in Germany will take a Visa Debit Card. (Did for me in May June July this year )
If you take the bells and whistles insurance there is no deposit, if you take the lesser insurance the deposit if I remember was about 1,400 euro. Full tank out, full tank back.
Long term works out much cheaper as well.

anothernight

We rented a car in Spain with Europcar this year without a credit card, and only had to pay €100-€150 as a refundable deposit (can't remember the exact figure).

No other car company would rent without a credit card though.

Your best bet is to simply ring the companies available in the area. With Europcar, we got a better price by booking through the phone than by booking it online, and they said that's quite common.

Fred Swanson

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coylemj

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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Did you take the fully comp. insurance? That's usually the price (literally) that you pay for them not taking a large amount of cash from a debit card as a deposit in case you bring the car back damaged.

J.pilkington

coylemj wrote: »

Did you take the fully comp. insurance? That's usually the price (literally) that you pay for them not taking a large amount of cash from a debit card as a deposit in case you bring the car back damaged.

Need to be clear about the insurance as there are so many types offered by the rental cos, it's the damage waiver insurance you need which will reduce the excess down from €1k to a lower amount (as low as zero) and its this lower amount they will temporarily charge to your card(may also look for a deposit for m50 tolls/fuel).

All their other insurance offerings such as personal are really just a cod and should be avoided as this is how they really make their money with a big up sell at th counter

bren2002

Are you travelling alone or with someone? The card doesn't need to be in the same name as the driver.

J.pilkington

bren2002 wrote: »

Are you travelling alone or with someone? The card doesn't need to be in the same name as the driver.

some companies (larger ones) do insist on the credit card holder being a driver and won't give the car otherwise

BailMeOut

I have rented cars in Portugal and Greece without using a credit card. I have credit cards but renter was happy to take cash. Where are you going and as I can send / post detail of the two options if you want.

bren2002

J.pilkington wrote: »

some companies (larger ones) do insist on the credit card holder being a driver and won't give the car otherwise

I had not come across that myself. In particular in France I was behind a family trying to rent a car on a maxed credit card, so obviously the €1,000 image wasn't going through. They would take any card but it had to be present, over the phone wouldn't do. I suppose you could name both people as drivers.

Fred Swanson

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