Credit card vs debit car for renting a car from Dublin airport.

Nicknamed

Hi recently rented a car in my debit card.
The agent said some charges were avoidable if it was a credit card not sure which ones.
Have a look on the section of receipt attached.
My question is if I get a credit card which of these items would become less expensive?
Thank you.

leonffrench

If the 1500 was prepaid on your debit card it comes out of your account but will go back in 3 to 5 days later. If you did that on credit card it would only be "held" and wouldn't actually come out

testicles

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coylemj

testicles wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Unless your bank allows the zap to your debit card to spare you the embarrassment and inconvenience of being refused a rental car but then hammers you for an unauthorised overdrawal. Because (taking the OP's situation), not everyone has a credit balance or facility of €1,500 in their current account.

For most people, the credit card cover for this situation (similar to what happens when you check in to a hotel) is invisible unless they are operating close to their credit limit.

mickdw

I think the point is that when using debit, the hire company will require you to take out full excess cover whereas with credit card, not so.

zilog_jones

Pre-authorisation on debit cards can potentially lead to double the amount temporarily being debited from your account - I've had this happen with a hotel before and it was not fun. I'd strongly recommend using credit cards for car rental and hotel bookings after experiencing this.

coylemj

mickdw wrote: »

I think the point is that when using debit, the hire company will require you to take out full excess cover whereas with credit card, not so.

Only if your debit card cannot pony up a deposit to cover damage to the car. But because they are getting commission for selling you the insurance, they will attempt to use any leverage they can to get you to buy the insurance.

In practice (because they don't have enough money in their account), a lot of people renting a car using a debit card will have no choice but to accept the insurance. While most credit card users will have enough headroom in their account to deal with it.

Samuel T. Cogley

Some car rental places, especially abroad, will not entertain debit cards.

Nicknamed

Thanks.
I got a quote from a comparison website. But when I went to get the car the actual price I had to pay was 4 times higher.
Agent says it’s because I’m using debit card. Sounded ridiculous but he showed me the small print outs. I was with family so didn’t want to make a scene or argue much.
Thinking of getting a credit card for this reason although have never needed it otherwise. Debit card works very well on internet POS etc.
So the impression I’m getting is that it was not the debit vs credit card issue, rather comparison site quote vs actual car hire company’s cost. The comparison site probably gets customers in, once you are standing at the counter 90% would have no option but to pay whatever is put in front. Thanks

evolving_doors

Nicknamed wrote: »

Thanks.
I got a quote from a comparison website. But when I went to get the car the actual price I had to pay was 4 times higher.
Agent says it’s because I’m using debit card. Sounded ridiculous but he showed me the small print outs. I was with family so didn’t want to make a scene or argue much.
Thinking of getting a credit card for this reason although have never needed it otherwise. Debit card works very well on internet POS etc.
So the impression I’m getting is that it was not the debit vs credit card issue, rather comparison site quote vs actual car hire company’s cost. The comparison site probably gets customers in, once you are standing at the counter 90% would have no option but to pay whatever is put in front. Thanks

Ya I got stung for this. The site accepted my booking no probs but when I went to the desk I had to take out full excess when they saw it was a debit card.

delly

There are a very few hire companies that will allow you to use a debit card, it's just not the done thing. When you do use it, they will either hold a crazy amount on pre auth or insist you take the zero insurance. I had a similar problem a few years back when the Celtic Tiger crash and my credit card parted ways. I never missed it except when it came to hiring a car.

Nicknamed

coylemj wrote: »

Only if your debit card cannot pony up a deposit to cover damage to the car. But because they are getting commission for selling you the insurance, they will attempt to use any leverage they can to get you to buy the insurance.

In practice (because they don't have enough money in their account), a lot of people renting a car using a debit card will have no choice but to accept the insurance. While most credit card users will have enough headroom in their account to deal with it.

Which insurance ? You mean that with credit card one doesn’t need insurance?

wonski

Nicknamed wrote: »

Which insurance ? You mean that with credit card one doesn’t need insurance?

There are two tiers of insurance. If you don't take their zero excess policy they will ask you for a larger deposit. If you have a credit card you are more likely to have some balance available than let's say 2k sitting idle in your current account just before holiday.

Their policy can easily double the rental price depending on location.

Your original quote didn't include additional insurance hence the higher price at collection point.

Nicknamed

wonski wrote: »

There are two tiers of insurance. If you don't take their zero excess policy they will ask you for a larger deposit. If you have a credit card you are more likely to have some balance available than let's say 2k sitting idle in your current account just before holiday.

Their policy can easily double the rental price depending on location.

Your original quote didn't include additional insurance hence the higher price at collection point.

This sounds familiar to what the guy was saying on the desk!
So In nutshell. I show my credit card and say I don’t wan’t their zero access policy and they can then hold higher amount of money from my card.

Is there any disadvantage of not taking the zero access policy ?

wonski

Nicknamed wrote: »

This sounds familiar to what the guy was saying on the desk!
So In nutshell. I show my credit card and say I don’t wan’t their zero access policy and they can then hold higher amount of money from my card.

Is there any disadvantage of not taking the zero access policy ?

If you damage the car, you lose the excess, which could be a lot of money.

If you buy the policy you return the car and don't worry about anything.

coylemj

Nicknamed wrote: »

So In nutshell. I show my credit card and say I don’t wan’t their zero access policy and they can then hold higher amount of money from my card.

They will still try it on with the insurance and people with debit cards appear to get screwed around badly in that regard - see posts above.

But people with credit cards can usually get away with declining the insurance. If you're dealing with the larger companies, they tend to not to push it too hard. All they do with credit card renters is that they ringfence a portion of your unused credit, you won't see it on your bill and if you return the car undamaged, it's a completely invisible transaction.

But as poster Wonski says, it comes with the risk that you will be liable for damage up to the excess covered by the standard insurance. So you are taking on risk but on a value for money basis, it's a complete rip-off. Hence the market for excess insurance independent of the rental company which a lot of people take out before going on holidays.

vandriver

I've used a UK company indigo car hire twice for hiring cars with a debit card.The hire company just block £200 on your card.
(Disclaimer:I've caved in and bought the hugely expensive zero excess insurance at the desk both times,so they may have taken a bigger deposit if I hadn't)

Samuel T. Cogley

Credit Card and 3rd party excess insurance is my advice.

tcawley29

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Credit Card and 3rd party excess insurance is my advice.

Has anyone came across any of these 3rd party excess insurances that offer to people who are not a resident in Ireland any more?

TomOnBoard

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Credit Card and 3rd party excess insurance is my advice.

+1

And a good inspection of the car when you get it to make sure any damage both inside and outside are logged on the rental documents.

I've hired cars in many places in Europe and US. I would never hire without buying an excess insurance policy independent of the hirer. I've also tended to avoid the cheaper outfits and use cars from the established multinationals like Hertz, Europcar, Avis etc.although I've also had some bad experiences with them. However, I've hardly ever hired from some of the other outfits without incurring significant extra charges and loads of hassle when handing the car back. And of course, they have you over a barrel when you're handing the car back coz they know youre in a big hurry to catch your flight...

Also, I never wait until I get to the desk to hire. any of the companies I've mentioned will have OK prices on the Ryanair or Aer Lingus car hire tabs or you can use someone like autoeurope.ie

HTH

TomOnBoard

tcawley29 wrote: »

Has anyone came across any of these 3rd party excess insurances that offer to people who are not a resident in Ireland any more?

Depends on where you do live I suppose. I know that car hire excess offers in UK as well.

tcawley29

TomOnBoard wrote: »

Depends on where you do live I suppose. I know that car hire excess offers in UK as well.

I'm in the states now. Although I haven't looked too hard either. Some day I'll hopefully get a chance to sit down and look properly.

I was just taking a long shot that someone here may know

vandriver

Are there any websites/companies that quote for the full package including zero excess?

TomOnBoard

vandriver wrote: »

Are there any websites/companies that quote for the full package including zero excess?

Autoeurope.ie sometimes do a Zero excess package. However I think its just that they agree to cover the loss of excess, rather than the hire company so when you get to the desk, I'm not sure what they would do if/when you would give them a debit card rather than a credit card.

Pat Mustard

For flights, hotels and car rental, use credit card.

If you use your credit card and something unusual happens where you get charged for something that you shouldn't, it's the credit card company that pays the merchant. You will have time to dispute an unfair or inappropriate debit that shows up on your credit card account.

If you use your debit card, the merchant takes your money out of your account. I won't say that you won't get it back if it was taken unfairly but it can be a pain to do so.

Safer to use credit card for car rental, imo.

EDIT: Just realised that I haven't answered the question that was actually asked!

Nicknamed

Rightoz. Thanks for your helpful inputs.
I’m attaching a quote now for some dates in July.
What do you think I will end up paying at the desk? It’s 87 here.
(Assuming I will use a credit card and I will say to them that I don’t want zero excess insurance)

TomOnBoard

Nicknamed wrote: »

Hi recently rented a car in my debit card.
The agent said some charges were avoidable if it was a credit card not sure which ones.
Have a look on the section of receipt attached.
My question is if I get a credit card which of these items would become less expensive?
Thank you.

You were charged to reduce the LDW to 0. If you had used a credit card, this would be optional.

km991148

TomOnBoard wrote: »

Depends on where you do live I suppose. I know that car hire excess offers in UK as well.

insurance4carhire. Can reside anywhere in EU. A friend claimed on them recently as well and was easy process.

L1011

tcawley29 wrote: »

I'm in the states now. Although I haven't looked too hard either. Some day I'll hopefully get a chance to sit down and look properly.

I was just taking a long shot that someone here may know

That cover is usually offered by premium credit cards in the US.


Some banks will hold the 'temporary hold' for up to three weeks on a debit card. The money is unusable at all during that time period. I would recommend never using a debit card for stuff designed for a credit card - car hire, hotel pre-auths and card payment fuel pumps basically.

TheChizler

If you can afford to be without the excess cost until you give the car back or it won't put you over your credit limit then get excess cover with a third party provider. I've used Blue Insurance but there are loads others. The rental company might offer insurance for say €100 but you can get it elsewhere for €20 for example.

If you buy their insurance they know for sure any damage is covered and don't need to pay the excess up front, if you go elsewhere they can't be sure it will be covered so take the excess/deposit to be safe. If something happens they take the cost of repair from that and you claim back from the third party provider.

If you do this it's not unknown for them to lie and say you need to get their insurance, for example imply that you won't get the excess back, or use other dirty tricks to confuse you. Just be firm with them and refuse to take it.

L1011

Blue Insurance's excess cover goes to 7,500 - the excess on the "no insurance" with Hertz starts at 10,000 for a Cat A and goes up. So there can be a significant shortfall if you write off the car depending on the rental firm.

Nicknamed

Nicknamed wrote: »

Rightoz. Thanks for your helpful inputs.
I’m attaching a quote now for some dates in July.
What do you think I will end up paying at the desk? It’s 87 here.
(Assuming I will use a credit card and I will say to them that I don’t want zero excess insurance)

This quote seems to have the insurance cover. Does it still mean, I will be asked to buy more insurance at the counter?

If I have blue insurance for this rental would the price come down further? Thanks

L1011

Nicknamed wrote: »

This quote seems to have the insurance cover. Does it still mean, I will be asked to buy more insurance at the counter?

The only potential may be personal injury cover I'd guess
edit: checking Budgets insurance names, they don't have the excess waiver there so they will almost certainly offer that at the counter

Nicknamed wrote: »

If I have blue insurance for this rental would the price come down further? Thanks

You can refuse the loss waivers but, excess cover or not, if you use a debit card they will take a huge hold on cash in your current account until the car is returned and the bank may take days or weeks to release the funds back to you.

Nicknamed

L1011 wrote: »

The only potential may be personal injury cover I'd guess




You can refuse the loss waivers but, excess cover or not, if you use a debit card they will take a huge hold on cash in your current account until the car is returned and the bank may take days or weeks to release the funds back to you.

I will be able to use a credit card for this booking

L1011

Nicknamed wrote: »

I will be able to use a credit card for this booking

In that case you may be able to refuse the collision damage waiver from that quote but it won't save much - a few euro. And you'd want to ensure that your excess cover from elsewhere covers enough

There are usually 5 (or 6) layers of insurance on hire cars...

*you have third party insurance included with the quote as its a legal requirement basically everywhere. You really can't ever get rid of this
*you have the collision damage waiver which reduces your excess for first party damage down to under a grand normally - from 10-30k or so depending on the car. Some insurers let you get rid of this, some don't
*you may have theft insurance, which may or may not have its own excess. This may or may not be optional.
*you have the 'super' collision damage waiver or excess insuraace which brings the excess to nil for damage and may or may not bring the theft excess to nil. This is nearly always optional but I've seen deals for under-25s requiring it
*if it doesn't bring the theft excess to nil, there may be another optional one to do this
*you have personal injury insurance, this is nearly always optional

redcup342

I have a credit card pretty much for car rentals only and I also use it to book flights for airlines I think might go bust soon

Other than that I use Debit card for everything else.