Alternative for credit card for car rental abroad

You can use a debit card with some but not all rental companies. But you need to be prepared for the rental company to debit (withdraw) an amount of money equal to the excess on the rental when you turn up at the desk in the airport. The excess is the potential damage that will not be covered by the standard policy on the rental. If you bring the car back undamaged, they refund you the money.

Generally, the cheaper the rental, the higher the excess so if you go for a cowboy budget outfit, you will need a shedload of money in your currrent account to satisfy what is effectively a deposit against possible damage you cause to the rented car and which cannot be claimed from a third party i.e. it was your fault.

Of course, you can reduce the size of the excess by buying the additional insurance that the rental company will offer you. Which is the whole point of having a large excess. And, including the rip-off insurance, you will probably end up paying more for the rental than if you had gone for a more expensive quote in the first place.

Even if you only rent once a year, I'd say that the €30 Govt. duty on credit cards is worth paying. As an alternative to having your current account drained on the first day of your holiday. With a credit card, the rental company ringfences part of your credit limit and you never see it as a transaction.

Good point. From the beginning of 2024, the charging period has changed to the calendar year and if you close a credit card account now, the bank will hit you with the €30 levy there and then. So OP might as well hang on to the card as least for the remainder of 2024.