Airport car rental without credit card

roguey · 21-05-2019 12:44pm #1

Hi guys,

I booked a trip to see family in the south of Spain very last minute. We are going next Tuesday. Flying into Faro airport. I wanted to hire a car as where we are staying is a bit remote etc etc.

I booked a car through RyanAir with FireFly rentals, which are a subsidiary of Hertz. But they seem to require a credit card for taking the deposit, which I don't have.

I have in recent month booked a hire car from enterprise on multiple occasions using my business debit card (I am self employed). My question is, does anyone know of any company that will accept this instead of a credit card like enterprise does? I tried to book enterprise at Faro, but they have nothing available.

Thanks

ITDept · 21-05-2019 12:53pm

I've used Firefly previously and they were OK with my debit card. I'm not saying they definitely will be OK this time, but it was never a problem for me before. They hold a deposit which is not refunded for about 10 days after the end of the holiday.

chicorytip · 21-05-2019 1:07pm

roguey wrote:

I have in recent month booked a hire car from enterprise on multiple occasions using my business debit card (I am self employed). My question is, does anyone know of any company that will accept this instead of a credit card like enterprise does? I tried to book enterprise at Faro, but they have nothing available.

It's important to differentiate here between booking the rental and paying for it. All car rental companies will accept debit cards if you are making a booking online. The problem arises when you arrive at the desk and have to pay the charge. No form of payment other than a major credit card will be accepted as payment for the rental. This is the norm across the industry so if you intend to hire a car anywhere, either home or abroad, you will need one in your wallet.

roguey · 21-05-2019 1:10pm

chicorytip wrote: »

It's important to differentiate here between booking the rental and paying for it. All car rental companies will accept debit cards if you are making a booking online. The problem arises when you arrive at the desk and have to pay the charge. No form of payment other than a major credit card will be accepted as payment for the rental. This is the norm across the industry so if you intend to hire a car anywhere, either home or abroad, you will need one in your wallet.

I am aware of this, and as I have said, this is not strictly true. Enterprise will accept my business debit card, I am wondering if there are any other companies that will do the same.

Tzardine · 21-05-2019 1:11pm

AVIS accept a debit card for both payment and deposit. I use them 3-4 times a year in Spain. Never a problem..

PhuckHugh22 · 21-05-2019 1:13pm

Had this issue before. Hertz themselves will accept a debit card once you have the required funds in your account to cover the excess. Use them on most trips and the always accept my debit card.

Tzardine · 21-05-2019 1:17pm

Also, check out CICAR. They are brilliant. You don't need a credit card and they take no deposit. The rate includes all insurance with zero excess.

In mainland Spain they are partnered with Enterprise. So you get an Enterprise car from the Enterprise desk. Have used them quite a bit and they are always great. The last time I used them I booked a focus. I got a Mondeo with about 19km on the clock. Was brand new.

Rows Grower · 21-05-2019 1:30pm

Indigo will accept debit cards and are a great crowd to deal with, very competitive rates and you'll be picking your car up from one of the main companies desks at the airport.

roguey · 21-05-2019 1:45pm

ITDept wrote: »

I've used Firefly previously and they were OK with my debit card. I'm not saying they definitely will be OK this time, but it was never a problem for me before. They hold a deposit which is not refunded for about 10 days after the end of the holiday.

Thats what enterprise have done with me before. How much do they ask for the deposit?

Phileas Frog · 21-05-2019 1:49pm

chicorytip wrote: »

It's important to differentiate here between booking the rental and paying for it. All car rental companies will accept debit cards if you are making a booking online. The problem arises when you arrive at the desk and have to pay the charge. No form of payment other than a major credit card will be accepted as payment for the rental. This is the norm across the industry so if you intend to hire a car anywhere, either home or abroad, you will need one in your wallet.

Utter claptrap. Most companies allow a debit card when paying, but will require a hefty deposit.

ITDept · 21-05-2019 2:53pm

roguey wrote: »

Thats what enterprise have done with me before. How much do they ask for the deposit?

In my case it's usually between €300 and €500 depending on the car and the duration. As someone posted above, it's probably related to the insurance excess. I've rented several cars with them, and several from other companies and never had any problem, and it was always around the same deposit.

chicorytip · 21-05-2019 5:22pm

Phileas Frog wrote:

Utter claptrap. Most companies allow a debit card when paying, but will require a hefty deposit.

That is simply untrue. I know from personal experience. Hertz, Avis, Enterprise and the other major companies apply this rule. It's clearly listed in their terms and conditions.

Marcusm · 21-05-2019 6:20pm

roguey wrote: »

Thats what enterprise have done with me before. How much do they ask for the deposit?

I was at Hertz Faro a few weeks ago. The people in front of me had this problem. Think it was €2,600 for the car they had booked. They were unaware and ultimately coukdn’t Collect it.

Remember that with a debit card it effectively blocks those funds entirely.

Also, if hiring at Faro, unsure if you need any additional documentation to drive into Spain. I didn’t think about it until I was crossing the bridge heading for Seville and kept my fingers crossed!

ddarcy · 21-05-2019 9:31pm

chicorytip wrote: »

That is simply untrue. I know from personal experience. Hertz, Avis, Enterprise and the other major companies apply this rule. It's clearly listed in their terms and conditions.

I’ve rented from Hertz with a debit card. Same with Avis. Both required that I took out their full insurance though. In the US they did a credit check on me (I have a good us credit history to my name though, so probably won’t apply to many in this forum). I still needed their full insurance as well.

This may or may not apply to Spain, each country has their own rules, but generally if you pay for the car, have a deposit and buy their insurance they’ll be grand (they still take an extra rental day and fuel surcharge as a deposit). You’ll be covered if you total the car etc and that is all they really care about

Gavman84 · 22-05-2019 10:13am

Do they always need to take a deposit or is it only if you dont cover excess? If you take full insurance do they still block an amount on the card?

Phileas Frog · 22-05-2019 10:17am

chicorytip wrote: »

That is simply untrue. I know from personal experience. Hertz, Avis, Enterprise and the other major companies apply this rule. It's clearly listed in their terms and conditions.

Ball cocks.

ezra_ · 22-05-2019 10:20am

chicorytip wrote: »

That is simply untrue. I know from personal experience. Hertz, Avis, Enterprise and the other major companies apply this rule. It's clearly listed in their terms and conditions.

I've rented from all of the above with debit cards. As long as you have the funds in the account to cover the fee plus deposit, you'll be fine.

roguey · 22-05-2019 11:34am

Thanks for all the help everyone. It seems like using a debit card as long as I have the deposit amount would be fine.

Unfortunately I've ran into another problem. I have only had my full licence for about 8 months. This hasn't been a problem when renting from Enterprise here, as I am over 25, but they have no cars available in Faro when I arrive and I can't seem to find any other company that will allow me to rent a car without at least 1 year on my licence.

redcup342 · 22-05-2019 12:33pm

Plenty of the rental companies allow you to rent on a debit card in spain, but you'll have to take their maximum crazy insurance so expect to pay between 30 and 40 euros a day, whereas if you use a Credit Card you can get for as low as 8-10 euros a day.

Airport car rental without credit card

Comments