Avis - deposit requirements

[dthogue]

I have a car reserved with Avis for August. Does anyone know what their deposit/hold policy is? Our rental amount is roughly $167 - how much will they put a "hold" on my credit card for? Or should I say - how much credit will I have to have available?

Thanks,

 

[tycon07]

If you booked online then your credit card will not be charged until you actually pick up the car at the airport. It is kind of like booking a room at the Hampton Inn, they don't charge it until you actually stay there. The credit card is only to hold the car for you. I hope this is a good explaination. Tyler

 

[dthogue]

Thank Tyler - I did not have to give any credit card info to book the rental. My question though is when I pick up the rental is there an amount over and above the rental amount that will be placed on my card??

 

[tycon07]

Sorry about the credit card thing. I did not give my info to Avis either. If you book with a major credit card, ie-MasterCard, Visa, etc., there is usually an insurance policy if you charge it to that card, so you should't have any extra charges there. If you have to rent a car seat they might charge you for that but you would need to contact them for that info, b/c I have heard of people getting them for free! ALSO: Make sure the car is picked up at roughly the time on your reservation and Avis has a 59 Minute Grace period for the return of the car, just incase you run into traffic on the way back to MCO or something like that. Well, I hope I answered your question. Have a nice trip! Tyler

 

[Disneyjosh229]

If Im not mistaken, your card is not charged until you actually return the vehicle. This covers for extra hours or days you might have used, over and above your reservation. (i.e. You booked for 3 days and return it after 4 days, they will charge and extra day to your card)

 

[LuvTigger]

My answer doesn't pertain to Avis specifically, but strangely enough, I've had the same company (Dollar) treat two separate rentals, one in Las Vegas, one in Orlando, differently, last year (the rentals were only about a month apart). In Vegas, they didn't charge or put any kind of hold on my card at ALL, which I thought was pretty scary for both of us, since I could've used that money and maxed out my card. I'm sure they could just "overdraw" my credit, but that wouldn't have been a good thing for me.

In Orlando, they put a "hold" (they don't actually "charge" the card until you return it, but they can put a hold on a certain amount) only on the estimated amount with all the taxes and stuff. Actually, something got screwed up and they actually put two holds for the same amount, but I'm sure it was supposed to be just one.

On some rental car websites, I've read things to the effect that you should be prepared to have something like $250 above the estimated total available on your card, or $500, whichever is higher. Again, they will place a "hold" on that amount so you can't spend it elsewhere, then they will charge you the actual total upon the return of the car. I think my experience in Vegas where they didn't even put a hold on my card was an error (the whole experience was bad, so it wouldn't surprise me if they made a mistake! But that's another story...).

So far, most of my experiences have been where they only put a hold on the estimated total (although a lot of websites say be prepared to have a couple hundred dollars more on hold).