Ez car rental or Dollar?

[Caitsmama]

these two seem to have the best rates for my 2 upcoming trips... never rented a car before - always stayed on site.. any advice? need easy and no hassle..

Also, do they give you a hard time about using a debit card (visa/mc logo) vs an actual cc?? WE don't use cc's and want to use our debit card..
ETA looks like ez charges a $200 deposit above the cost of car to use debit card --- just don't want them to "keep" that deposit... and looks like dollar performs a credit check to see if you qualify before they let you use your debit card? ugh........ now, which evil to keep?
thanks so much!

 

[disneysmyhappyplace]

Did you try Hotwire? I was really hesitate to try because you don't know what rental agency your going to get but I got hertz at 32.99 per for a mini van! Very happy! I have rented from dollar and never had a problem but have never rented from the other company.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

these two seem to have the best rates for my 2 upcoming trips... never rented a car before - always stayed on site.. any advice? need easy and no hassle..

Also, do they give you a hard time about using a debit card (visa/mc logo) vs an actual cc?? WE don't use cc's and want to use our debit card..
ETA looks like ez charges a $200 deposit above the cost of car to use debit card --- just don't want them to "keep" that deposit... and looks like dollar performs a credit check to see if you qualify before they let you use your debit card? ugh........ now, which evil to keep?
thanks so much!

As far as the debit card goes, I believe that the hold fee and the credit check is pretty standard. I tried to use a debit card once not even thinking while renting from National and they immediately went into a spiel about the fees and conditions using a debit card. I stopped him and said that I grabbed the wrong card. I'm sure they will probably try to advise you against using a credit card but you can hold firm if that is what you want. This is part of the debit card policy from Budget, which is very similar to ones I've seen in the past:

Upon paying your rental with a Debit Card, Budget will generally request an authorization hold against your account for the estimated charges of the rental but reserves the right in its sole discretion, to request extra value based on certain factors as we deem appropriate. Some exceptions may apply. THESE FUNDS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR YOUR USE.
• When the rental is over we will process the reversal but the bank may take time to post it back to the account - unless you already paid toward your rental, in which case the hold will be only $100 USD. While this hold is in place, the funds will not be available for your use.

— You will be subject to a credit check to determine creditworthiness and the rental may be denied based on the results of this check.

However, Budget does say that you could hold with a CC and then pay with a debit card upon return of the rental. Perhaps EZ or Dollar would also allow something similar. However, that is assuming that you have a CC or want to use one for the hold.

As for renting cars easily, I would say that whatever car rental place you choose, sign up for their (often free) membership. That way, you can fill out the pesky paperwork ahead of time and go directly to the counter in the parking garage.

Good luck!

 

[Caitsmama]

TY.. i decided to stick with EZ, even though i know they will put a $200 hold on my debit, i can live with that if the rest of the process goes smooth.. My hubby and I don't use any cc's, so it's really not an option... We are going to go for it and hope for the best.

 

[crystaldawn]

I was wondering how things went for you renting from EZ. We have never rented from them but they are showing the best rates currently... we are no longer using any cc and I am wondering if things ended up going smoothly for you.