I need help from anyone who had used Alamo in the past.

[Goldmoon1380]

I have booked a reservation for a car rental with Alamo and will be paying it with my debit card. I read somehere that when you pay with a debit card they put a hold for more than your actual rental price. I know it is just a hold until you bring the car back. My question is for those of you who had used a debit card to pay for your car rental reservation do you remember how much money they hold on your acct.

I was checking Alamo directly but couldn't find anything about how much they hold over your price when you pay with a debit card. They only mention on their site that you need to show them your plane ticket when you are paying with a debit card.

 

[spiceycat]

I know for the gas station it was $75.

but I don't know if that is max or not.

I had some bad problems with Alamo. when I brought the car back (which was not a new one - first time I rented and didn't get a new car). there was a problem with the gas tank.

It never read full.

well the idiot who check me in - tried to fill it up (impossible I filled it up less than an 1/8 of a mile). well he was not satified that the tank was full. no I had to wait while he called out a mechanial (oh yes, this idiot actually called a mechanial) and tried to get him to say I owned them money.

While I was upset with both of them. the engine make some awful noises and I was trying to get one of them to pay attention to the real problem....

anyway I didn't have to pay extra - but I learned never go with Alamo.

make sure you check on the car before you leave - and get the person at the gate to sign off on any problems you see.

they tried that too - but I have the signed form.

this situation cost me 2 hours of my time. So make sure you have some extra time in your schedule if Alamo pulls this stuff on you. It is better to be an the airport an hour or two early than to miss your flight.

 

[MickeyMonstersMom]

I rented from Alamo three times with a debit card and they never held my account or charged anything beyond the price of the rental. All three times, my card was charged when I returned the car, but there was no activity on my account before then.

My biggest problem with Alamo was the #@^% insurance upsell pressure - which I avoided by doing everything online and bypassing the counter.

 

[PooohBear]

I have also rented with my debit card a couple of times and never had a hold put on my card ! I've had great experiences with Alamo !

 

[susan1]

hi
we would never book with alamo again. we were in holiday in olando and tooka day trip to brooksville 70 miles away to look at the christmas shop. whilst in brooksville we were hit head on by a triple cab truck. our car was a complete write off. fortunately there were enough witnesses to say we were no way at fault and recieved paperwork from the policie to that effect (it would have been so easy to blame britts not used to driving on the wrong side of th road!) we rang alamo and asked for a replacement car which was allowed according to our fully comprehensive insurance) they had several branches in the area not far away! there answer was tough, no we are not replacing it. we informed the police at the scene. who also phoned alamo and stated that a new car was needed as per insurance and they told them them the same thin. they were astounded. eventuallythe police assisted us to rent a car from another company to get back to the hotel and said they would contact their chief by the morning. true to their word when we rang alamo in the morning they gave us a new car. definitethumbs up for brooksville police and thumbs down for alamo. rant over!