Nerver Rented a Car Before - Need Advice

[Antonia]

My DH finally wants to fly to Florida. He's amazed that he can get there in one hour and 26 minutes. Normally we drive 600 miles from South Carolina.
We have never rented a car in our lives. Which company would you recommend for people who have no credit card - to some people this is amazing - but we do not have one.
We do have the Visa check card and we have used this for online purchases, etc. Is there a company that will allow car rental with the Visa check card rather than a credit card. I would hate to end up stranded at an airport.
The main reason that I would even want a car is to take our DS over to the gulf side to Siesta Key for the day.

 

[laurabelle]

I don't believe it's possible to rent without a credit card. I know you can pay cash, but they do require a credit card to book. I wouldn't pay cash though, my credit card offers additional coverage if I put it on the card.

 

[sgtdisney]

You will probably need to call around to different rental agencies and see if they can rent on a debit card. I think that I heard somewhere that some agencies will, but that they want to hold a large sum (2500.00??) as a deposit if you don't have a credit card, but that could be wrong. Best bet, call some agencies and ask what their policy is.

 

[SnackyStacky]

I would highly reccomend Budget in your situation.

They allow you to use check cards. They put a hold on either $200 or some percentage of the rental (I believe it's 15%) - whichever is greater.

You do, however, have other options. You can go to AAA and get a credit card gift card. You load a certain amount of money onto the card, and it works like a debit card, there's just no line of credit attached.

You definitely have options. If you don't like Budget's rates, as others have suggested, just call around and ask about policies for debit cards.

Have a wonderful trip!