No major credit card...car rental?

[d4est]

We do not have a major credit card. We only have a VISA debit linked to our checking account. How does one rent a car without one? Is is possible? Does it mean not getting any good deals? I have never rented a car...

 

[jlcbshaw]

It depends on the rental company. I have booked through Budget for our trip and their website said that it was okay to use one in the Orlando area. Wasn't sure about this until I checked the fine print.

 

[CarolA]

Also, be prepared... they may very well put a hold on your account tieing up the cash. It would be good to call the car rental company directly and make sure you understand what the deal is.

 

[Daxx]

Daxx's wife here. Here's our story ... Daxx used a debit card (Mastercard, maybe?) on two separate occassions for a rental car at MCO. Both times, they ran it for the amount of the rental plus placed a $500 hold on the account. We used Alamo and they said they had no problem w/the debit card. On the phone, Budget said they didn't accept debits, but that's what we gave them and they accepted it. Oh ... the $500 was credited back to our account when we returned the car.

So, that's the scoop from our rental adventures. Good luck!

 

[disnutt]

Thanks for posting your experience. We're thinking about cutting up the credit cards forever and I wasn't sure how I would rent a car without one. I can't believe that we have let the 1-2 weeks/year we rent a car affect this decision.

 

[oogieboogie]

Alamo will rent you a car with a debit card if you can show a return flight ticket. Thrifty will rent you with a debit card but they'll do a credit check first, so does Dollar.

 

[d4est]

Thanks for the replies! Showing a return ticket will not be a problem. A $500 hold would suck, but is doable. Wouldn't want them to do a credit check, lol. Good to know I have a few options. Now for finding a good rate. Have plenty of time!

Thanks again!

 

[WillCAD]

I'm in the same boat so i did a bunch of research and found that Alamo seems to have the best terms for renting with a Visa or MasterCard enabled debit card.

Alamo accepts debit cards, but they state on thier web site that the specific terms vary from location to location, so I called the Alamo desk at MCO; the nice lady who spoke to me told me that all you need to rent with a debit card are the normal things like being over 21 and having a drivers license, and you need to show your return plane ticket, and that they place a hold on your account equal to $100 per week of rental. Since I'm renting for 9 days, I'm assuming that means they will put a hold on $200.

As far as getting the good rates, I got an excellent rate at Alamo for May19-27 (9 days), mid-size car, $123. I used coupons from Sam's Club membership warehouse and BJs membership warehouse. You can find other Alamo codes here:
http://www.mousesavers.com/alamo.html

 

[d4est]

Awesome! TY so much. I will look into alamo...

 

[simonfam76]

i have used enterprise tons of times with my m/c debit card with no problem, there was always a deposit but i had money in there for that. i was thinking of renting a car for this trip but we bought a new car back in november and i think that we should just drive it and pocket the rental car cash for something else. hubby and i are still debating over this

 

[michellelovesthemous]

I work for a CU and let me tell you the amount of members that have fits when they see a $800.00+ hold on there available funds in there checking account for 7 business days! See, a car rental company can place a hold on the amount of the total cost to rent + any insurance they charge + any taxes = HUGE HASSLE if your not prepared to lose that much of your checking account balance right up front. They may say there not but 9 out of 10 they will and if they say they'll credit it back that credit can take 3-5 business days to show up as well. They want their money yesterday but giving it back is getting blood from a turnip! I wish you all best of luck and pixie dust to I just wanted you all to be forwarned! Have magical trips!

 

[SHAMIL10]

We rented for 6-7 days from Alamo in December, the total for the car was charged on the first day of the rental, and I think the only hold on our account was $100 as well, I had called the bank the next day just to make sure since we had the cash to pay for everything, I really didn't want to use credit cards or tie up cash, it was not a problem

 

[HappyLawyer]

We do not have a major credit card. We only have a VISA debit linked to our checking account. How does one rent a car without one? Is is possible? Does it mean not getting any good deals? I have never rented a car...

i use my debit card for car rental i use alamo, i still have some unsued coupons if u need some

 

[Taja]

Last December I used Budget with my debit card and they charged the entire rental plus a 25% deposit at the time of rental. It's in small print on their website. I also called the MCO office and confirmed the information when I made the reservation and about two days prior to my trip. Since my rental total was about $125, the additional deposit wasn't significant. They also may ask to see your return ticket; they didn't ask for mine.

 

[FreeTime]

I wonder if you could purchase one of those VISA giftcards that are good anywhere and use it? That way the amount wouldn't be held out of your checking account.

 

[d4est]

Thanks for all the responses. It is great to know I have a few options. I don't think the hold/deposit is a big deal when you know about it up front and are prepared.

HappyLawyer, as for the coupons, we are not going until, most likely, Feb 06. If you have some that will still be good by then, then sure, I would love some! Thanks...

 

[RichNKatHolly]

We used Budget - they put a $200 hold on our debit and they the final bill didn't show up on our account for about 5 days, but the original $200 took 10 full days from the day they put it on to disappear. It wasn't missed to much and 10 days later it was a nice surprise because we kinda forgot about it! And, no credit report, but they will run your license.

Laws in Orlando permit the use of debit cards but many states do not, including mine. We don't use CCs either but recently got a very low balance Capital One for car rentals, etc. BYW, they are relatively easy to get - I too fear the dreaded credit look up and have been turned down for the Disney Visa 3 years in a row.

Also, DON"T use the prefilled Visa gift cards, they will not take them.
Someone at the counter next to us had a problem with this and were still there after we got our car

 

[casey49781]

i went to orlando in dec and we used hertz ,,,my bf used his debit and they put a hold on account for amount and 500.oo and i used mine to pay for other stuff and we also had money when we can home ,,,it takes a few days for the money to be released back but thats ok,,,,,

 

[notnothin]

Similar experience here. Rented from Budget last October and they put a hold for about $300 or so. I couldn't figure out where that money went throughout our vacation, it was killing me!

 

[RichNKatHolly]

Similar experience here. Rented from Budget last October and they put a hold for about $300 or so. I couldn't figure out where that money went throughout our vacation, it was killing me!

LOL - I know!!! I was so worried about it because on our Honeymoon we didn't have a credit or debit card and had a huge problem. We ended up having to pay in full at pick up plus leave a $500 deposit.

This time I read the fine print so I knew what they would do. I chose Budget because they seemed to hold the least amount.