Renting a car with a debit card at MCO? Advice please...

[thatduffgirl]

Hi! I love this board!

We are going to Disney in three days on a barter deal I worked out with one of my customers who had airline miles and a timeshare. (Yay! Totally the way to go!) I have a reservation with Advantage for our rental car. I called to ask if they accept debit cards (they do) but they also run a credit check.

We are cleaning up some mistakes we made, but we still have a couple of bad things on our report. One is a dispute with our last landlady for $1200(which we are disputing, but I looked and the fact that we are disputing it, doesn't show up on the Equifax report, which is the one Advantage looks at) and a defaulted credit card for about $3500 which is totally my fault.

Will this keep us from getting a car rental? I tried asking Advantage and they said that the yes or no comes from Equifax, not them, and I dare anyone to try getting a real person on the phone with Equifax. Haha. So the long and short of it is that they won't tell me yes or no till I am standing at the counter with my three kids in tow. I am a major planner and that just doesn't set right with me.

I have reconciled (and planned in advance) to have a hold put on my debit card, but if Advantage won't rent to us with dings on our credit, is there another rental car at MCO that will that anyone knows of?

 

[superminnie]

I rented a car for two weeks last may at Hertz with only a debit card. There was no mention of a credit check when I did it. Also if you rent a car through priceline to get a better deal (that's what I did, I got two weeks for $300) there is a box you can check if you will only have a debit card so it should only match you with ones that will take debit cards. That may have been a reason a credit check was not mentioned if that is standard practice because they knew they already were getting their money from priceline and my debit card was just a deposit of sorts.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

My mom works for hertz and unfortunately yes they do credit check when you rent a car and yes some people are declined while they are standing in line. I am not sure if there is a way to find out beforehand it seems like there should be a way.

 

[thatduffgirl]

I am not sure if there is a way to find out beforehand it seems like there should be a way.

I thought so too, but they said that they have to enter the card into the "hold" ? system which would place the $140 hold on the card, then when they did the actual reservation it would place ANOTHER additional hold.

Her answer to my problem? "You should really get a credit card just for things like this, ma'am." I wouldn't have a problem if it wasn't for credit cards.

 

[eduk8r26]

I rented a car here in California from Avis and wanted to use a Visa debit. They were going to put a $400 hold on it. I have also rented many times from Hertz and never to my knowledge was a credit check done.

 

[tar heel]

I've never heard of this. Is the credit check just with a debit card? If I had them a credit card with a high limit, I don't really think they need to be running a credit check on me, too.

 

[Diabolicdesire]

I believe if you rent with Enterprise with a debit they will "hold" a 200 dollar deposit on your debit card until the car is returned.

 

[kmvand1]

We only had a $25.00 hold on our Visa/Debit at Enterprise.

 

[mom2mikel]

We've used debit card with Alamo for our last two trips. They do not pull credit and they only put a hold on the estimated rental charge. They do require proof of returning flight which shouldn't be an issue (I just showed them our confirmation).

I would definitely try Alamo -- they usually have pretty good deals too!

 

[marie1203]

I will never recommend to rent a car on a debit card. Twice in the past we had problems with cars being stolen and getting charge for it. Once in DC and once in Vegas our flight left really early so we called to see where we needed to leave the car we left it where they told us. A week later we saw this huge charge in our credit card then we were contacted by the police. It was proven it wasn't us but it still wasn't enough for the company to give the money back. It was a nightmare.

 

[jodifla]

Almost every expert tells you NOT to rent a car with a debit card.




Don't use debit card for car rental

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20061122_debit_card_car_rental_a1.asp

 

[JENOS]

I think people are missing the point (especially since they are not in that circumstance) OP is asking advice on HOW to rent a car on a debit, not about a lecture about the consequences. When I was younger (21 yrs old) and didn’t have a credit card, it made renting a car nearly impossible, but definitely possible. Maybe the smaller companies are more forgiving, but probably more expensive though.

 

[Traveliz]

We've used debit card with Alamo for our last two trips. They do not pull credit and they only put a hold on the estimated rental charge. They do require proof of returning flight which shouldn't be an issue (I just showed them our confirmation).

I would definitely try Alamo -- they usually have pretty good deals too!

I agree -this has been my experience when renting with them also.

Liz

 

[usnuzuloose]

I used a debit card to rent and they put a hold of 250 on it and returned it when I brought it back. Every car place may be different you can always call before deciding. No credit check. Jo

 

[wdposter]

I have used avis in MCO recently, got a full size impalla for $25 a day. used my debit card. I have also used thrifty, dollar and enterprize in orlando. some airports have different requirements. Like SLC (salt lake city) because its in the mountains or something, needs more insurance coverage and some rental car companies have tighter requirements. Orlando I have never had a problem using a debit card. Just call the counter at the airport and ask them

 

[pigletof4]

I believe if you rent with Enterprise with a debit they will "hold" a 200 dollar deposit on your debit card until the car is returned.

I also rented from Enterprise this year. I paid cash, but they asked for the $200 deposit, which I got back in 10 days from corporate. I rented online and there was no credit check.

 

[thatduffgirl]

Thank you, thank you for so many responses! Yes, I am renting with a debit card because I must, at this time anyway, but I appreciate the link to the article, it actually had some information that was useful to me on the second page in my search.

I went with Alamo. I got a great rate, no credit check, and they only hold the amount of the rental on the card.

I simply would not recommend Advantage to anyone. Not just their policy that pertained to me, but their inability to give me information ahead of time, and their vague information about their policies. When you are stranded at an airport and putting yourself at the mercy of a rental car company who can't even tell you in advance whether you have a firm reservation or not...well, I find that unacceptable.

Again, I appreciate all your advice. It has been most helpful.

 

[EKW]

I don't use credit cards. Budget is happy to rent to those who use debit cards. One warning, they do place a large hold on your account. I have two debit card accounts at separate banks for that reason. One has the money for the car rental and hold. That way, there is no chance that the hold will tie up my vacation money.

I also like Budget because they offer walk-away insurance. I rented from them at Disneyland, and, for $10 I was 100% covered even if the car was totaled! It makes it nice not having to mess with checking it out prior to accepting it, taking photos of existing dings, etc.

Their credit check is minimal. Basically, they are looking to see if you're currently wanted for bouncing checks. At least, that's what they explained to me the first time I rented from them.