renting a car with a secured credit card?

[disneyfreakk]

Hi there my fellow dissers! I need your help. We are flying to AZ and VA before we head down to Orlando and we are going to need a rental car at both places. My DH and I have our visa check/debit cards and I have a Visa secured credit card.

Having never rented a car before I am REALLY nervous about it. I booked with Budget but then cancelled the ressie when i read the fine print which states that I cant use a debit card or a pre paid cc at that location. Are they going to deny us our rental if I use a secured credit card? It doesnt actually say its a secured credit card, just Visa plat. Also, the card is in my name but there is NO WAY that anyone in the car/road/state/etc. would want *me* to drive in a big city so my DH will be driving. If we use my secured cc are we going to have to add him as a second driver?

p.s. - I checked out the policys on the visa website and it does state that myself and a second driver are covered by their rental protection as long as we decline the rental car coverage ( we also have REALLY GOOD full coverage insurance )

Thanks in advance for your help ,
Disneyfreakk

 

[kaytieeldr]

Having never rented a car before I am REALLY nervous about it. I booked with Budget but then cancelled the ressie when i read the fine print which states that I cant use a debit card or a pre paid cc at that location. Are they going to deny us our rental if I use a secured credit card? It doesnt actually say its a secured credit card, just Visa plat. Also, the card is in my name but there is NO WAY that anyone in the car/road/state/etc. would want *me* to drive in a big city so my DH will be driving. If we use my secured cc are we going to have to add him as a second driver?

To the best of my knowledge, a prepaid credit card is one like the kind you can purchase at, say, a Simon mall. It has the credit card logo, and while it can be used ALMOST anywhere a credit card is accepted, car rentals are one of the few exceptions.
The secured card you have IS a credit card, and you should have no problem using it as such. You might want to recheck Dollar's policy - I know on Alamo, you can use a debit card but there has to be enough money in the account to cover the rental plus $200 (or some other amount), so you'd want to be sure your securing account has enough money available to cover the rental plus any 'just in case' hold.
And you should probably call Dollar and ask if YOU can charge the rental but have your husband as the ONLY driver. Most car rental agencies charge extra for a second driver, but if you're only using one driver (and Dollar is one of those companies), you should be fine.[/FONT]