Deposits

[Z3R0]

Ever made a reservation for a hotel or car but only have a debit card? If you travel a lot and are reading this, you probably have. Now, have you ever been denied service for having a debit card? This isn't as uncommon as you think, and there's actually a few ways this frustration can be avoided when booking on Hotwire.

When you're booking a hotel, you have to keep in mind that 8/10 hotels do not accept debit cards. Why? Well because most debit cards don't have enough funds to cover incidentals and result in overdrafts.

Most hotels only accept a major credit card as a deposit, because most credit cards have a decent line of credit. This is guaranteed payment should you run a phone or room service tab. So, you'll want to try to have at least one major credit card if you're a big traveler. Trust me, it will pay off in the long run.

For car reservations, agencies such as Alamo, National and Enterprise do not accept debit cards as a deposit unless you have proof of a round trip ticket. Why? The answer is simple, if you're local to the area and trying to rent at the airport location for a lower rate, you're taking away availability for travelers just arriving off planes.

If you're booking a reservation on Hotwire to pick up at an airport location using a debit card, and you are not flying in and out of the area, you're going to want to look for the Deposit Method box.

Now, what I've noticed is that sometimes this pops up and won't allow you to continue until you select Credit Card or Debit/Check card and click continue. However, sometimes this pop up doesn't always "pop up", probably a new feature Hotwire is experimenting with. Where listing a deposit method is advisable though, you should always see the Deposit Method box in the top left corner on the page that displays all the booking results.

When you select Debit/Check Card as a deposit method, you're also given the option to select Local or Traveler. This is important, because checking just Debit/Check Card may not do squat for you if you're a local renter. Selecting Local Renter will filter out agencies that deny service to people presenting debit cards, but not round trip tickets.

As an additional note, rarely will an agency accept a cash deposit. The reason for this? It started getting to tempting to employees to pocket cash deposits and not record them. Now, imprints (holds) are held on cards until you return a car or check out, and everything is documented electronically. :)

Any questions, feel free to ask.