Debit Cards, Credit Cards, and Car renting

[nynavey]

It's been several years since I've rented a car, but the last time I did so, I ran into a big problem when trying to use my bank account card. This bank card had the Visa logo, and another I own had the Mastercard, but I was repeatedly turned away because these weren't 'true' visa cards. I did locate a company that would accept a debit/credit card, but it was after some major panic.

Is this still common practice with car rental companies? I want to try bidding at Priceline, but what happens if I win, pay, and then find out when I'm standing at the desk in another city that they will not accept my bank card to hold the deposit? Not a fun weekend if that's the case.

Thank you in advance.

[thereuare]

With HOTWIRE after you select the city and dates you'll be asked if your using a credit or debit card and states:

The rental agency will require a credit card or debit card as a deposit when you pick up the car. The card must be in the name of the primary driver, and must include sufficient available credit to secure your rental.

Many rental agencies accept only credit cards as a deposit for pickup. If you choose to use a debit card, we will filter your Hotwire hot Rate search results to those companies that allow its use. Nondiscounted, regular-rate search results may include cars from agencies that accept only credit cards. Should you choose to use a debit card for your deposit, please contact the rental agency for its debit card policy as rules and regulations vary by company and location.

The standard deposit amount of $200 can vary depending on the vendor, car type, and rental period. Please be aware that the deposit amount will be held by the rental agency, and you will not have access to these funds until the vehicle is returned.

With PRICELINE:

We accept all major credit cards, including America PRICELINE EXPRESS, Discover/Novus, MasterCard, and Visa. Debit cards branded with the Visa or MasterCard logo are also valid forms of payment. If you plan to use a debit card, you may be requested to provide round-trip flight information at the rental counter. Whether you use a credit card or debit card, you must have a minimum of $200 of available credit (or more depending on your rental company) as a security deposit on the vehicle. Note - some rental partners do not accept prepaid cards.

Both of the quotes above are current at the time of posting.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly.

[cfprunner]

A further consideration for using a debt card for car rental or for even for your 'incidentals' (phone, mini-bar, movies) on your hotel room booked and paid for via Priceline or Hotwire is this:

Hotels and Car Rental Agencies routinely place an 'Authorization' for ~$200 (or as much as $500) on your card to ensure they can charge you if needed. The 'Authorization' reserves a portion of your available credit.

When you check out and you didn't eat your way through the minibar, the $200 authorization is removed and the ~$200 of available credit is returned to your account---almost like a purchase and a return.

For some reason, at some banks, it can take a full billing cycle for the funds held for the authorization to become available for you to using in your bank account if you used your debit card for the 'authorization'. This means that you can't spend that $200 for as long as 30 days after you returned your rental car or checked out of the hotel. Over the course of a vacation, you could end up freezing $1000 or more--without realizing it--that you may need during your trip.

Bottomline: Try to always use a credit card, not a debit card for hotel and car rental transactions.