DEBIT CARD PAYMENT

Has anyone ever used their debit card to pay for car rental? Going to use ours this trip as we no longer have credit cards...Just wondered about the hassle..

I don't think it will work since they always try and get more $ as a deposit etc. when you rent, if they are unable to " hold" X amount of dollars during the rental contract, they might not do a debit card, just my 2 cents worth, maybe it will work for you. Seems to me everytime I've rented a car or hotel room, they ask for your CC not your debit card.

I've used nothing but debit card for the last two years for car rentals everywhere with no problems and I've used all the large agencies, Dollar, Alamo, Enterprise, Budget, etc. It's true about putting an amount on hold - $300, I think, and they used to tell you that. I've not had them tell me that for a while and never notice it on the card, but I am frequently too casual about money things.

I don't think you will have any kind of problem, unless a hold could be difficult for you. Many times if you make the res on line, I notice they ask if you are using a debit or credit card, I've ignored that and left it at the default of credit card, and never suffered any consequences.

Linda

I also should have said as long as your debit card has a credit card logo - Master Card, Visa, etc.

Linda

If thats the ONLY way to go, then there ya go.

Don't think I'd do it though, because I believe you have much more recourse
if something goes wrong, if you use a Credit card.
You also may have liability coverage, insurance, etc. with Credit cards too.

You bring up a good point.......if Debit card has the M/C logo etc, MAYBE you get add'l perks?

After hearing Dave Ramsey say that you could rent cars without credit cards, I decided to do a whole trip to Las Vegas without using them. If you go online to book a car, you will notice that almost all the major companies state in their fine print that you cannot use a debit card to book, but you can use it at the end to pay. Vendors CAN tell debit from credit cards because of the numbers. For example on a Visa debit card the first four numbers give that info. Alamo will let you book with a debit card and does NOT charge more than the rental price for a deposit. You have to go to the counter, not the kiosk, to check in and it said you have to show an airline ticket but I didn't. The hotel deposits were the hardest to handle, as they can run over $100 a day, even on comped rooms. Caesars charged me just one $50 deposit. I even used Paypal to buy my airline ticket on Southwest--but I highly recommend NOT doing that. There was a major snafu, but I worked it out pre-trip. I hope this helps. If I can be of further assistance PM me!