Renting a sports car
- Thread starter fastwunz
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![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
A credit card requirement is common with almost every rental firm. Most people have one and those that don’t typically do so for bad credit reasons so they are not generally the customer profile rental companies want to be lending assets worth £15-90k to. Unfortunately that then ends up excluding the tiny amount of people who refuse to have one for some sort of bizarre willpower or principle reason but I guess the rental companies are happy enough to lose the business of the few in order to cater to the many.
They need to make sure they have quick, simple and easy ways of making sure they are happy with who they are lending the car to and to make sure they know they can recover at least some money in the event of something happening. I’m sure they could jump through a million extra hoops to cater for people frightened of credit cards but they can’t be bothered presumably, and fair enough.
Just get a credit card – it won’t help you at this short notice but I honestly can’t understand why you wouldn’t have one unless you either have creditworthiness issues or are unable to exercise even a basic level of financial self control and restraint (And to be honest if you fit into either of these to categories why would you expect people to lend you high value cars?).
Just get a decent one, set up a direct debit to pay it off in full every month and bingo, all the benefits, security and promotional offers of a credit card without any credit card debt. You could even go one stage further and get an American Express Charge Card – it’s not a credit card and it’s mandated you pay it in full each month and cannot carry a balance.
Or continue to not have one and pretend it’s some sort of sensible choice. It just means you won’t be renting Porsche’s easily any time soon.
Though as a totally separate issue renting a 911 for the weekend sounds like an expensive waste of time anyway so perhaps this is a lucky escape – the charges for a car like that are disproportionately stupidly expensive relative to the value of the car, it cannot be worth hundreds of pounds just to rent a car for the weekend. They tend to impose silly mileage restrictions too so you can’t even go anywhere meaningful.
They need to make sure they have quick, simple and easy ways of making sure they are happy with who they are lending the car to and to make sure they know they can recover at least some money in the event of something happening. I’m sure they could jump through a million extra hoops to cater for people frightened of credit cards but they can’t be bothered presumably, and fair enough.
Just get a credit card – it won’t help you at this short notice but I honestly can’t understand why you wouldn’t have one unless you either have creditworthiness issues or are unable to exercise even a basic level of financial self control and restraint (And to be honest if you fit into either of these to categories why would you expect people to lend you high value cars?).
Just get a decent one, set up a direct debit to pay it off in full every month and bingo, all the benefits, security and promotional offers of a credit card without any credit card debt. You could even go one stage further and get an American Express Charge Card – it’s not a credit card and it’s mandated you pay it in full each month and cannot carry a balance.
Or continue to not have one and pretend it’s some sort of sensible choice. It just means you won’t be renting Porsche’s easily any time soon.
Though as a totally separate issue renting a 911 for the weekend sounds like an expensive waste of time anyway so perhaps this is a lucky escape – the charges for a car like that are disproportionately stupidly expensive relative to the value of the car, it cannot be worth hundreds of pounds just to rent a car for the weekend. They tend to impose silly mileage restrictions too so you can’t even go anywhere meaningful.
[TW]Fox;27198626 said:
I've never had a credit card either, never needed one so never got one, then when I went for mortgage, had massive issues!
Do you need to pay interest on the payments? cant say I understand how they work.
Nope no credit issues here just fancied renting one. I wanted to borrow my dads but I only have company car insurance and according to my fleet manager, this doesn't cover me third party to drive other vehicles which is a shame.
I don't have. A credit card because I've always earned enough money not to need one. No other reason but thanks for the info.
I don't have. A credit card because I've always earned enough money not to need one. No other reason but thanks for the info.
If you clear the whole balance on the statement you pay no interest. I've been using a credit card like this for a few years now, use it like a normal debit card but just have a direct debit to clear the total amount on the statement.
Having a credit card is not about how much money you earn. I have cards and have never paid a penny of interest, they are paid off at the end of each month automatically.
Last year I was paid over £400 to use my credit card.
I would have thought it would be cheaper to get some sort of temporary insurance on your dads car rather than rent one.
Yeah, I do the same... work's a treat!
Err a credit card isn't something you get if you 'dont have enough money' (infact quite the opposite, thats how people get into trouble).
It's not a loan or something you use if you dont have the cash. I use credit cards extensively - but all are used for things I have the money for and all are paid in full each month. I use them for renting cars, I use them because some of them give me cashback on purchases, I use them because one I have gives me zero fee foreign currency, etc etc. I have another I use purely for fuel and rail travel as it gives me 3% cashback on these transactions (Who doesnt want 4p a litre off every time they buy fuel?).
The fact you thought a credit was something you don't need if you 'earn enough money' is a massive misunderstanding and has now meant you can't do something you wanted to do because you don't have one.
Go grab yourself a decent credit card. The Amex Platinum Cashback card for example has 5% cashback for the first 3 months - free money!
Some people have weird attitudes towards credit cards. You don't use a credit card to buy something you can't afford anyway.
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/10/credit-card-debit-card.asp
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/10/credit-card-debit-card.asp
What a stupid statement! The reason you don't have a credit card is because you earn enough not to need one!
I have 2 credit cards, I don't "need" them, as I earn enough to buy what I want. But there are plenty of perks to having a credit card, that anyone with an ounce of financial sense would understand
Credit Card #1: Free use abroad with best exchange rates. For my last 4 holidays I have never taken cash. Credit card used everywhere and never had any trouble. Get the best exchange rate, and don't have any left over foreign currency to bring back and get a rubbish rate on, or think "I must spend it before I come back". I also earn £5 if I spend £300 on it in one month. So I get £60 a year for free. I pay no interest as it's paid in full each month.
So instead of using my debit card to pay for stuff, I use a credit card, and get £60 for the privilege.
Credit Card #2: 0% interest on purchases for 18 months. So instead of taking all that money out of my 3% savings account which is earning me money, I put it on this card, which I then pay off a certain amount each month, ensuring the balance is cleared before the promotion period. Whilst still earning interest on the cash I would have spent if I didn't have said credit card.