Car hire and credit cards

wez130

wez130

wez130

Soldato
Joined
31 Jan 2004
Posts
11,330
Location
Matakana New Zealand
I'm going to Italy in May, i need to hire a car, i have a credit card with a relatively low credit limit (by choice). Most hire companies seem to want to secure €1600 ish as a deposit, my limit won't cover that, however, i have savings in my bank with a visa debit card with embossed details. I understand that some companies will accept this as a deposit, or even cash in some cases. I don't want to book a car then turn up and be refused and stuck at the airport with no transfer to my hotel. So, what experience do people have?

Also, Noob question, could i in effect make my credit card in positive credit so that i can cover the holding deposit?

Thanks, Wez
 
You could add money to your credit card as you say to give you a positive balance or I'd just temporarily increase your limit.
 
Increasing it isn't an option as i've already increased it recently for when i went to NZ (not that i used it), i have to wait another 6 months to do it again.
 
wez130 said:
Also, Noob question, could i in effect make my credit card in positive credit so that i can cover the holding deposit?
Click to expand...

Pre-loading your credit card with extra cash to give it a positive (negative) balance allows you to spend more but not in a single transaction. If you have a £1,000 credit limit, and put a further £1,000 onto the card, you have £2,000 credit available, but your limit is still £1,000 per transaction. This is how it was explained to me by RBS anyway.

It's also against the terms and conditions of most (if not all) providers, though you very rarely hear of anybody having a problem (I've done it a few times).
 
wez130 said:
I'm going to Italy in May, i need to hire a car, i have a credit card with a relatively low credit limit (by choice). Most hire companies seem to want to secure €1600 ish as a deposit, my limit won't cover that, however, i have savings in my bank with a visa debit card with embossed details. I understand that some companies will accept this as a deposit, or even cash in some cases. I don't want to book a car then turn up and be refused and stuck at the airport with no transfer to my hotel. So, what experience do people have?

Also, Noob question, could i in effect make my credit card in positive credit so that i can cover the holding deposit?

Thanks, Wez
Click to expand...
I'm guessing Italy is maybe different but I've hired cars in france several times and never had to pay a deposit. booked and prepaid online then simply turned up and showed them the card I'd paid on.
I know some will say they want to pre-authorise your card for the excess, which can be silly high unless you pay them over the odds to reduce it, but never been asked for 1600 yo - yo's. what type of car you hiring?
 
Don't do the debit card. Chances are they'll put a "hold" on a set amount. That hold gets transferred into euros at the banks rate (some will even charge commission). Then once the car is returned they release the funds back to the account going from euro back to gbp at the banks rate again. So you'd lose a chunk.
 
Just to update this, i've managed to sort it out with a company called IndiGo based in Leeds. I've gone for a fiat 500 auto (so my wife can drive too). Cost £160 all in with a €500 deposit which i can pay on either credit or debit card, I went for the 0 excess option too for peace of mind. All sorted now :)
 
Redgie said:
Pre-loading your credit card with extra cash to give it a positive (negative) balance allows you to spend more but not in a single transaction. If you have a £1,000 credit limit, and put a further £1,000 onto the card, you have £2,000 credit available, but your limit is still £1,000 per transaction. This is how it was explained to me by RBS anyway.

It's also against the terms and conditions of most (if not all) providers, though you very rarely hear of anybody having a problem (I've done it a few times).
Click to expand...

Nope. At least not for my bank. The max transaction value is whatever the available funds are. If you load your card into a credit balance then your available funds will increase above your credit limit.

Careful though, it's against the Ts and Cs for most, so they may just remove the positive balance and return it to you.
 
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