First credit card, one use only

davedubya

I've never had a credit card before (and didn't intend to have one in future) as I've never seen the point and never had the need.

However, I'm going for a trip to Canada and wanted to get a hire car - a credit card is needed to hire a car, a debit card isn't accepted.

So my thought was to get a card for this one time purposetrip, pay it off (It'll only be ~£100) and then cancel it when I get back. I'd rather not incur any further charges if possible.

What would be a recommended credit card for this purpose?

Any input appreciated.

Thanks.

(I am reading Martin's guides on the main site, but they are obviously more aimed for people who'll regularly use them).

LeeSouthEast

Any.

If you pay it off in full every month, the APR is irrelevant. But for hire purposes you'll need a decent credit limit. If you have not had credit before, that could be tricky. I would also advise against cancelling it after use: a credit score is a good thing to have, and opening it and closing it will ding your credit score with a search. Buy your groceries on it every month or something and pay it off in full. Even if the car hire comes to only £100, they'll probably try and authorise double that just to be sure the card is good and has a sufficient level of available credit.

davedubya

Thanks for the information. I shall have to think about it. If it's not going to be as simple as I thought, I may leave it.

I was a little surprised that car hire in Canada requires a credit card, as the country is pretty au fait about debit card use (plus I've car hired in the US using a debit card before).

cooltt

Dave
it is simple, get a card (apply online takes 10 mins) use it to get your car then throw in the draw at home.

They ask for cc because they can get a pre auth for $500 should you damage the car etc.. if the car is returned fine then the money never leaves your card so you don't have to pay the cc company anything. You can't do this with a debit card because as soon as you do the transaction the money comes straight off.

davedubya

cooltt wrote: »

Dave
it is simple, get a card (apply online takes 10 mins) use it to get your car then throw in the draw at home.

They ask for cc because they can get a pre auth for $500 should you damage the car etc.. if the car is returned fine then the money never leaves your card so you don't have to pay the cc company anything. You can't do this with a debit card because as soon as you do the transaction the money comes straight off.

So, if the card has no annual fee and I've paid off the amount used to get the hire - if won't be costing me anything? (Then I can cancel it a few months down the line)

Innocent_Guy

davedubya wrote: »

So, if the card has no annual fee and I've paid off the amount used to get the hire - if won't be costing me anything? (Then I can cancel it a few months down the line)

Thats it mate

ShaneUK

But as others have said - do NOT cancel it, just pop it in a draw at home.

Cancelling credit cards can adversley affect your credit rating, and keeping them (but not using them!) can do wonders for your credit rating.

davedubya

Great stuff.

Many thanks for the advice from all of you. It's much appreciated.

JimmyTheWig

I see that you are a newbie on these boards. Feel free to ignore the following...

There are some credit cards that you can apply for through cashback websites and you will even come out on top of the deal.

bingy_burge

Keeping it buying £100 quid of shopping and paying it full will leave the cash in your bank and cost you nothing on the card. That will do wonders for your credit rating not using it for ages doesnt do much and the card companies normally charge you dormancy fees now and lower your limit.

I have hired a car a couple of years ago in cyprus without a cc but it was with a low cost rental company so paid on debit card and they where happy but most want a cc.

I had a hire car free through a test drive theing and they accept a prepaid master card with 250 on it.

What credit so you have currently?