Car hire will charge 300 euros security - Mastercard this?

m33r4

When I collect my hire car from the airport, the car hire company will charge me 300 euros as security until I return the car to them.

I intend on using my UK Mastercard - anyone know if I will be charged for this as I understand the car hire firm will "block" my card for the 300 euros so I cannot spend this amount while abroad.

Thanks.

ferf1223

it's not a charge - it's a hold - they won't take the money (unless in the end they have a reason to take the deposit from you), so there's no foreign exchange fee for it.

m33r4

ferf1223 wrote: »

it's not a charge - it's a hold - they won't take the money (unless in the end they have a reason to take the deposit from you), so there's no foreign exchange fee for it.

When I spoke to Carhire300, he told me to make sure this money is not spent during the holiday. I therefore presumed he meant to be careful I don't spend that 300 euros if it is beyond my credit limit on that card as that they will take payment from my card and refund it back onto the card once I return the car to them?

Bogtrotter

Generally the insurance you take out with the car hire has an excess which you are liable if any damage to the vehicle. Even if you take out their extra "Super Insurance" there are some exceptions where you can be charged an excess.

When you pick up your car the company want to ensure that they can get the full amount of the excess if they need to so they reserve the amount on your card that they have the option to take whatever they want from it if they please.

The money isn't taken from your account and it costs nothing. You just cannot use the £300 until you return the car undamaged and they release the block.

Bogtrotter

m33r4 wrote: »

When I spoke to Carhire300, he told me to make sure this money is not spent during the holiday. I therefore presumed he meant to be careful I don't spend that 300 euros if it is beyond my credit limit on that card as that they will take payment from my card and refund it back onto the card once I return the car to them?

I have never used that company but I've used Hertz, Avis and Enterprise and never had any transaction relating to the excess cost appear on my credit card statement.

Maybe Carhire300 do things differently but more likely the customer service who you spoke to doesn't really understand the procedure.

ferf1223

m33r4 wrote: »

When I spoke to Carhire300, he told me to make sure this money is not spent during the holiday. I therefore presumed he meant to be careful I don't spend that 300 euros if it is beyond my credit limit on that card as that they will take payment from my card and refund it back onto the card once I return the car to them?

You won't be able to spend the 300 EUR if that would put you over your limit - as there will be a block on your card for that amount.

They do not actually take payment - they pre-authorise a payment...once you have returned the car, the hold will be released - but it can take some time - I've read up to 10 days before.

Nothing will appear on your statement...we have used CH3000 many times and there has never been anything on our statement for the hold they place on the card for the deposit.

m33r4

ferf1223 wrote: »

...we have used CH3000 many times and there has never been anything on our statement for the hold they place on the card for the deposit.

May I ask if you used them in Alicante, Spain at all please?

ferf1223

m33r4 wrote: »

May I ask if you used them in Alicante, Spain at all please?

No, never used them in Spain full stop - but the principle is the same - it's a hold/pre-aulthorisation on your card, not a charge...it won't become a charge until such time as they need to take the deposit from you - which hopefully will be never.

they just need to be sure that they will have access to the funds if they need to call on them - as Bogtrotter said - so they pre-authorise the amount, to keep it safe...they do not actually charge your card, but your available credit limit will be reduced by the amount of the hold - so you can't spend it.

Which car hire agency is the rental with? If you are concerned - ask them - not CH3000 - CH3000 will not be making the hold for the deposit - the agency will...or look on the agency's website to see if the question is addressed.

jimmyR1

Hi , Reading some of these posts am I right in thinking I must have a Credit Card for the hire car company to hold a excess amount in case of any damage to the vehicle ( I only have a debit card & A pre-pay mastercard) & will my excess insurance cover me driving from Derry Northern Ireland into Co -donegal Republic of Ireland ... Any advice would be welcome...
thanks in advance

Bogtrotter

jimmyR1 wrote: »

Hi , Reading some of these posts am I right in thinking I must have a Credit Card for the hire car company to hold a excess amount in case of any damage to the vehicle

No you can use the a debit card or prepay card for car hire as long as you have funds available in the account to cover the excess. Like the credit cards the hire company will block the amount on your card and you won't be able to spend it until the funds are released.

jimmyR1 wrote: »

will my excess insurance cover me driving from Derry Northern Ireland into Co -donegal Republic of Ireland

All of the bigger companies as far as I know have no additional charges for taking cars to the Republic of Ireland. Maybe some of the local hire places have extra charges/clauses in the contract but I doubt it.

ferf1223

from what I can recall reading, a few agencies will accept debit cards - but only if you take the extended insurance, or put down a large deposit...pretty sure that a lot of pre-paid cards cannot be used for car hire...and in any event, they would pre-authorise the deposit amount - so you would have to be sure that you had enough on your card to cover what you actually wanted to spend on your holiday + the deposit.

there are a lot of posts about car hire and debit or pre-paid cards - so may be worth a look.

I don't know what your excess insurance would cover - you would have to read the T&Cs.