Sterling Pre-paid MasterCard and car hire

Bebs

Hello

I wonder if anyone can help, I spoke to Sterling Pre-paid MasterCard today and they have told me if I supply them with passport details, proof of address etc then they can upgrade my pre-paid card so that I am able to hire a care (I obviously need to have the correct amount on the car that they will secure). Has anyone done this before? Does it really work? I would hate arrive in the country I am visiting to be told they wont accept it.

Road_Hog

Bebs wrote: »

Hello

I wonder if anyone can help, I spoke to Sterling Pre-paid MasterCard today and they have told me if I supply them with passport details, proof of address etc then they can upgrade my pre-paid card so that I am able to hire a care (I obviously need to have the correct amount on the car that they will secure). Has anyone done this before? Does it really work? I would hate arrive in the country I am visiting to be told they wont accept it.

I'd be concerned, as I'm sure car hire companies (like hotels) like to get a pre-authorisation for more than the actual hire cost. This is to cover things like insurance excess or speeding fines or parking tickets, that appear in the post after you have handed the car back.

Ben8282

I have heard that car hire companies don't like pre-paid cards so be careful and check with the car hire company. Make sure that you have enough money there to cover any pre-authorisation.

Bebs

The car hire company is Hertz, I contacted them directly and they said they only hold £100 (pre authorisation) wil they know its a pre paid card as the pre paid card company said the car hire 'block' will be lifted! Really not sure what to do as I don't have a cc and really need to hire a car :-(

Plxply

The block is a authorisation hold put on the amount, it will "fall off" in the end as they will have not actually taken the money but instead reserved it. Normally it will take around a week to go. They will be able to tell it's a prepaid card, I've heard of some car hire firms that only take credit cards. Couldn't you get a credit card for occasions like this before you leave?

Bebs

Plxply wrote: »

The block is a authorisation hold put on the amount, it will "fall off" in the end as they will have not actually taken the money but instead reserved it. Normally it will take around a week to go. They will be able to tell it's a prepaid card, I've heard of some car hire firms that only take credit cards. Couldn't you get a credit card for occasions like this before you leave?

I know the bloack will hold the amount, this will be about £100. How will they know it is a pre paid card, it does not say so on the card and the company said they will remove the "car hire block" from the card. I don't have time to get a credit card so I am in a bit of a mess and don't know if I should jsut take a chance

YorkshireBoy

Bebs wrote: »

How will they know it is a pre paid card, it does not say so on the card

The first 4 (or 6?) numbers are the BIN, and this tells them (or, more accurately, their merchant acquirer) what type of card it is.

However, many hirers (in my experience*) still only 'click/clack' the card, so unless they 'swipe' it they probably won't know?

I don't have time to get a credit card

Is there time to get an additional user card on someone elses card account (for back up purposes)?


* Paid for in this country, so may not be the case if hired in resort.

Ben8282

I didn't realise pre-paid cards had a 'car hire block' which could be removed by the card issuer.

Are you intending to pre-pay this rental in the UK or pay locally? Note that even if the rental is pre-paid, the car hire company will still expect a credit card when you pick up the car as a deposit against petrol, damage, parking fines etc etc.

To an extent, it will depend on which country you are renting in.

Also, they may recognise it is a pre-paid card simply by looking at who issued it. Are you sure it says nothing about pre-pay on it? No 'top up at Pay Point and Post Office' symbols on the back?

Ben8282

Bebs wrote: »

The car hire company is Hertz, I contacted them directly and they said they only hold £100 (pre authorisation) wil they know its a pre paid card as the pre paid card company said the car hire 'block' will be lifted! Really not sure what to do as I don't have a cc and really need to hire a car :-(

Yes, but what did Hertz say about the fact it was a pre-paid card?

giblet10

This is from Avis UK website:

"Visa and MasterCard pre-paid cards can be accepted as a method of payment when returning your hire car. Please note we can not accept any pre-paid cards at the start of the rental and you will still need to provide one of the above accepted cards when picking up your vehicle."

Hertz merely state that the card needs to have raised embossing on the details so number, name, date of expiry etc..but this is in relation to all cards, they don't specifically mention prepaid at all.

I used to have Cashplus and did rent a car from Avis in Belfast International Airport - but things seem to have changed judging by the above OR they might just be saying that because customers have rocked up, they tried to pre auth and computer said no - because the issuer hadn't released the car hire block. Cashplus just wanted me to hold £1k balance and it worked ok for me..

AmitSharma

Yup that would be the way to look at it.

They need preauthorisation upfront so a prepaid card won't work as it works with £1 preauth (not enough to cover a sandwich methinks) but they are happy to accept that as final payment as that would be real time authrisation for the whole amount.

So makes perfect sense.

Cheers

giblet10 wrote: »

This is from Avis UK website:

"Visa and MasterCard pre-paid cards can be accepted as a method of payment when returning your hire car. Please note we can not accept any pre-paid cards at the start of the rental and you will still need to provide one of the above accepted cards when picking up your vehicle."

Hertz merely state that the card needs to have raised embossing on the details so number, name, date of expiry etc..but this is in relation to all cards, they don't specifically mention prepaid at all.

I used to have Cashplus and did rent a car from Avis in Belfast International Airport - but things seem to have changed judging by the above OR they might just be saying that because customers have rocked up, they tried to pre auth and computer said no - because the issuer hadn't released the car hire block. Cashplus just wanted me to hold £1k balance and it worked ok for me..