Car Hire with Credit Card in USA

perryj86

Hello,

I'm a big fan of MSE.com and this is my first post so I hope you can help. I'll be travelling to California soon where I'll be looking to hire a car in San Francisco for one week. However, I'm told that almost any car hire abroad requires a credit card on pickup for a $2,000 approx. holding charge, until you return the car.

As a debit card holder I'm quite new to credit cards and from what I'm told there are many that rarely even work when you go to use them in other countries. Since this is the only thing I'll be using it for I'm anxious to get one that's compatible with travel, and won't let me down the one time I attempt to use it.

Can anybody advise me on the best credit card for this, or the best option?

Thank you very much,
Perry

sharpy2010

Make sure you take at least 2 cards capable of supporting the holding charge, otherwise if you only take one and it doesn't work, you are snookered!

theoretica

The time my debit card did not work in the US I discovered that if the cashier ran it through as if it were a credit card everything went well.

scragend

perryj86 wrote: »

Hello,

I'm a big fan of MSE.com and this is my first post so I hope you can help. I'll be travelling to California soon where I'll be looking to hire a car in San Francisco for one week. However, I'm told that almost any car hire abroad requires a credit card on pickup for a $2,000 approx. holding charge, until you return the car.

As a debit card holder I'm quite new to credit cards and from what I'm told there are many that rarely even work when you go to use them in other countries. Since this is the only thing I'll be using it for I'm anxious to get one that's compatible with travel, and won't let me down the one time I attempt to use it.

Can anybody advise me on the best credit card for this, or the best option?

Thank you very much,
Perry

A good credit card to use abroad is the Halifax Clarity - no additional charges for using it abroad. If you phone them before you go and tell them that you will be using the card in the US then there shouldn't be a problem.

theoretica wrote: »

The time my debit card did not work in the US I discovered that if the cashier ran it through as if it were a credit card everything went well.

I found the same thing in Australia; their EFTPOS machines require you to press either cheque, credit or savings. As I was using my debit card I pressed "cheque", but it didn't work. I tried pressing "credit" instead and it went through fine.