Car hire imprint - Does this cost any fees etc?

SouthernGuy

Hi,

This might be a silly question but do you know if any fees/interest/conversion fees can be charged by a credit card company for the holding fee they take when hiring a car?

Basically, I'm going abroad soon and am hiring a car. I'm taking with me a Halifax clarity card for my spending.
The Car hire place requires a credit card imprint as a form of deposit.

I don't want to give them my clarity card as I don't want them holding funds on it thus making the funds unavailable for me to spend.

So my plan is to hand over my Virgin card for the holding fee. I have paid for the hire up front so no fees should actually be processed to the card at all just held during the hire period.

Will this in anyway make me liable for any exchange rates/interest/loading/fee from the credit card company??

Just want to check before going ahead and doing it :-)

bengalknights

No as it will just show as a authorization

Roger1

It depends. Normally, the amount is blocked until you pay or at a fixed time if you use another card. The normal effect is to reduce your available limit.

Sometimes, though, the amount is charged. It happened to me at Hertz in Cape Town on a prepaid reservation. They charged the amount and refunded it a month or so later. The refund in sterling was less than I was charged and AmEx gave me a credit for the difference.

I'd suggest that SouthernGuy ask the credit card agency what their policy is when picking up the car.