Stuffed when hiring a car without a credit card

Fungus

So last week we went for a holiday in Spain. We need to hire a car. Money is a bit tight, so I jump onto a comparison site to get the cheapest deal. £129 for a small car. No problem.

Money is tight, so naturally I turn down their offer for full protection insurance. At £7 per day that's £49. Ridiculous. I go to a third party site and get car hire excess cover from them for £21. Fully covered, all is good.

I pay for it with my debit card, and pack our bags.

After an uneventful flight, we arrive in Malaga at 12.30 am and rush excitedly to pick up our car.

I tell the lady we need a booster seat for my daughter. She goes to grab one. That's an extra 35 euros. A bit steep, you can buy them from Amazon for £12.99. But they have to make their money, fair enough.

Then there's an additional 35 euros for fuel. Ok fair do's I will be using it. No problem.

Then there's an extra 40 euros tax. What??? On the web site it says your rental includes "local taxes".

Then the kicker, there's an extra 110 euros for our extended insurance. "Oh no that's ok, I have arranged my own".. "Oh no sir, you are paying by debit card, you must take our own".

All told an extra 220 euros had to be paid. That's like £350 to hire a dodgy little smart car.

So be warned... hiring a car without a credit card is not to be advised!

I did look over the site and they do mention in the small print that a credit card was required, so I don't think I really have any one to blame but myself, but I guess it's just another reminder to always read the small print... and maybe I should get a credit card.

Voyager2002

Spanish car hire firms are notorious... if they hadn't got you for this, they would have got you for something else. Either use the (excellent) trains and buses, or be prepared to spend far more money than you expected.

safesound

It's not the car hire company at fault. You obviously didn't understand how hiring a car in Europe works. Of course they will want some way of ensuring you can pay the excess should you damage their car. They don't accept third party excess insurance because it doesn't cover the excess directly, you still have to pay it yourself (you claim it back later). A debit card doesn't allow them to reserve the excess amount (so you can't max the card to get around paying) so they need a credit card or their own insurance to mitigate the risk.
The car seat should have been obvious, they don't supply them for free (even in the UK). Take one with you next time, as you said they are only a few pounds. You can even throw it away if you really need the space on the way back.
The fuel is the easiest to get around, when choosing a car to hire opt for a full to full fuel rental. It costs slightly more but you only pay for the fuel you use and only pay at normal garage rates because you are refilling the car before returning it.
I suggest more thorough research in future, to make sure you understand what is required to keep costs at a minimum.

securityguy

"I did look over the site and they do mention in the small print that a credit card was required,"

As it is for every hire car company other than when you have their full insurance in place. Excess insurance means you pay any excess (potentially up to a thousand Euro) and then claim it back from your insurance company.

The only way they can be sure of getting their money is either (a) pre-reserve on a credit card, which means you having a credit card with a spare grand of limit or (b) take a deposit and return it at the end of the rental period.

I don't know where this idea of "hire companies accepting excess insurance" comes from: no hire company has any business knowing how you're planning to pay the excess ultimately, so long as they get their money on time. So they make sure they will get their money. That's the price you pay for not taking their insurance, and if you can't do (a) or (b) then you're going to have to take their insurance. And that applies whether you're using skanky operator X or Hertvis.

peachyprice

securityguy wrote: »

"I did look over the site and they do mention in the small print that a credit card was required,"

As it is for every hire car company other than when you have their full insurance in place. Excess insurance means you pay any excess (potentially up to a thousand Euro) and then claim it back from your insurance company.

The only way they can be sure of getting their money is either (a) pre-reserve on a credit card, which means you having a credit card with a spare grand of limit or (b) take a deposit and return it at the end of the rental period.

Nope, Avis hire without a credit card, they just ringfence £200 on your debit card, no extra insurance needed.

eDicky

peachyprice wrote: »

Nope, Avis hire without a credit card, they just ringfence £200 on your debit card, no extra insurance needed.

Avis where? USA?

peachyprice

eDicky wrote: »

Avis where? USA?

Worldwide. There are very few exceptions, Belgium I believe, Italy used to be credit card only but now they take debit cards, although you may need 2 cards for a high value car.

They do say in their T&C's that some locations may not accept debit cards, but I'm yet to some across one, I hire 2-3 cars a month!

We’ve recently reviewed our standard pre-authorisation amount which covers any additional costs resulting from your rental such as additional days, fuel or damage. As a result the pre-authorisation is now £200 plus the estimated cost of your rental (less any prepaid amount).

What is a pre-authorisation?

This is a temporary hold on a specified amount against the available funds on your payment card*. Please note - this is not an actual charged amount and no funds are taken.

Your payment card issuer may present a pre-authorisation as a pending transaction.

What does this mean for me?

1. At the point you collect your vehicle and start your rental, we will put a temporary hold of a pre-authorisation amount of £200 plus the estimated cost of your rental (less any prepaid amount) against the available balance on your payment card
2. When you complete your rental and return the vehicle, the pre-authorisation funds will be released by your card issuer
3. Depending on your card issuer, it can take up to 14 working days before this is reflected in your account balance

Please note – even though a pre-authorisation is not an actual charge, it will temporarily reduce the available balance on your payment card.



Best regards

The Avis Team

*Payment card can refer to a credit, charge or debit card.