Guest Hayesfamily2011 Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Hi there everyone, Just a quick question, we have just been sorting a hire car out for a week for when we arrive in Brisbane on 24th August and we were just about to book and the man on the phone mentioned all the things needed when we collect the car from the airport, driving licence etc and a credit card, I wasnt going to say anything I would just have used my debit card for the account here in the UK but something made me ask if I could do that and they replied NO! I said what are we supposed to do? we havent got a credit card and for someone to presume everyone has a credit card well thats not right, can anyone help or are we going to be stuck until we get a car? we planned on getting a car bought within a week or so anyway. but I dont know what to do, we will land with our 2 children and cant get to our holiday home and have no transport to get anywhere aaaarrrgggghhh:arghh:. Please please please can anyone suggest something anything? Surely there has been someone other than us in this type od situation, another hurdle to get over as if we arent stressed enogh eh? ha ha ha typical us tho! Thanks for listening to me go on The Hayes Family:sad:who are nearly in the Sunshine Coast. By the way we dont know anyone when we get there and the cheeky bloke on the phone of Car hire 3000 said get someone you know to pick you up IDIOT:realmad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PositivePixie Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 You can get a pre-paid credit card if you don't have one - its not subject to credit checks/income things like that, you just load it up with the money you want to put on it, so you can use it for silly things like car hire and hotel rooms. You will need to contact the car hire people again and ask how much they block out on the credit card so you can put enough cash on it. Just google 'pre-paid mastercard' or have a look on the Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert website, possibly the post office do one? Its a proper credit card, ie Mastercard I think, even though it doesn't work like a traditional credit card. I think they cost £5 a month for 12 months, or something, so you would have to pay, but imho a small price for a) not having to get a 'real' credit card b) being able to function like a so called 'normal' person. Otherwise I can only think you will have to knock the hire car idea on the head and either get taxis around (I'm guessing public transport with little ones is a nightmare?) and buy a car asap. Hope that helps a little bit.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Yup, pre paid credit card is the way to go. We had family over from Aus recently and they used one. Put X amount of Aussie $$ on it, converted into UK pounds so knew exactly how much they had to spend while here and not worry about keep converting or anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hayesfamily2011 Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Me again thank you guys for your thoughts, I wonder, would the hire company physically have to have the card or could a member of our family give us their number etc and use that instead? look at us properly nutters but this is making me want to cry as this is the last thing we need to do boo hoo hoo hoo and hoooooooo The Hayes Family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 They have to have the card when you collect the car. Its a security thing. The person hiring the car usually pays so the card needs to be physically seen and swiped. They take a holding fee/deposit/bond off it usually (a fair chunk for a hire car) and don't process it, just hold it over till the car is returned. It usually costs more than a weeks hire for your basic car here in the UK. So giving them a family members card details from the UK will stuff up I'd say. Get the pre paid credit card. It will be useful for other things also. And you can always hire direct from an airport or some place when you arrive. I usually find airport car rentals mid week tend to be out of the smaller cars and often upgrade at no extra cost. Or I book online and shop around for the best deal (and then show the credit card when collecting the car of course). Don't forget DL either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PositivePixie Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 as snifter says, they will physically need the actual credit card, and the person who owns it will need to be there in person as well - they have to be sure a) you aren't going to nick the car and b) if you do, they have some money put by that isn't going to get charged back by the real owner of the credit card (ie, its a stolen one). Seriously the pre-paid cards are pretty good, and might help out in all sorts of other emergencies as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dylan1 Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 A lot of car hire firms do not except pre paid credit cards. Ask them before you book. I tried to use one with Hertz the last time I was in France and got told they did not except them. Luckily I had a normal credit card to use so all was well. It's very difficult to hire a car without a credit card in the drivers name these days. I would suggest you look on the internet for a smaller car hire firm that is local to where your going. They tend to do things the more old fashioned way, cash deposits etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Augensternchen Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Hey, I'm working for a car hire wholesaler. Depends where you need the car but some suppliers allow cash deposit instead of credit card. If you haven't booked yet just try with another company. Steff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice1uk Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 When we went to the usa it stated you need a credit card. When we arrived we gave them bank card and it was excepted on both occaisons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Some companies will accept a cash bond instead usually between $500-$1000 Is your debit card a MasterCard or visa? If so you will be fine using this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PositivePixie Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 A lot of car hire firms do not except pre paid credit cards. Ask them before you book. I tried to use one with Hertz the last time I was in France and got told they did not except them. . But the 'proper' pre pay credit cards aren't in any way different from a 'normal' credit card, as long as there is enough money on it, in the same way that if your credit limit isn't high enough on a 'normal' credit card Dylan - the actual proper credit cards though that you take out a credit agreement on, not a debit card or a pre-load card, but a proper pre pay credit card. The highlighted word might be a clue to the situation.....:biglaugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dylan1 Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 But the 'proper' pre pay credit cards aren't in any way different from a 'normal' credit card, as long as there is enough money on it, in the same way that if your credit limit isn't high enough on a 'normal' credit card Dylan - the actual proper credit cards though that you take out a credit agreement on, not a debit card or a pre-load card, but a proper pre pay credit card. The highlighted word might be a clue to the situation.....:biglaugh: It has nothing to do with being in France PositivePixie.:biglaugh: Hertz do not except prepaid credit cards in any of their outlets worldwide ! Prepaid credit cards are not the same as normal credit cards. If you look at the terms & conditions for your prepaid card you will find something called "Transaction usage restrictions." At the top of the restriction list is CAR HIRE. So this means that even if you can find a firm that will let you use your prepaid card, the company that supplies you with your card may not let you use it for car hire. There are exceptions but with some you have to tell them in advance that you intend to use the card for car hire and they will either say you can or cant. Also unlike a regular credit card you cannot go overdrawn on a prepaid one. This might give you a clue as to why most Car hire firms wont except them. Hertz do allow you to use a Visa/Mastercard debit card as long as you have sufficient funds in your account to cover all possible costs of the rental. Hayesfamily do check before you go though, as i would hate for you and your family to be stranded after a rental firm refuse you a car. If you don’t have a Visa/Mastercard debit card then Google 'car hire Brisbane' and avoid all the major companies and go for smaller ones that are more likely to deal with cash. Try this one, they seem to except A cash bond, and payment in cash. http://www.rentforless.com.au/conditions.htm Good luck.:biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeD Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 About 4 weeks ago I rented a car at Sydney Airport from AVIS for a few days. I live in Oz but only have a NAB Visa Debit Card. There was no problem using this card for the bond/deposit/hire, etc. I don't have a Credit Card in Oz yet, but there was no problem using a Debit Card. I could see that there was a pending transaction in my account for a large sum, but when it was actually processed after I returned home it was the amount of my rental only. It isn't unusual for transactions via Visa Debit with NAB to appear to have the wrong amounts while a pending transaction only to be changed to the correct amount when it is procesed fully!! It worried me initially, but this seems to be normal with car hire, hotels, etc, and anyone else who holds card details or deposit as security against a booking. Debit Card has been fien at all times. In Australia you also get cards which are just EFTPOS cards, so they can do electronic transactions, but they aren't Visa or Mastercard Debit Cards. Their use is more restricted. perhaps the person you spoke to thought you meant an EFTPOS card, rather than Visa/Mastercard Debit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 We did the pre-paid card thing for our arrival. Ours was a visa through Barclays and it was fine for our hotels, car hire, etc--all the things that like a credit card. We had to do this because my main banking had been with The Woolwich--then Barclays helpfully bought them out just before we left and wouldn't give us a Barclays Visa card because they knew we were leaving the country--but that's another story! It actually worked out to be a very good way to bring sufficient money over for our first couple of weeks until we had our bank account open here and could transfer the main sum over. (We hadn't figured out the "open the account from the UK" trick that people are advised to do. Bob Edited to add: We've also used a Visa debit card for car hire, hotels etc. and it works fine. However, one thing to beware of is that they tend to pre-clear considerably more than they basic hire/room rent and it can take a week or so to be released back. If you do several in a row, you can end up with a big cash balance but none available on your account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest liltman Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Hi guy's. I'm going to be in same situ. I have an O2 pre-paid card which is visa but it does'nt have my name on it so does this matter........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 The same thing happened to me back in about 1980 at heathrow. I was working on pipeline testing and had to hire a car from heathrow to get back home. I hadn't got a credit card at that time (didn't get one till we emigrated) but plenty of cash. They wouldn't take the cash and insisted on a card, I was flabbergasted that they wouldn't take cash, I'd never come across that before. I had to get one of the other guys I worked with to get it on his card. They all lived in the London area so had cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.