What if You Don't Have a Credit Card for Car Rental?

Introduction and Overview

Renting a car should be an easy and simple process but many people find that they end up with unfortunate surprises that could have been avoided. To make sure that that you do not end up with problems make sure that you become informed before you rent a car.

Life Without a Credit Card … What do You do … What do You do …

A question that arises from some people is whether you have to use a major credit card when renting a car? The answer is that some rental companies only accept major credit cards and do not accept debit cards. You may find that you can reserve your rental car by using your debit card but when it comes down to picking it up you will find that they ask for a major credit card to actually finalize the agreement. Many people are confused about their debit card because it will have a logo on it that is one of the major credit card names, like Visa or Mastercard but in actuality it is just a debit card and it will not be accepted by many car rental agencies. The debit card can be used when you return the vehicle to pay for it but an actual major credit card will be required to rent the car.

Also, the major credit card must be in the name of the person who is the renter of the car.

If you run into problems renting a car because you don’t have a major credit card and you have someone else that is traveling with you that does have a major credit card, you may want to have them put it on their card and put you down as an additional driver.