car hire help

[Pandaaa]

quick question,

we go to Florida on the 3rd of may and have booked a flydrive with travel city, however i am a little confused..

our car hire is with alamo through travel city.. it says that they will need a credit card when we get there in the main drivers name which is my husband as i dont drive only thing is he doesn't have credit card as he got refused one but i have one. it does say that a visa debit card is ok.. is this right?

any help would be great thanks

[Conor71]

We had a car with travel city (alamo) a couple of years back and they didn't even check the name on the card! I was the main driver, gave them my mums CC and they just scanned it and gave me it back. They never mentioned anything about it not being in my name but I know a few people on here have said it needs to be in the main drivers name. I sometimes think they don't care in the states who owns the card, just as long as it gets authorised then someone pays! Have a great holiday.

[mickchick]

In answer to your question: yes, a visa debit card is perfectly acceptable to Alamo.

[Guest]

we had no problem using a visa debit card in May :-)

[Pandaaa]

thanks for your help

Do they take any money or just swipe the card?

[Guest]

Just remember that on the debit card, they will ring off a certain amount (which can vary) but this is then unusable all holiday and up to around 7 working days when you get back. A friend of mine uses cash as that is given back straight away upon return of the car.

However, i don't have a credit card but my OH does, and when we rent a car or go to hotels, we use hers, even if i'm down as a lead name. Never had issues.

[Pussycat Doll]

We've never had any money 'held' on any card for car hire in 22 years, never had to produce the paper counterpart either although we do carry it at all times just in case! Pussycat

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Pussycat Doll

We've never had any money 'held' on any card for car hire in 22 years, never had to produce the paper counterpart either although we do carry it at all times just in case! Pussycat

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That does seem odd? We had £150 per week for 2 weeks in 2012, and only a month ago had £100 held when we went to Boston. Same with our other trips before then.

[Pandaaa]

so how much do they take? as we are on limited funds and need to know how much to keep.. im so confused :S

[Guest]

Perhaps speak to the rental company. Only speaking from my experience, i've had money held on a debit card, which is inconvenient, so since then had the OH get a credit card and use that when i'm with her.

In terms of amounts, i've been to a hotel which took $25 per night. but that has varied, as has the amount a rental car company has taken.