OK, here’s the situation. I have a business trip coming up and I have to rent a car. I am a lowly peon and do not have a corporate card, so I have to rent a car myself. It’s for 2 weeks and could get quite expensive, which blows goats.
Now, I do not have a credit card- I use a Visa check card. My understanding is that only Budget Rent-a-Car will accept a Visa check card, and they put a hold on your funds for the cost of the proposed rental plus 25% or somesuch until it’s paid for. I’d love to avoid this, since it’s obviously inconvenient to tie up funds for that long.
OK, what I WANT to do, and what other places (airlines, hotels, etc) allow me to do is have my boss call with his company credit card, charge the fee, and let me pick up the car. Budget says NO WAY cannot be done- the credit card that is used to make the reservation MUST be the one presented when it’s picked up. Ugh.
So I have several questions: Is there any way around this through Budget or any other rental place? Is this requirement standard operating procedure? Do any other rental places take Visa check cards?
One option I have is to rent the car for 1 week, return it on the day it’s due, then re-rent one on the spot. I"m thinking that’s a good idea except if there are no cars available. Then I’m screwed, I believe.
And no, the company does not advance travel funds. I took on the trip because I’m trying to move up in the company and they would have sent someone else if they knew this was an issue. I also didn’t want to announce to them that I don’t have a real Visa card to use.
Our office has one visa card and one authorized signer. That’s it. When we travel for the office, I haven’t rented a car. But here’s what we’ve done for hotels: K. (the card holder) makes the reservation and gives them her credit card # over the phone. When we actually depart, she sends with us a photocopy of the credit card (both sides) and a signed piece of letterhead stating that I, Cranky, am authorized to charge the hotel room on the credit card, as given in the reservation and shown on the photocopy.
I don’t know if the rental car company will go with that, though. They’re all kinds of screwy about stuff. Last time my husband and I rented, they wouldn’t let him be the designated driver as long as it was on my credit card. We had to redo the entire rental agreement with HIS card.
What I was told at Enterprise was that they’ll take debit cards OR an out of state license, but not both. Have you considered a prepaid Visa? I’ve seen them around.
I’ve had to deal with this recently. New employee, I didn’t have a corporate card yet, I got sent on a trip. For the hotel and airfare, we used a corporate “ghost” card to pay for everything. I couldn’t rent a car, since I refuse to put anything on my personal credit cards. Hertz would not allow us to use the ghost card, I had to show a credit card at the rental location.
The problem isn’t that I lack a card, the problem is that I don’t want to pay for the rental when my company could pay for it easily enough. I can do it if I have to, but it ties up hundreds of dollars of mine that I’d rather not tie up, that’s all.
I think diku is spot on- they all seem to require this. I was just hoping someone would pop in and say “Oh, I went to ABC rental and they let my boss pay and me pick it up!” What a pain in the nards.
And yes, I’ve applied for a regular card for future trips. I just didn’t want to miss out on this one and not be considered for future trips for something so small.
I cannot for the life of me figure out why this policy exists. I mean, they’re getting their money either way- guarenteed on a credit card. It works for hotels, airlines, etc. Bizzare.
Try some of the local car rental companies in the area. Many smaller companies take cash or check cards and will shuttle you back and forth to the airport. I know of a few here that will hold your return airline ticket as collateral. Often times you will find that the smaller local companies have very competitive rates. There does exist a market for people in your situation.
Consider the Big Five’s position. Would you give me, a total stranger with no credit card, a $15,000 car on my good looks? And if you’re under 25, forget about it, credit card or not.
Google car rental philly and you should do OK. Good luck.
When I traveled for the government agency I work for, the arrangements were paid for by the travel office with a corporate Amex I didn’t have to show a credit card anywhere, not even for the rental car . Now it might be because it was a government agency, but it might also be because the procedure used was slightly different than the one described by CrankyAsAnOldMan. The difference was that rather than me carrying the photocopy and the letter, the photocopy and letter were faxed directly to the car rental agency, hotel, etc.
Thanks, E7- I"ll check into that or see if a travel agent can help me out any. Thing is- I don’t see why they would give me, a total stranger with no credit card and only enough to pay for the rental on a debit card a $15,000 car on my good looks either. If I were them I’d want my company (a major corporation) to rent the car and use THEIR real card. So I don’t get it at all.
I’ll see if I can find a local company that can help me out. I see what you mean that there is a market for what I seek, but I’m having trouble locating that very service.
Perhaps your employer could advance the travel payments, to include the cash deposit for renting the vehicle without a credit card and also the amount of the car rental to pay the rental company in advance?
You would not be “screwed” if you had an advance rental confirmation for that second week. I had to do this with a car rental company when I was out of town for several months for work. That company had a maximum rental period of 30 days. So at the end of 30 days I returned one and picked up another.
Car rental prices online can be reasonable.
You might want to apply for a real credit card, even with a low limit. Another alternative is to have a relative perhaps put you on their card for emergency use.
Nope- corporate policy is no advances. It’s pretty unusual that they send people to travel that don’t have a corporate card, so this doesn’t come up very often. I also don’t want to get into the “I declared bankruptcy” issue (which is why I don’t use cards) with them, because I think it brings my credibility into question. Quite the sticky wicket.
Excellent advice- I’ll see about doing the reservation for both weeks- I’m unclear right now on WHEN they put the hold on the funds, though- when I make the reservation or when I go to pick up the car? I shall find out though and do just that. I found an excellent rate online for both weeks.
I’ve applied for a real credit card, too, so we’ll see what happens there. I don’t have good credit, so I don’t know how it will pan out. Good advice on the relative putting me on, too- that could definately work out.
Thanks for the advice, everyone. It’s hard to believe that for all the travel I’ve done for work and personal trips, I’ve never, ever had to rent a car myself. But there you have it.
In case anyone else is interested, this is from Enterprise’s Website FAQ regarding debit cards:
Question
Can I use my debit card to rent the car?
Answer
Although you may use a debit card to pay for the final charges on the vehicle, you will still need a traditional credit card at the time of the rental.
A major credit card that is not tied to a bank account is required to secure the transaction while the car is in the renter’s possession.
