My wife is flying out of town and will need to rent a car. Our only credit card is in my name. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions on how she may be able to rent a car once she gets where she is going? We live in the US and she is flying to another state.
Some of the national companies will rent to people paying cash, but the process is involved and might affect your credit score - some will do a “hard pull” of your credit report. All will want prepayment, plus a sizeable deposit, and a whole mess of stuff like a utility bill in the renter’s name, a verifiable street address, verifiable non-cellular phone number, verifiable employment and so forth. About all you can do is check rental companies’ websites - Alamo and National, will do it, and they appear to be unique among the national companies for doing so. (They’re actually part of the same corporation.)
Have a look at http://www.bnm.com/cash.htm to se a rather small list of cities that have independent rental companies that will rent to people without a CC.
How soon is she flying, and how soon might she be able to get her own card?
If you rent with Enterprise, they will take a debit card for the required deposit (usually 200.00 or 300.00) but they actually take the money out of your account (i.e., you won’t have access to that cash). When you’ve returned the car and the deposit can be refunded, they will put the cash back into your account (I’m not sure how long it takes, though). I would suggest calling various agencies prior to making the trip so that your wife will have any and all required documentation/cash to rent a vehicle.
You should know that not having a credit card can be a problem at hotels, too. You can arrange to pay cash ahead of time to hold the room, but they will want a deposit when she gets there, too, in case she uses any services or raids the minibar.
A cursory check of a few car rental web sites …
Source: Car Rental: Save More on Rental Cars, Vans & Trucks | Hertz
Avis rental policies - Just as tough as Hertz.
WAG - Unless you have a credit card in your name, the chances of renting a car with some other form of payment are extremely difficult or zilch.
I’m not sure if Enterprise has a hard and fast policy. Here’s my story : I had rented from a local Enterprise a few times when my car was in the shop and used a debit card each time. As you said, they charged my account for $300 which was credited againt the full value of the rental when I returned it. Two years ago I made a trip down to Missouri and was able to rent a car at the airport there using the same debit card. However, when I returned to RI, I tried to rent one at a different Enterprise (the one at TF Green Airport) and was told that that specific location was only able to accept credit cards, not debit cards. I have yet to hear an adequate explanation from they as to why.
They did, however, refer me to Budget Rent-A-Car which did rent to me using the debit card.
If this story from comsumerist.com has any validity, Enterprise has no set rental prices at all.
Thanks all. We’re just putting her name on my card.
You should go to your local Hertz (or whatever car rental you choose) with your credit card, and make a reservation in advance, for her to pick up when she arrives at the other state. Then they will be able to charge it to your credit card, while you are right there.
Also, reserving & paying in advance, you may have a better selection of vehicles, and the people at the other state will tend to treat pre-paid reservations very nicely.
You can rent the car with her as the driver.
When I was a student, I had no credit cards (no one would extend me credit, for some reason. Nowadays it seems students get offers all the time). But I had a Sears card, and could use it to rent at one of the companies (Budget, I think).
Times have changed. as of 2002, Avis is the linked car rental company. But you can, if you don’t have a general credit card, still use your Sears charge card to rent at Avis.
I used this method to rent cars for job interviews while in school.
Just to clarify this point, the rental agency does not transfer money out of your bank account. It puts a hold on the funds, which does take them out of your available balance, but the funds are still in your account and not the agency’s. When the rental is concluded, the actual amount is taken out of the account as a separate transaction and, depending on how the individual debit card issuer works, the held funds are then released back to your available balance.
Thanks, Otto. Since you seem to know the financial details, would you mind explaining a related question?
I am adding my wife to the card, but I’m pretty close to the limit on this card. There is a chance that the deposit will push us over the limit and I won’t have the funds to pay down the card until a few days after she gets back… How does this stuff work? At times, I have had charges go through that placed my card over the limit. I don’t like having a lot of debt, but we have given our finances a workout over the past year or so.
Depending on your card program, your account may have a pad on it that allows you to charge over your stated limit. Supposedly it’s to prevent the customer from being embarassed by getting a decline when they’re close to their limit. We’re not supposed to tell customers if they have a pad on their acounts or not.
Again depending on your card program, the authorization of the charge, if it takes you over your credit limit, should not incur any overlimit fees since the charge hasn’t actually been completed. When the charge completes and actually posts to your card, if it’s over your limit you may get hit with an overlimit fee. Some of the cards I work with charge an O/L fee if you’re over at any time in the billing cycle and some only charge it if you’re over when your bill actually cycles. In your situation, if the auth takes you over the limit but your payment posts before the charge completes, I don’t imagine you’d be charged any penalties.
You can get a nearly instant aproval with any number of online credit cards nowadays. Get her a CC, use it for this, pay it off, and then cancel it.
FWIW, I just did this last week and they held the amount of the anticipated rental ($150) plus I believe $250 out of my checking account (I used my Visa check card). They put it on hold. When I returned the car, they charged my card the proper amount and all was square by the end of the day.
The OP said he’s going to just put his wife on his card, but for anyone else curious, don’t assume a company will do this- call the branch that you’ll be using to make sure they take debit cards. It’s not the same even within the same company.