Hi

They don't normally take any money from your card just take an imprint of it and if any monies are due they will take that at the end of the hire.

If you have upgraded to the insurance that includes any driver and first tank of fuel they don't always take imprint of card depends which hire company you are using.

Hope this helps

Hi,
Just been reading the posts regarding taking an inprint of visa card for car hire, does anybody know if it has to be a credit card or will a visa debit card do, we're going next week, have upgraded to gold insurance which includes tank of fuel, extra drivers etc, but we don't have credit cards only visa debit.
I'm getting a bit worried!!!!
Can anybody help?

Which company/location are you renting from?

Hi,
I'm travelling with Thomas Cook, the car rental is Dollar

I am looking at hiring with Alamo through USRentacar or USCarhire.

Urgentier-
Here is a link to Dollar Car Rental policies- they vary from state to state (all the rental Companies set some local policies)
http://www.dollar.com/AboutUs/GeneralPolicies.aspx
I called Customer Service - 1-800-800-5252 and spoke to Shelley (I am in the US)
She tells me that the Orlando location will let you rent with a debit card providing (a) it has a Visa Logo on it and (b) when you give your debit card to them they will automatically run a credit check with Equifax- one of the 3 major credit reporting agencies here- if you have a good credit record they will rent to you.
They do place a 'hold' on a certain amount of your funds, varies according to total cost of rental..
Hope this helps.
If you want confirmation in writing before you travel email rhelp@dollar.com

wrightip61- You should be fine with Alamo, as long as you have roundtrip travel tickets.
Here is their Policy on debit card use. http://www.alamo.com/ - click on Rental Policies
If you click on Contact Us you can also email for written confirmation re debit card transactions and for details...
Hope this helps.

Thanks Emdia!

Any idea if Alamo will hold a charge against a debit card and if so how muchit would be? Their website doesn't make it clear to me.

Wrightip61- I just called the Alamo info @ MCO/ spoke to Jessica, 1-888-826-8935- as long as you have roundtrip travel tickets there is no problem with VISA debit card. They do not 'hold' your funds. They charge against your debit card as you return the car.
Happy travels.

Thank you!

So I pre book in the UK using my credit card and I get a voucher.
I take the voucher, and my flight tickets to the Alamo desk and tell them I am using my debit card.
Then when I return the car they charge me for gas unless I have the prepaid tank on my insurance?

I hope this is right!

I'm not sure what your arrangements re gas are, if it is part of a package you have bought- what they usually do is give you a choice, bring it back full (same as you got it) or they will fill it up at the airport when you come back, and charge you an extortionate rate.

Thank you for your help - this has been the most difficult part of our planning for the trip so far.

You have been great

You're very welcome.
I hope you enjoy your stay in Florida.
I think it's easier to do everything with credit card, it's (a) much simpler, accepted everywhere, and it gives you protections you don't have with a debit card - they will dispute charges you don't agree with, etc.
You will probably find that as you use your debit card here for purchases a lot of small stores will not run it as debit with you using your PIN, they will bill as credit and you'll have to sign a charge as if you were using a credit card. It will still come out of your bank acct the usual way, but it gives the vendor some assurances they don't get from debit systems...

I will only be using my debit card for the car hire. Everything else will be either cash or travellers cheques. I know how much I have left then!

You might laugh but there are many places that will not accept cash here when it comes to travel/hospitality arrangements - they want the guarantee of a credit card- hotels - a LOT of airport car rental locations,unless you have a local driving license- they all want to know how well you pay your bills

That seems totally bizarre
Fortunately the hotel and everything is paid for already. Just car hire and food to sort out!

50 days and counting!!!