No credit card - holiday ruined??

Where are you going,?

I always pay the excess insurance then most companies do not require a card deposit.

But having a cc is useful, you should put £100 of big purchases on it as then you get additional protection if there are issues.

Monzo?

But also banks can do a virtual card that goes straight on to your phone you dont need to wait for physical card.

Last time I hired a car abroad the deposit was 2k. I got it back btw, being a careful driver who took photos of every mark on the car before I got in it. Hirers saw me do this and seemed to expect it.

It's good isn't it.

We didn't save money by getting a cheaper car though, we paid the same money we would have done for a basic car at a standard hire place, and got a fancy jeep instead 😊

These days with car hire companies you can normally pay a bit extra, so you have 100% insurance - so should anything happen you have zero to pay, and therefore the company just takes the full amount and no deposit negating the need for a CC.

I had a similar problem in Turkey but they accepted a prepaid travel money card. You could get one quickly and load it with enough to pay for the car. Just check first that the hire company will accept it.

You can buy insurance at home before you go. I believe it’s quite a lot cheaper too. I’ve never done it this way so if you have time see if this is suitable.

If you have a revolut card then you don’t need a revolut credit card because the regular “debit style” card (where you can only spend what you have on the card) actually shows as a credit card for purchases.

I always use mine for car rentals or anything where I don’t 100% trust that I’ll get a deposit back.

I don’t recall how long it takes to get your first revolut card but I recently lost my card and need a replacement and part of their service on the metal plan is next day delivery

We used this company when my husband was travelling without a credit card: http://www.indigocarhire.co.uk/. Choose 'debit card hire' from the menu.

You pay a deposit which is refunded when you return the car, rather than using a credit card. They have a deal with the major car hire firms to agree this. Their rates were competitive too

Zable gives you card details instantly and the physical card arrived within 2 days.

Most credit card applications give you a decision in minutes although you would have to wait for the card so unlikely to have it by Monday anyway. I would say it’s worth trying elsewhere, bizarre that your bank is taking up to a week for a decision tbh.

Do you have an Amazon account OP ? If so, they are offering instant access Barclaycard. You apply online through Amazon and they give an instant decision. If accepted you can download the app, set up your account and get immediate access to credit while you wait for the card to arrive. Not sure how smooth the process is but if it lives up to what’s advertised it might solve your immediate problem.

We used Turo. It's like air bnb for cars. We've used it in America and France with no problems and it can be quite cheap and no credit card is needed.

I’ve used my debit card on more than one occasion

Same for us in Greece, pick up a car from the airport, use a local firm, their policy says a CC but we always pay cash.
Greece may be different to other countries though, I have noticed that most Greek businesses prefer cash these days.
Give the car company a ring and explain you don't have a CC or else cancel and use a local firm

We’ve rented cars in Balearics and Canaries and never needed a credit card. We tend to go for small, local companies, as it’s the bigger chains who tend to need deposits and holds. Maybe see if there are any local companies you could use instead?

If you pay the additional insurance they don't usually care about this. Call them and see?

Dh got one through Monzo within minutes and it came next day in a the Saturday post.

hat country are you going to?

When we went to the US we had the same problem and we discovered Turo - like AirBnB fir for cars i.e. you hire direct from the owner.

We got a much better car that way!

They operate in the US, Canada, France, UK and some other countries, and accept debit cards. (Or did 5 years ago, I assume they still do).

www.turo.com

For other European countries see this article

https://www.dittofi.com/learn/turo-competitors

Good luck!

Another recommendation for Goldcar keyngo!

There are certain companies that take Debit cards, when booking a car hire you can specify this. We don't have a CC and book hire cars all the time as live abroad and often travel to the UK/ Europe/Asia. Not impossible but sometimes a raff.

I was going to suggest Monzo and adding the card to your wallet, another poster has beaten me to it.

You won’t get a physical card with them by Monday but I doubt that will be needed.

My daughter had the same in Greece but they accepted her Starling card - she had enough cash on it to cover the cost of the hire.

Get the insurance that covers everything and leave a deposit on your debit card - Europcar car do this

We have been caught out twice in Italy. First time, no credit card and found it impossible to find somewhere that accepted debit card and the second time we had our credit card but not the PIN number (new card and we thought they could use the card details still but nope, we had to put it in a card machine with the pin) so we ended up with no car again and a lot of walking.

If you do get one make sure you have the PIN number too!

Good luck, at least you are looking now as we were faffing around at the airport for hours when we realised.