No credit card - holiday ruined??

[Rockmehardplace]

I’ve booked a driving holiday and need to hire a car. Turns out I need a credit card to use as a deposit against any damage and I don’t have one. I’m distraught as everything is booked & paid for. Have applied for a credit card via my bank but they’ve said it could be 7 days till they make a decision and I fly on Monday. Does anyone give instant credit cards (I have savings, no debt, good credit rating etc). To stop me losing all the money on the holiday and DC being gutted????
im already distraught about the whole thing so don’t need telling how stupid I have been :(

@Rockmehardplace
Hope you find a means of doing this.
Whatever you do, make sure you thoroughly video the inspection of the car (and any damage already existing, no matter how minor) when you accept it, and also video every inch of it on handing back.

It is not ruined.
Worse case if you cannot hire car is that you book taxis and cancel some plans and do different things
You will be on holiday
Enjoy!!

It's Ireland 😭

Amazing!!! Off to check this out now!!!

Thank you for all the responses - have eventually managed to find another hire company, who would accept debit card if I bought the enhanced insurance, for an extra £22 a day, it’s saved a lot of stress!

Great news!

I had spotted this condition when I booked. Contacted Barclaycard and got my credit card re-issued with my full name on it. So I was all set, until some bugger used my card fraudulently and it was stopped a few days before my holiday with no time for replacement to arrive before I left! 😫

That good OP, it also seems like even if you did have a credit card some companies will think of any other way to get the extra insurance out of you like the full name thing.

enjoy your holiday

We had this in Florida. Car booked iin Husbands name and turned out he hadn't got a credit card. Can't recall if we used a debit card, or a credit card in my name, but either way it was fine. They didn't look at card details, just swiped. We used Hertz

We had this in Florida. Car booked iin Husbands name and turned out he hadn't got a credit card. Can't recall if we used a debit card, or a credit card in my name, but either way it was fine. They didn't look at card details, just swiped. We used Hertz

This happened to us last week. We ended up having to pay for the full insurance policy which was quite expensive (maybe £200) but meant we didn't have to give cc details. We actually said after we would never have done the full insurance before but it was actually really worth it for the peace of mind as normally I spend the whole time stressing about something happening to the car and obviously didn't have to worey at all, so we said we'd do it again in future.

This happened to us last week. We ended up having to pay for the full insurance policy which was quite expensive (maybe £200) but meant we didn't have to give cc details. We actually said after we would never have done the full insurance before but it was actually really worth it for the peace of mind as normally I spend the whole time stressing about something happening to the car and obviously didn't have to worey at all, so we said we'd do it again in future.

I meant to reply to this the other day as we had a similar nightmare. Had booked with enterprise a couple of years ago to pick up a minivan for road trip. They did require a credit card. On the day we were due to pick it up other half realised he had "misplaced" his card. He uses it online but they were insistent they have a physical card, I even offered to leave a cash deposit but no. Was v stressful but in the end we had to pay to add me as a named driver as I had my physical credit card.

I got a credit card from Starling within about an hour of applying that I could use via Apple Pay if that’s any use?

You are not coming to the Algarve by any chance? We have one car company here who rents (good cars at good prices) without credit cards.

My husband’s credit card was declined when we got there (despite plenty of available balance) and it was late at night so we couldn’t speak to anyone at the bank to resolve. The hire company wouldn’t accept his debit card or my credit card (as I was not driving). Our only option was to pay €400 for their own insurance on top of what we paid in the first place. We paid it from our debit card just to get out of there but i think we got scammed 🫠

Yes, debit card is usually sufficient in most non-UK countries. Same don’t even take any, don’t ever rush into getting a credit card, it’s a recipe for disaster. Better to only apply for credit, of any kind, when you are calm and well planned

I recently hired a car at Glasgow airport and they insisted on me having my national insurance number - it was to access a gov database which let's them see if you have any driving convictions.

Nowhere in any of the communication I had from them did it say anything about this.

I had my number, but my daughter's boyfriend couldn't find his when he hired through the same company. He had to phone his work! I think it was Avis. I booked through Alamo the following week and they never asked for it.

Anyone else surprised at the number of
people who don’t have credit cards? I consider it an essential of day to day life, and certainly wouldnt go on holiday without one. I’d feel very exposed only travelling with a debit card.

Revolut

Can I just add that rather than take insurance with the car hire company, you buy an excess insurance policy via carhireexcess in the UK before you go. You will pay an absolute fraction of the cost. I use them every time I hire a car abroad. I once had to claim on it and although I had to pay the damage costs up front to the hire company ( which would be a problem without a credit card I admit), but I was reimbursed very quickly after making the claim when I got back ( you just need to make sure you get all the damage photos and documentation and proof of what you were charged). I saved about £300 in insurance cost. Just in case you are not aware, car hire staff are incentivised for every insurance they sell. My daughter also used them and had to claim and again very simple process for reimbursement.

France was a problem recently. They wouldn't take Amex or Monzo. Had to change hire company.

Monzo maybe? But you’ll have to load it up with a couple of thousand so they can place a hold…

Hi, I was in a similar situation some years back when I was flying to Cyprus.

You’ll find all the major companies like Budget, Hertz etc require a credit card but there are a few smaller independent ones that don’t, usually one man band or small family companies.

I searched online for Car Hire companies that don’t need credit cards. I found one and have been using him for about ten years now?
.
Even though I do have a credit card now, I have since established a relationship with this man, he’s literally running the business to put his daughter through med school abroad. I feel better giving my money to an honourable local than some Global car hire giant

write down which country you are travelling too, maybe some on here knows a friend that’s knows a friend. Obviously if it’s Cyprus I can send you name of someone to contact

Try
Capontap

They also do virtual cards and instant decisions