My parents are not from the USA and don’t have USA bank accounts or credit cards and have had no problems renting a car in Europe or anywhere else they went. I really don’t get what you mean. I don’t see why you specifically need an American card and not just a credit card from any modern country.
I think you are making too sweeping of a statement here. Maybe this is the case for car rentals you encounter / have access to but the response should show that’s not the case everywhere in the EU. I rented a car without a credit card over 5 years ago where I’m from. You do pay a deposit that I suppose a credit card would normally insure for, but the option exists. Either way, if a car rental requires a credit card, I would not even consider renting with them. That’s ridiculous.
Look, if you go to mom and pop’s car rental, sure, they can accept hens as payment if they like. If you use car rentals the most common way, as a supplement for airport travel, you rent one in your city, you use it to go to the airport, return it, fly to your destination, rent another car at the airport, do your things, go back, repeat. At those locations you’ll only have the big names, AVIS, Hertz, Europcar… Those are mostly credit-card or corporate account exclusive. And corporate accounts are expensive, at my former company we had a bunch of people travelling constantly and it still wasn’t economically advantageous, apparently.
Debit Cards – Accepted in many countries, but restrictions apply (see below)
In some countries, only credit cards are accepted—unless you’ve prepaid online with a debit card.
If you prepaid your rental with a debit card, you must bring the same card to the counter, along with a valid credit card for the deposit.
Your card must be in the name of the main driver, and valid for the entire duration of the rental.
Your debit card is now welcome at Hertz in Europe.
Here at Hertz we like to make renting a car personal. You decide what to drive and where to drive, and now you can choose how to pay.
We welcome debit cards across our European locations. We want your journey with us to be easy, so giving you options on how to pay puts you in the driving seat. No complicated processes – a simple deposit that works the same for credit cards as debit cards. Go your own way. Pay your own way.
Yeah, you just confirmed what I said:
Europcar: vague statement about countries, again WITH deposit.
AVIS: in the link it says mini car or van with debit AND deposit, otherwise credit.
Hertz: super vague, still asks for a deposit.
Look I’m tired of arguing, it seems that you’ve got that Reddit issue where you think you know more about something than those who regularly deal with that, so I’ll tell you you’re right, please go away.
Holy shit dude, you have a problem with accepting reality, not me 😂
The question was debit vs credit card, not deposit vs no deposit. I’ve never once said you need no deposit, you just made that up so you could say I’m wrong. And I also rent cars… your experience is no more valid than mine.
Car rentals almost exclusively accept payment by credit card, unless you have a corporate account that is billed periodically.
I’m sure you can find an exception but please let’s not fly off to nitpick land.
My parents are not from the USA and don’t have USA bank accounts or credit cards and have had no problems renting a car in Europe or anywhere else they went. I really don’t get what you mean. I don’t see why you specifically need an American card and not just a credit card from any modern country.
I think you are making too sweeping of a statement here. Maybe this is the case for car rentals you encounter / have access to but the response should show that’s not the case everywhere in the EU. I rented a car without a credit card over 5 years ago where I’m from. You do pay a deposit that I suppose a credit card would normally insure for, but the option exists. Either way, if a car rental requires a credit card, I would not even consider renting with them. That’s ridiculous.
Look, if you go to mom and pop’s car rental, sure, they can accept hens as payment if they like. If you use car rentals the most common way, as a supplement for airport travel, you rent one in your city, you use it to go to the airport, return it, fly to your destination, rent another car at the airport, do your things, go back, repeat. At those locations you’ll only have the big names, AVIS, Hertz, Europcar… Those are mostly credit-card or corporate account exclusive. And corporate accounts are expensive, at my former company we had a bunch of people travelling constantly and it still wasn’t economically advantageous, apparently.
Also, you are just wrong about the big names you mentioned:
spoiler
Europcar
AVIS
Hertz
Yeah, you just confirmed what I said:
Europcar: vague statement about countries, again WITH deposit.
AVIS: in the link it says mini car or van with debit AND deposit, otherwise credit.
Hertz: super vague, still asks for a deposit.
Look I’m tired of arguing, it seems that you’ve got that Reddit issue where you think you know more about something than those who regularly deal with that, so I’ll tell you you’re right, please go away.
Holy shit dude, you have a problem with accepting reality, not me 😂 The question was debit vs credit card, not deposit vs no deposit. I’ve never once said you need no deposit, you just made that up so you could say I’m wrong. And I also rent cars… your experience is no more valid than mine.
You’re in a thread