Comment by klrefg

9 hours ago

How do any of they rent cars when they travel? I think that still requires a credit pretty much anywhere in Europe.

I’s bet the proportion is way higher than 5% even if the overwhelming majority use their credit cards the same was as debit.

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klrefg

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franga2000  9 hours ago

The only time I "needed" a credit card is when I tried to sign up for some US company's service. It rejected my debit card because it wanted credit, so I just took my business elsewhere.

Other than that, I've rented cars, rented other things with a "X will be charged to your card if you return it late", unattended gas stations... all the usual places you'd think need a credit card. It's fine.

We do have a "negative limit" that banks often give you, which means you can go into the red and pay it back later, but that has nothing to do with the card, it works even for normal bank transactions.

  • brnt  8 hours ago

    I had a car rental in Oslo that only allowed debit cards if you took out their full insurance. I was already insured, we rented though some sort of front, but they only allowed that on a credit credit card.

_bernd  6 hours ago

IIRC then normal bank cards and debit cards can be charged with these future payments up to 500 Eur. So for small and normal cars this works.

I too have a real credit card to be able to rent for instance "bigger" cars like even an Audi A6.

Most often hotels also block 500 Eur, or they state upfront that you need a proper/real credit card and not just a debit card.

That's for me the only reason I have VISA and use it like 3 or 4 times a year...

AnAfrican  4 hours ago

I've encountered this issue recently for the first time.

Usually, there is a deposit pre-authorized on the card. The additional insurance plans would lower the deposit (to a few hundred for fuel basically). I usually take the insurance plans anyway because I've had bad experiences that made me happy I had it.

Now, I was in a place where rental companies required credit cards except for the lower end models. It took me a few attempts for one to realize that I would take the additional insurance anyway.