Car Hire - Alamo/Virgin Holidays

Hey all

I've hired a car through virgin holidays with Alamo and have been reading about the online check-in they offer so you can skip queues once you land (im heading to Orlando).
Ive read a few terms and conditions on the Alamo site and it keeps saying that they only accept Credit Cards at time of rental and not Debit cards...my entire holiday is booked on my Debit Card, i dont own a credit card! So does this "credit card only" payment apply to if your booking directly with Alamo rather than going through Virgin Holidays?

SWMBO and I are booked with Alamo through Trailfinders for our honeymoon.

The small print on the itinerary (issued by Trailfinders) states that each person hiring the car must have a credit card in their own name. Suspect this is the case for damage rather than the pre-payment through the holiday company.

I don't own a credit card these days either, but I've just got a pre-paid Mastercard from Cashplus that should do it

HTH

Cheers
Michael

[Neil]

When we were in LA earlier this year collecting our car from Alamo, another couple were trying to collect their car who had booked through Virgin like we had. The person who made the booking (and was therefore the lead driver on the booking) didn't have a CC in their name, so Alamo wouldn't let them take the car. Even though her husband, who was the only one who was going to be doing the driving had a CC in his name, they still wouldn't let it happen.

We left as they were still arguing with the manager, but she was adamant she couldn't let them take a car.

Ohhh dear =(
Well my holiday isnt until next year, so have only paid a deposit so far, i think its possible to change payment methods to a credit card?

Also, if the holiday has been fully paid for in advance, via virgin, why do Alamo need to take credit card details? I assume its incase you damage the car or something and they need to charge you? But cant they just add those charges to the card you paid with, its stupid to assume everyone would have a credit card =(

its stupid to assume everyone would have a credit card =(

Not in the good old US of A it isn't

But seriously, I've witnessed the same standoff that Neil describes - the car hire company just will NOT capitulate.

I just rang Virgin, who then rung Alamo for me. But basically I do need a credit card, even though they won’t charge me anything because I’ve already paid via virgin (unless ofc I do something bad to the car =p) they just need to have some sort of payment method just in case - Cash deposits can be left sometimes, but they then refund you with a cheque in US dollars >.<. So I guess it’s a good idea to get a credit card anyway, just in case of emergencies such as hospital bills or something.

[Neil]

Glad you managed to get an answer.

I think it is always worthwhile having some sort of CC as a back up. I know people don't always like them, but you never know what is going to happen, and it is always worthwhile having something to ensure you have some way of paying for something if you *really* need to.

Neil

I don't own a credit card these days either, but I've just got a pre-paid Mastercard from Cashplus that should do it

Michael just wondering if you are planning on using the card for anything else whilst you are away. Just because that when Alamo swipe the card, usually a "hold" amount of money is kept to one side in the account meaning for a few days until it is released you won't be able to use that money for anything else.

Michael just wondering if you are planning on using the card for anything else whilst you are away. Just because that when Alamo swipe the card, usually a "hold" amount of money is kept to one side in the account meaning for a few days until it is released you won't be able to use that money for anything else.

Aye, no worries Tinks - I know about that one.
Thanks anyway :X

Cheers
Michael