Avis Preferred - Debit card
 

Hi there!

Avis Preferred profile - does it allow me to add in a debit card? And if it does, will it be able to charge through and ready for me to just get in the vehicle and exit ?

Debit cards are not allowed at many rental locations. You may be able to pay with a debit card at the end of the rental, but you will need to have an actual credit card on file if you want to skip the counter and use Avis Preferred.

See this article for more info.

I have seen all these articles, and infos...But I need a real answer, not something I already know. Thanks!

The answer is that if you only have a debit card, you will constantly have to either look online or contact the rental location to find out if they will even accept debit cards, and if so, what the requirements are. It will be a major hassle, and even if a location accepts debit cards today, they may not tomorrow, because all of the rental companies are tightening up their policies.

They are loaning you a $30K plus vehicle. They want to make sure that you are a responsible person who will bring it back as agreed. Whether you agree with them or not, they are increasingly deciding that people who don't have (or can't get) credit cards are not a good risk for them, and they would rather just not rent at all to these folks, than take a chance. It's their vehicle and they can set their policies any way they like.

Short answer: Get a credit card, or deal with the hassle.

You don't need to access the money in your bank account for anything else, right? :confused: Because even if they do accept your debit card, they can tie up your bank account for HUGE amounts of money (way way more than you would think for the supposed cost of the rental) with an "authorization" which won't disappear (and thus won't free up your funds) until some amount of time (not at all instant) after you return the car.

That's why renting a car with a debit card is a very bad idea, even where debit cards are accepted, unless you have a HUGE bank account balance (way in excess of the value of the car you're renting).