Anyone ever had problems with priceline cars rentals? I rented a car thru priceline in my husbands name and use my credit card with my name on it to book the car thru priceline. They took my card with no problems shown. When we went to get the car my husband and I were both present at the counter. Avis would not let us have the car because my husband did not have his credit card with him. I told them the card that was used to book the car was my card not his. They would not let us have the car. Can I protest this on my card and with priceline ?

My understanding is that you can book your hotel/air/car with anyone's credit card. It doesn't matter.

I think the problem is that the rental car agency probably has a standard policy of requiring the credit card to be present of the person who will be driving the vehicle. It's probably not related to the Priceline purchase.

They charged my card for the rental and we didn't get the car

I believe your problem here has nothing to do with Priceline.

Whenever you rent a car (and even when the car is pre-paid like with Priceline), the car rental company requires a Credit Card to be given when you pick-up the car so that they can process a credit "hold" against it. I believe they all do this to make sure there is some amount available to them if you should keep the car longer, return it with minor damage, etc, etc.

And with most rental companies, whoever is the driver/rental contract name...that person must present a Credit Card in their name. Priceline or not. Standard policy at most rental companies.

If your husband has no Credit Card but the the rental is in his name, you basically have to change the rental over to your name. And if he wants to drive on your rental, you then have to pay the "Additional Driver" fee.

Pain in the butt, I know. But that's the way car rentals usually work, and this doesn't sound like a Priceline problem.

And FYI for future reference, this FlyerTalk forum is about Miles & Points. If you go to the "FT Travel" logo up top there and click on it, you'll find a "Online Booking and Bidding" forum for this type of question.

[This message has been edited by PremEx (edited 10-12-2003).]

But can I dispute the charge on my card because we didn't get the car?

I don't think so. If you read Priceline's terms, they pretty much spell out that car rental companies have these policies.

Your husband wasn't denied the rental because you paid for it on Priceline.

Your husband was denied the rental because he didn't have a Credit Card...any Credit Card...to fulfill the additional requirements of the car rental agency. And Priceline basically warns you about that in advance.

That being said, Priceline has been known to make rare exceptions (minus a fee) if they can manage to get your money back from the car rental agency. But that's up to the car rental agency, and they don't have to as they were willing to provide the car if you were able to fulfill their normal requirements (valid drivers license, good driving record, credit card in name of contract/driver etc.)

You'll have to follow the links on Priceline to find the number to call to start the process. But I think you've got a tough one ahead of you.

Lets continue this discussion over in the Online Travel Booking & Bidding forum. I'll move this post over there.

Since that forum's description is (Emphasis mine.)

It seems a more natural home for this discussion.

Best,
Gary
aka gleff
MilesBuzz and Delta moderator