Credit card swip at Alamo Car rental

Hi,

I was wondering if car rental companies actually take money off your credit card when you pick up your rental or are they just recording your detail in case you return the vehicle with any damage?

Anybody know if they take a slice of your spending money ?

DLB

Credit card swip at Alamo Car rental

Ok I ment Swipe !!

Credit card swip at Alamo Car rental

They dont actually ';take'; the money from your account, but they do get an ';allocation'; which does reduce your available to spend amount. Its the same as a hotel would do when you swipe a card for room service etc, if you were to check your statement online or over the phone, you would see a difference between your balance and available balance.

I%26#39;ve never had any unauthorised payment taken off my card it%26#39;%26#39;s just in case the car is damaged

Clubworld is correct.

the company will %26#39;reserve%26#39; some of your available balance. And you would never notice unless you tried to buy something large (ie bigger than your available balance less their reservation) with the CC before you returned your car.

Thanks,

I suppose it%26#39;s one way of keeping some money back for ';duty free'; at the airport.

Let%26#39;s look on the bright side.

Not really. The %26#39;hold%26#39; can last a few days after your return, depending on the efficency of the car co/CC co.

But, if you can%26#39;t afford duty free w/o your card you spent to much on your holiday lol!

If you have paid for you car hire and fuel in full there is no need for the car hire company to want to swipe your card and collect this information.

These last few years my hire has been through Dollar and my rental including fuel insurance and hire has been fully paid in advance.

Dollar has never swiped my card.

They have never asked me to produce one for swiping.

And I have got a signed letter from their management making that makes these statements.

An accompanying note also says if counter staff do ask for your credit card please tell them it is not necessary. If they insist you produce one show them the enclosed letter and ask to speak to the depot manager.

But it does depend if your agreement is fully paid before arrival.

But if your were to accept an up grade (and it wasn%26#39;t a free one) hire a child seat , sat nav. they do require a card to pay for it.

I paid in advance, fuel and all. dollar swiped mine.

They do this in case you don%26#39;t return/damge the vehicle. It might depend on whom you booked thru.

doesn%26#39;t bother/affect me and my spending, so I don%26#39;t care. If it might affect you adversely, find out in advance and plan accordingly.

I have just recently booked my holiday and also my hire car.

The Travel Agent let me have a copy of the hire t %26amp; C`s and it says that if you have a CC they will swipe it but not deduct any money or if you don`t have a CC you pay $100 per per week deposit for your hire.

Zip

Having your credit card swiped when its not necessary is another risk you dont need to take.

Them collecting information they dont need , and need to use is one more occasion for it to have its identity stolen.

It may well be that they wont abuse it. But if someone does skim it gives you a lot of problems.

My attitude is Dont volunteer information.

Even more so when its not needed.

I have never been asked to leave a cash deposit either.

If the car is damaged on return that%26#39;s why I buy full cover insurance.

And they are surely much brighter than thinking I would hire a new car from them and drive it home across 3,000 miles of ocean. when they know the airline has my name and address and passport number. They have not been left on the shelf that long.

hand soap