You'll Need a Regular Credit Card at the Rental Car Counter
Posted by Going2Oahu Admin at May 16, 2008 and is filed under Honolulu,Credit Cards,Hawaii,Rental Cars,Aloha 
A while back, I blogged about the financial benefits of flying to your vacation destination and renting a car rather than driving - mainly due to the outrageous cost of gasoline. Just a thought however, that you need to consider before going this route...
Due to some recent regulatory changes, you must now have a regular credit card to rent a car. You are no longer permitted to use a debit or secured credit card for rental cars unless you have a significant amount of available cash on your account to hold against the expected charge. Those companies that do allow a rental with a debit card often put an authorization hold on the debit card, as much as $500. Yes, the unused funds will be returned to your account after you return the car, but it might take up to two weeks for the funds to be released back to your account.
So the best thing to do is get a credit card specifically for the trip. The nationally known Credit Cards Club is a good place to research credit cards and find the type of card that will work best for you. What I particularly like is the way the club lists card choices by category (i.e. rewards cards, no annual fee cards, balance transfer cards, etc.) - very handy.
So make sure you have your proverbial ducks in a row before you approach the rental car counter. Keep your debit card for Applebee's and have a regular credit card when arranging your travel wheels.
Aloha ~
Ali
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