Tag: car rental

How To Use Debit Cards For Car Rentals

One question we’ve been asked on our Facebook page is how to rent a car using a debit card. While I’m a believer that the best way to get the most from your spending is to use a miles or points earning credit card, there are people who choose to not have or cannot get one of those cards. This post is for them.

Rental car companies like the security of having your credit card in case they need to charge you for not returning the car, damage to the car or anything else they’d like to charge you for once you return the car. If you use a debit card, they’ll often put a large hold on your account that will prevent access to your funds until the hold is removed.

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What Should You Do If You Put The Wrong Kind Of Gas In Your Rental Car?

Every car has a recommended type (octane) of gasoline, commonly known in the U.S. as Regular, Mid-Grade (or Plus) and Premium. Well, there’s diesel too but fortunately, diesel pumps don’t fit into non-diesel gas tank openings in the U.S. Most rental cars work best on regular gas (87 octane), which is good because regular gas is always cheaper than mid-grade and premium ;-).

However, there are a few rental cars that require Premium or, on rare occasion, diesel (either way, the car rental company should tell you when you pick up the car). And if you rent a car outside the U.S., all bets are off in terms of color coding their pumps the same way they do in the U.S., or even if the diesel pump will or will not fit in your rental car’s regular gas tank opening. So it may be easier than you think to put diesel into a car that needs regular, or regular/mid-grade into a car that needs premium or diesel.

But here’s what to do if it happens to you:

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What Would You Do If This Happened To You?

One of my predominant character traits is that I’m honest, occasionally to my own detriment. From a very young age, I was a terrible liar. I guess it comes from being an only child; who could I blame for something if there’s no one else in the house? Over the years, I’ve also developed an almost visceral dislike for people who lie or are dishonest just for their own personal gain.

Several years ago, I was stuck in a moral dilemma in regards to a booking I made for a rental car. I’m just curious what someone else would do if they ended up in the same situation (and hopefully get rid of the guilt I’ve carried with me for all these years).

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Five Reasons You Should Be Renting Cars from Silvercar

Silvercar, or Silvercar by Audi to be correct, is our favorite rental car company. They’re not the one we use the most, unfortunately, because they’re only in limited locations and I’m generally a cheapskate. More accurately I’m frugal, which is being cheap with a dash of common sense thrown in. So while I’m not willing to pay a huge premium for a Silvercar, I will rent from them if the price is comparable to other rental companies.

Silvercar’s business model is 180 degrees opposite from everyone else. I’ve written before about why they’re our favorite car company so I’ll focus on the five reasons Silvercar is different from everyone else and why you need to look into renting from them the next time you need a car.

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Darth Vader On A Plane, When Your Points Are Stolen, More Bad News On The Marriott Hack & More…

Happy Sunday (and happy New Year!) to all of our travel friends, both near and far! Here are some articles we’ve read from other bloggers (and other sources) that we think you may like, as well, so we’re passing them along.

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