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Car reservation without credit card in France or Europe?

Posted by (California) on

I booked a short car rental next month in Normandy.

Found the price on Kayak and booked through Expedia.

Odd thing was, I wasn't required to provide a credit card or even pay in advance.

Instead, the total payment would be due when I picked up the car, which is at an Enterprise Rental Car office in Normandy. It will be a one-way rental returning the car to a fairly nearby office in another town.

Has anyone else done this, not having to prepay or even provide a credit card for a car rental in Europe?

Just nervous that I could go to pick up and they say we don't have a car for you since it's not paid for, so no guarantees of booking. It's an automatic car too, so in mid June, it could be in short supply.

Actually I found out that I'm going around the anniversary of D-Day and it's relatively near Omaha Beach, so the hotel prices are crazy in those days. I'm going to pick up and drive directly East, avoid the area altogether. If the timing was different, I would visit Omaha Beach.

Posted by
10249 posts

Whether you've given your credit card in advance or not, if a car is not available, your reservation means nothing. It has happened to us in the US a couple of times that our reservations were not honored because the cars were not available. They hadn't been turned back in to the agencies as planned. We had to come up with quick solutions, not always the best.

If you want less concern, rent through AutoEurope, a well-known consolidator with strong relations with the rental companies. You pay in advance so there's a much higher probability a car will be there for you, maybe even an automatic.

Posted by
235 posts

We have rented in the past from Enterprise (directly, never through 3rd party) in France without prepaying. However, if you are concerned, there is an option to prepay for your car if you book through Enterprise directly. And, it's often cheaper.

Posted by
6634 posts

I rent through the rental company website or through the Costco website. I have not had to provide a card number for the reservations. With Costco the rental company has been Enterprise and I’ve had no problems. When I make the reservation I receive both a Costco and Enterprise confirmation number. My reservations have been pick up and drop off at airport locations.

As an aside, check back periodically to see if the rental price goes down. For an upcoming trip the original price was 771€ for a 20 day rental. A few days ago I made a new reservation at 545€ for the same dates. Once the new reservation was confirmed I cancelled the original one.

Posted by
755 posts

Prepaid, booked without card. None of that matters for when you turn up at the counter. They will want a credit card.

Posted by
342 posts

We booked a rental car last month directly from Enterprise for pick up in Rennes and dropping off in Lille. They didn’t require that I provide a credit card when making the reservation.

I booked directly with Enterprise because it allowed me to request an automatic and though I use Costco travel domestically, it didn’t offer that option to request an automatic in France. Or at least I couldn’t figure it out.

Posted by
6932 posts

Has anyone else done this, not having to prepay or even provide a credit card for a car rental in Europe?

Not unusual for direct reservations with car rental companies at the most flexible terms. Nothing to worry about IMO.

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