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The short answer is yes, you can rent a car with a debit card.
Major rental car companies—including Avis, Budget, Enterprise and Hertz—all permit rentals on a debit card. But it’s important to read the fine print. While most companies accept debit cards, they look for specific types of cards and require you to take additional steps that can make the process more time-consuming.
However, travel credit cards can make travel more convenient and affordable by offering travel rewards and insurance benefits—and some cards are particularly useful for rental car insurance.
Let’s take a look at what the process to rent a car with a debit or credit card looks like.
When customers rent a car with a debit card, the rental company assumes added risk. Remember, debit cards require the cardholder to be present to enter their PIN number to make charges, while a credit card can be billed without the holder being present.
A renter could return a car with small dings that the insurance policy won’t cover, or the customer could incur parking fines, toll fees or other expenses. If the rental car company has no customer credit card to bill, it might have to swallow those costs. What’s more, if you don’t have a credit card, it signals to rental companies that you could be a credit risk.
Rules about renting a car with a debit card vary not only by company but by location. For instance, Budget says that some of its offices allow debit cards, while others accept them only to settle a bill at return time, not at pick-up. It’s a good idea to call the specific rental office where you plan to pick up your car to ask about its policy.
No matter where you rent with a debit card, expect to comply with one or more of the following requirements:
Even after jumping through all the hoops to rent with a debit card, you may face other restrictions as well. For instance, you may have to be 25 or older to rent with a debit card. If you use a credit card, most car companies will rent to you if you are 21 to 24, as long as you pay an additional “young driver” fee.
There may be restrictions about where you can take the car, too—such as not traveling out of state. Finally, certain cars may be off-limits. That Tesla or Porsche you were hoping to drive? Sorry, you’ll likely need a credit card to roll off the lot with high-end wheels.
If you turn down the collision damage waiver provided by the rental car company, certain credit cards can provide more rental car insurance with fewer exclusions. Additionally, there are more covered circumstances than the rental car company will provide, including theft, damage, injury and potential loss of life. Credit cards often feature higher coverage amounts than the rental company as well.
So, the only thing left to emphasize here is the difference between primary and secondary coverage. Most credit cards offer secondary insurance for rentals cars, which means if you find yourself in a fender bender, you will have to file a claim with your own insurance first.
The secondary coverage offered through your credit card will pay only the amount not covered by the policy you already have.Primary coverage on the other hand means it applies first. If you get into an accident, you can start the process of filing a claim by calling your credit card issuer immediately.
When you have a certain credit card in your pocket, you may be able to jump tiers in certain car rental company reward programs. This gives you more perks and discounts than other customers without having to spend the money or rent the requisite number of times to earn them.
For example, The Platinum Card® from American Express offers exclusive benefits like class upgrades to cardholders who rent from Avis and a four-hour grace period on rental returns with Hertz. It also gives you automatic Emerald Club Executive status at National.
Many credit card loyalty programs award their highest points or miles per dollar rate to travel purchases, which include car rental purchases. Standouts include the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, which both allow cardholders to earn 10 points per dollar on car rentals and hotels when booked through the issuer’s portal. (Note that the Chase Sapphire Reserve offers 10X points on travel spending after you earn an annual $300 travel credit.)
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is a solid choice when it comes to securing a car rental with a credit card, because it is one of the best cards for travel insurance and luxury benefits. While the Sapphire Reserve comes with a hefty $550 annual fee, its benefits are geared toward travel, making this card well worth the cost when used strategically.
Not only does it provide rental discounts and primary rental car coverage for theft or collision, but cardholder’s earn a boosted rewards rate when booking through Chase Ultimate Rewards. You can earn 10X total points on car rentals and hotel stays through Ultimate Rewards, and 5X points on air travel. It also comes with a flexible $300 annual travel purchase statement credit.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers primary auto rental coverage for damage and collision much like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, but with a significantly lower annual fee at $95. Coverage is good for rental periods of up to 31 days.
This card is one of the best beginner travel credit cards on the market due to its low annual fee, cardholder benefits and rewards, and various travel protections. Cardholder’s earn a 25 percent points-value boost by redeeming points for travel via the Chase portal—including car rentals, plane tickets, hotels and cruise vacations.
The Platinum Card from American Express offers robust car rental loss and damage insurance along with complimentary premium car rental program membership benefits. Cardholder’s earn 2X points on prepaid car rentals through American Express Travel (up to $500,000 per calendar year). It also offers up to $200 in Uber credits to get you back home or drive you to a far-away parking lot for your own car and has no foreign transaction fees.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit card is Capital One’s newest travel card, and it offers a plethora of great perks for frequent travelers including 10X miles on car rentals and hotels when booked through Capital One Travel. Additionally, the Venture X offers cardholder’s auto rental collision damage waiver coverage for eligible rental vehicle theft and loss: up to the vehicle’s actual cash value of $75,000.
