Question How to travel without credit cards?

[HappyCatNC]

our family is filing chapter 13. obviously, we will no longer have use of our credit cards.

my husband travels occasionally for work. any suggestions for handling hotel/car reservations without a cc?

some take debit cards - but many do not. he doesn't always have a choice of what hotel to stay in.

thanks

[Flamingo]

If the company your husband works for provides AMEX or other credit cards for their traveling employees and the company guarantees the card, that is an option for your husband. But if they do and the card is not guaranteed by the company and your husband's credit rating is used, of course he would not get approved.

Going through a Chapter 13 and running into the same issues, we managed to use our debit card for quite a bit. A debit card with the Visa/MC logo is usually accepted at car rentals, hotels, etc., the catch being that a hold will be placed on the card and for hotels can sometimes exceed $400; that hold is released a few days after checkout. You have to call in advance to check on that and ensure the hotels accepts debit cards. Many now do with certain restrictions; same for car rentals.

Another option is to have a family member pay with their credit card for the room or put your husband on their card as an authorized user. That all would have to be worked out with an agreeing family member.

If your hubby has no choice where to stay, it will become obvious to his employer that there is a problem if he has no credit card and did in the past. Your hubby may just have to come clean to his boss at work to get around that issue so the company can maybe pay for the room on a company account.

Those in Chapter 13 that have to travel for jobs all run into this if they do not have a company guaranteed credit card for travel.

[helpmeout]

our family is filing chapter 13. obviously, we will no longer have use of our credit cards.

my husband travels occasionally for work. any suggestions for handling hotel/car reservations without a cc?

some take debit cards - but many do not. he doesn't always have a choice of what hotel to stay in.

thanks

If your debit card has a Visa or Mastercard logo on it, it can be used as if it's a credit card, even in places that don't take debit cards. Of course, the money isn't borrowed but taken from your account. Keep in mind that a hold placed on your checking account will mean that you don't have access to those funds while the hold is in place.

[AngelinaCat]

Our debit card for our CU has the VISA logo on it, and 99.9% of the time we use it as credit card. That way, if there is a problem with the charge, we have a chance to dispute the charge and recover our money. There is very little recourse when you you use it as a debit card, because that is a direct draw from your account.

[viking64]

It seems like more of the major car rental chains are getting better about the Debit card, especially if you rent from an airport and have a return ticket. Carrying a copy of your auto policy might not be a bad idea either. Reports I've read suggest that Alamo and National are the easiest, and Hertz and Avis will likely work out without a credit check provided you have a return air ticket.

I would think most of the major hotel chains can handle a debit hold for expenses, but it's posible that it may take days for the hold to roll off your funds. The one chain I had trouble with was Fairmont for a business trip. Room was pre-paid by company but they still wanted to hold one night cost of room, not just a smaller amount for incidentals.

My bet is that with a little bit of advance planning and time to call hotel managers directly, you can probably work things out.

I'm planning a 9 week trip to South Africa (funded by a professional grant, not personal funds) that is totally debit card managed. It took some doing for the car rental, but I made it work out - and at a rate as good or better than a credit card rate with the majors. This is a good experience because it's teaching me that if I can go through South Africa for 9 weeks on a debit card, I can make basic vacations at home work without any problem.

[HappyCatNC]

our debit cards do have the visa logo on them, but apparently there is a way (perhaps in the coding) that companies are often able to tell it's a debit visa not a credit visa.

i'm also wondering about secured cards? anyone use those for travel?

[Flamingo]

our debit cards do have the visa logo on them, but apparently there is a way (perhaps in the coding) that companies are often able to tell it's a debit visa not a credit visa.

i'm also wondering about secured cards? anyone use those for travel?

You are correct as to the coding and systems picking up it is a debit card. However, many places have the option, if asked, of running it through as credit. That is why you have to call in advance and ask the hotel. Anyplace that puts a hold on a card will need to be checked with in advance to ensure a debit card, even with the Visa/MC logo, can be used, how much the "hold" is and when the "hold" is released.

The problem with secured cards is that if you don't have enough on the card to accomodate the "hold" and the amount of the final bil on the rental car or hotel room, you've got an issue at checkout since the "hold" is not usually released until a few days later.

It's not easy being in Chapter 13 - but if you do your homework in advance of travel, if you know where you are staying, it's not that bad.

[viking64]

Yes, they can tell if it's a debit or credit. However, most places should be able to work with a visa debit if you can handle the holds on your funds and plan accordingly.

The problem with a secured card, is that you have a permanent hold on your funds equal to the credit limit of the card. For car rentals and hotel stays, your probably looking at $500 - $1000. If you don't find the right secured card, you are paying annual fees, etc., on top of that. It's actually cheaper for you if you can work out a Visa debit payment and temporary hold on your card rather than permanent.

You also mentioned you are in a Chapter 13 - can you even apply for a secured card without getting into trouble?

Despite what I said above about making a debit card work, I am going to try a secured card so I can maximize my car rental options and convenience. I need at least an $800 credit limit to cover a two week rental and holds. Ultimately, my plan is to use the card for booking and taking the car, but settling with a debit upon return.

I want to use Digital Credit Union's secured visa because I'm slowly migrating over to them. However, their approval is not guaranteed, even for secured, so I don't know if I'll make that work. If it doesn't, I may have to look at Orchard. I BK'd Citi, but their secured still requires one year out of bk anyway, from what I've read, so they were off the table from the start.

[flyinbroke]

If your debit card has a Visa or Mastercard logo on it, it can be used as if it's a credit card, even in places that don't take debit cards. Of course, the money isn't borrowed but taken from your account. Keep in mind that a hold placed on your checking account will mean that you don't have access to those funds while the hold is in place.

Here is a caveat with regard to holds. I used a debit card at a new CU for a bar tab. My overall tab was 28 dollars but they held several 14 dollar increments. This CU counted these AS CHARGES and I had 200 dollars in overdraft fees because everything after that bounced. Apparently they do not do line of credit; they let charges go thru and charge 25 an incident. I argued that I did not bounce anything; the holds would never have been seen by me as they are not charges. I got them removed but it was a PITA to do so.

It depends on the rules of your bank or CU but this is a reason to be concerned; needless to say I will not be using this CU as a new primary account.

[ToughTimes]

We have accounts at two banks and one credit union. We have debit cards for each.

I can move money to and from all of these accounts by way of the stellar credit union account and do so online and in real time. At no cost as long as I don't do more than six a month.

Keep a grand of emergency savings in each account. Using one for everyday expenses, the other two offer opportunity to have a hold in place from two different places without potentially interrupting your everyday financial activities.

We don't travel often, so I don't know first hand, but do wonder: Can't the prepaid Visa cards be used in place of "regular" credit cards for car rentals and/or lodging? The Visa website says they're good anyplace that accepts Visa.

Obviously, it's necessary to save up the ante, but that's what our post-BK "safety cushion" looks like: cash! If one's employer is reimbursing, once the ante's in place, simply refill the account with the employer's reimbursement money.

[coolmom04]

Our debit card for our CU has the VISA logo on it, and 99.9% of the time we use it as credit card. That way, if there is a problem with the charge, we have a chance to dispute the charge and recover our money. There is very little recourse when you you use it as a debit card, because that is a direct draw from your account.

I had no idea using the debit card as a credit would give you the chance to dispute something if you ever needed to! Wow.. definitely good to know. I always run mine as debit.

[helpmeout]

I had no idea using the debit card as a credit would give you the chance to dispute something if you ever needed to! Wow.. definitely good to know. I always run mine as debit.

That depends on your bank. My old bank, they wouldn't do anything. The new one will as long as it is used as a credit card. PIN based transactions aren't insured.

[viking64]

Be careful of thinking you have a float if you run a card through as credit. The money is still taken out of your account right away (or at least has a hold on it and would be processed pretty much as quickly as a check would). While you can dispute a charge, it may take awhile to get the money put back into your account. Different banks have different policies.

[coolmom04]

Be careful of thinking you have a float if you run a card through as credit.

I don't know if your post was directed towards me or not, but I do know it still comes out right away if you run it as credit. I have run it as credit once or twice. Thank you for the warning!

[viking64]

I don't know if your post was directed towards me or not, but I do know it still comes out right away if you run it as credit. I have run it as credit once or twice. Thank you for the warning!

I should have used the quote feature. At any rate - given the track of the conversation, just the choice of wording could suggest that to someone unfamiliar with the debit/credit transactions that there were differences in how quickly the money left your account.

I've actually become quite accustomed to debit card use and love it. Since I was nearly at my credit limit on various cards for the last couple of years, it was how I paid everything online. I'm also too lazy to pull cash out of the ATM (actually, I prefer being able to see where my money goes - well, maybe not) for local transactions.

Now, the remaining challenge is to see how well I can make a debit card work for travel needs. Based on research, I know I'm set for the next 3 trips through May 2011. By then, I should hopefully be able to have an unsecured credit limit high enough for a two week car rental (Discharge is in 30 days).