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I have booked a hire car from Hertz for pick up in Dublin. It has been paid for on a debit card and money has been taken from the account. That's fine.

In the small print I am required to bring the debit card I booked on (not a problem) and a credit card in the same name as the driver/debit card booked on

This is where the problem lies, I don't have one. My partner who I will be with has a credit card but is not a named driver on the car hire. Will that suffice or does it have to be a credit card in my (the drivers) name?

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  • did you try to contact Hertz Dublin and ask them?
    – Dirty-flow
    Commented Aug 28, 2014 at 9:12
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    @Dirty-flow No. That is my next step. I thought some people may have had experience with this situation before.
    – medina
    Commented Aug 28, 2014 at 9:15

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Personal experience in Ireland (and generally with car hires, but not with Hertz Ireland) says: the credit card must be in the name of the driver and not be a prepaid one.

There's three options to possibly get around that:

  1. Ask the company to take the money that would usually be only be "reserved" on your credit card from your debit card and refund it once you return. (Note that this means having a debit of about €1500 from your account, so make sure there's sufficient funds. Also this is accepted only rarely, so read on.)
  2. Get your wife added as second driver, that will in most cases cost you some money, but might get her card accepted. (Note: this does not work for all rental companies, so no guarantee. Also your wife needs to meet all the age/license requirements of the company.)
  3. Take out the additional insurance that reduces your excess to zero - more costly than the other options, but gives you peace of mind completely and usually rental companies then accept to have a debit card only (If get have an agent who doesn't like you - there's no guarantee for this either..)

Effectively there's no guarantee that either of those will be accepted by the company - some pleading and asking nicely may go a long way and especially if you take out the full additional insurance companies usually are quite happy to give you the car without a credit card.

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I called Hertz Dublin. Very helpful information which contradicts their website FAQ's which seems to generic.

I can use a Visa Debit Card or a Credit Card in the drivers name when I collect the car. Not sure if this applies to all Hertz outlets or just to Dublin.

Otherwise I think the cheapest option, barring getting a credit card in my own name, would be to name my wife as a driver on the booking and use her credit card.

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  • Adding your wife would also let her share the driving, so is worth considering from that aspect if nothing else! Driving in Ireland can be tiring, more so than other places, due to the size (or lack thereof) of roads...
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Aug 28, 2014 at 10:08
  • @Gagravarr yes, thanks for the advice. I am aware from experience how low the quality of roads are in Ireland. My wife will still refuse to drive as she has not driven in over 5 years!
    – medina
    Commented Aug 28, 2014 at 10:51
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    On a global scale they're not too bad - I'd much much rather drive in Ireland than India for example! I just know they cause issues for people used to nice wide roads, and especially people used to wide roads driving on the right, and even more especially people just off an overnight transatlantic flight who are tired + used to driving on the right + used to big wide roads...
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Aug 28, 2014 at 11:03

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