Paphos Life

I am going back to the UK at Christmas and want to rent a car at Manchester airport. Having looked online, it appears that a credit card is required as a guarantee. As mine has expired and the account closed, does anyone have experience of renting and not requiring a credit card ?

Thanks in advance for any help

Sixt will accept a UK debit card.

I am sure the answer is no, as our son had the same problem hiring a car, no credit card no car he was told at numerous car hire companies.

You will not get a rental with out some sort of card...mate of mine, got a rental at Gatwick , when he turned up, he refused their extra insurance, so they wanted £1200, on his card..he didn't have that much on his card, so offered cash..they wouldn't accept that, so he had no alternative, but to take the insurance which cost as much again as the rental.

I have an excess insurance policy from iCarhireinsurance, which cost me £38 for the year. I use Sixt at Heathrow several times each year, always use my UK debit card and show them the insurance certificate. Each time they just say okay and it's job done.

I have now rented from 3 different companies at Manchester and used a DEBIT card each time... I did contact them first to make sure it was OK. Their T&C usualy say they need a Credit card though.

When we were returning to the UK permanently in February this year we kept our Cypriot Bank account open purely for the credit card as we were hiring from Enterprise when we got here. It was a pain as I also kept 5k in the Bank as that was my max allowed on my credit card and all the Enterprise literature said you needed a credit card however on arriving at the Enterprise offices at Newcastle Airport they readily accepted my UK debit card no problem at all.

Enterprise at Manchester was one of the companies that accepted my Debit card. Hertz have done the same.
However I have emailed Europcar just to make sure, although the booking was made with my UK debit card..

Thanks for sharing your experiences, varied as they are. I will look for the best deal and contact them to see if a credit card is required, to save any hassle at the airport when we arrive.

Many thanks

trevnhil wrote: ↑Mon Nov 06, 2017 6:03 pm Enterprise at Manchester was one of the companies that accepted my Debit card. Hertz have done the same.
However I have emailed Europcar just to make sure, although the booking was made with my UK debit card..

I have had a reply today to say that they DO accept Debit cards in the UK..