In Part 1 (see: http://pangean.org/european-car-rental-issues/ ) we went through some of the insurance considerations that apply to car rentals in Europe. As mentioned in that post, there are some differences between renting a car in Europe and renting one in North America. Foremost among those is the issue of holds and deposits.
This Pangean has never been asked for a deposit or a hold while renting a car in North America. It could just be luck or the location or the timing, but we’ve never been asked for an extra-ordinary payment to secure a deductible or the cost of the vehicle. We’ve rented cars in Hawaii, Nevada, California, and Arizona and in none of those instances has the rental agency imposed a hold or deposit requirement for anything more than an amount to cover incidentals. However, the experience in Europe, especially during the several rentals we had booked for our October 2016 trip, was very different. Although the policies varied from country to country and even from agency to agency, all required some form of security. Continue reading “European Car Rental Issues – Part 2 – Holds and Deposits”