Car Hire Transaction Fees

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Thu 10 Jul 2025 14:29
Car Hire Transaction Fees - Nsar1

Hi recently got wacked for £40 of bank charges after returning a hire car because the hire car company charged the damage deposit of 900 Euros to my card then returned it, rather than simply taking an imprint or charging 0.01.

Not had this happen before so a nasty little surprise.

Does anyone know if there's a way of finding out the charging policy of a hire company before booking?.

I checked the Holiday Extras site which simply says "You may be charged transaction fees"

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Thu 10 Jul 2025 14:47
Car Hire Transaction Fees - Brit_in_Germany

Was it a credit card or a debit card? I have heard of the full CDW excess being taken from debit cards.

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Thu 10 Jul 2025 19:35
Car Hire Transaction Fees - Steveieb

No such problems with Zest car rental.

Bass in a Norwich and on duty 24 hours a day in case like me you hit problems with the appointed company. Sorted within an hour !

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Thu 10 Jul 2025 22:54
Car Hire Transaction Fees - daveyjp

Another vote for Zest. A long time since I used them, but I came back to my hire car with a nice dent in a door.

Called them, no problem. Fully insured, just return it as normal, no extra charges are due,

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Mon 14 Jul 2025 21:19
Car Hire Transaction Fees - Nsar1

To Brit in Germany - I paid by Barclaycard who credited the £40 to my card as goodwill, but would rather avoid the issue if possible.

Barclaycard were also really good when Goldcar tried to stiff me for 300 Euros to repair a puncture when there was no spare in the car. Luckily the puncture was almot outside the holiday property and so it wasn't an incovenience. But I will never book with them again as they signed the car off as having no extra charges when I returned it and then just billed me about a month later without telling me.

Edited by Nsar1 on 14/07/2025 at 21:31

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Mon 14 Jul 2025 21:57
Car Hire Transaction Fees - daveyjp

Goldcar have bad rep for good reason. One to avoid at all costs.

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Tue 15 Jul 2025 09:18
Car Hire Transaction Fees - Stackman II

Fell foul of this in Fuerteventura earlier this year.

Top Car charged €1,200 to my credit card when I collected the car. It was promptly refunded when we returned but Capital 1 charged £28.00 each way!

Had I used my Lloyds card the there would have been no charges. Lesson learnt.

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Wed 16 Jul 2025 11:08
Car Hire Transaction Fees - Nsar1

I've decided that from now on I'll stick to the big brands for car hire and buy premium service. I'm sure Hertz, Avis etc have their faults but the bottom end of the rental market is awful and I'm happy to pay extra not to waste an hour of my trip queuing in a Portakabin at the edge of a distant car park.

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Wed 16 Jul 2025 16:17
Car Hire Transaction Fees - Big John

Does anyone know if there's a way of finding out the charging policy of a hire company before booking?.

Usually buried in the terms and conditions.

In this case though it's the terms and conditions of the credit card used abroad that have possibly caused the problem. Many have different exchange rates depending on the direction on the money flow (buy / sell) and others have a fee for foreign transactions or both!

Some credit cards do not have an exchange fees/float or transaction charges eg Santander Edge, Nationwide Member/Gold , Halifax Clarity etc although you should always select the currency type local to the country you are in - if asked.

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Wed 16 Jul 2025 16:44
Car Hire Transaction Fees - Nsar1

You can't even check whn going through one of the comparison sites. It just says "charges may be applied".

I don't think it's a credit card issue as I always book cars using my Barclaycard for the consumer protection and never had this before

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Wed 16 Jul 2025 20:13
Car Hire Transaction Fees - Big John

Barclaycard - fine booking in the UK but abroad:-

"Barclaycard charges a 2.99% non-sterling transaction fee on purchases and cash withdrawals in foreign currencies, both within and outside of Europe."

Edited by Big John on 16/07/2025 at 21:04

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