Our Car Rental In Germany Was Controlled By Archaic Rules 9/30/12
This summer we rented a Ford Mondeo at the Hamburg Airport from July 15 to July 25, but they insisted upon a credit card. We could have used our debit card. There was more money on it. We could have rented any car in the fleet. We asked why. The best explanation we could get from anyone was explained to us by a concierge at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Munich. German car rental agencies will rent to a German with a debit card on a German bank. Somehow the chip and pin system or whatever it is isn’t compatible with American debit cards — only credit cards.
I wish things wouldn’t be so archaic.
This summer we rented a Ford Mondeo at the Hamburg Airport from July 15 to July 25, but they insisted upon a credit card. We could have used our debit card. There was more money on it. We could have rented any car in the fleet. We asked why. The best explanation we could get from anyone was explained to us by a concierge at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Munich. German car rental agencies will rent to a German with a debit card on a German bank. Somehow the chip and pin system or whatever it is isn’t compatible with American debit cards — only credit cards.
I wish things wouldn’t be so archaic.