Urgent Car Hire Advice Please - Malta

Arcam_boy

Hello.

Fully appreciate I've left this way to late really and it'll probably mean on missing out on hiring a car but as a last effort attempt to find a car hire company in Malta that doesn't require a HUGE deposit here we go...

We go to Malta on Tuesday (25th) and I'd planned on hiring a car for a few days to get around the island and have a little explore. Probably me being a little naive but last time we hired a car (Mustang) in America we paid a small fee and didn't have to leave a HUGE credit card deposit.

This doesn't seem to be an option in Malta and even if I want a Fiesta for 5/7 days I have to leave a deposit ranging from 800 - 1400 euros depending on which company I choose.

The issue is I don't have a credit card with that type of credit limit as now I'm a little older and hopefully wiser I keep one credit card with a £500 limit for emergencies . I don't really want to mess around upping my credit limit just to hire a car and even if I did should think its too late by the time I enquire about it on Monday and want to collect the car on the Tuesday.

I'm not really sure what my options are but was wondering on the off chance if anyone has visited Malta fairly recently and knows of a decent company that doesn't require a silly amount for a deposit or will allow you to pay extra to reduce it to something a little more sensible!!

Many thanks

Greg Hook

Have you tried these people?
Princess Car Hire, Malta - Malta Car Hire, Rent A Car

Also I used to work with someone from Malta and they frequently spoke about how dreadful the quality of driving is out there, so that may explain the high excess.

If you call your credit card company, providing you qualify a credit limit raise will be instant. They are most likely open today. Once that's done try a few online car hire companies.

noiseboy72

Raise your card limit, but as SOON as you return the car and agree it is damage free, CANCEL the card and get a new one issued with a new number, so you don't get any unexpected surprises a few weeks later. Rental companies often like to charge fees to hand on parking or speeding fines weeks after the hire has terminated. This way, you can contest the charge and only may the fine directly if you feel so inclined.

Blitzkrieg

I don't have the answer to your question, but the way you speak about credit cards here, you seem to think they are a bad thing. Can I ask why?

I personally wouldn't touch a debit card with a barge pole for anything other than cash withdrawals as it's simply way too risky.  I see no negatives to credit cards at all, but plenty of positives.

Greg Hook

Can't speak for the OP, but for some they don't like the temptation that a credit card brings. For most you get a credit limit of thousands and it's easy to buy a load of stuff and worry about paying for it later. For most they can handle a credit card but some can't.

TheBlueBrazil

Ever thought about an American Express charge card?  Has the advantage that you have to pay the balance in full every month.

True Romance

Pre-payment card??

Arcam_boy

Thanks for the reply...to conclude the thread I've managed to get a car through Hertz from the airport for the week. I must admit I've read some horror stories over the last few days about charging for fuel and companies trying to scam people for speeding fines etc etc as mentioned above!! Malta seems to be a nightmare for it so I'm hoping I'll be OK!!

With regards to credit cards...I had a couple when I was a little younger and although I'm not 'wreckless' with money I soon managed to wrack them up with a hundred here, couple of hundred there and paying off the minimum amount!

A couple of years ago I decided to sort my finances out and paid off all my cards and just kept the one and had a £500 limit for any small emergencies that may occur. In truth I could do with getting a higher credit limit as the last few hotels we've stayed in have required large deposits for our stay!

I'm certainly not against CC's but I do feel happy with the temptation not being there if I had one with a few thousand to spend!!

Arcam_boy

We've got one of those mate as we normally use it to withdraw currency whilst abroad but hire companies won't accept pre-pay cards / debit cards / cash for a deposit!

True Romance

Would they even know? Is it MasterCard or visa? Used ours to pay hotel deposits and never had any issues?