The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated

Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by jeromegv on Sunday December 26, 2021 @09:44PM (#29698541)

I get the problems. But travelling to another country is to research and accept that things are different. For example, if you rent a car in Argentina, they hardly have any automatic car, all stick, unless you do a special request weeks in advance. You could complain all day about rental cars ruining vacations, or you can just research ahead of time and ensure that what you’re trying to do is possible in that country. Lack of credit card in the US will cause you tons of other problems, nobody cares about debit, better come prepared.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by magicalhippo on Monday December 27, 2021 @05:04AM (#29701143)

> You could complain all day about rental cars ruining vacations, or you can just research ahead of time

As I mention in my other reply, I had done a fair bit of research but I somehow had missed the fact that the credit card had to be in the same name as the drivers license.

This has never been an issue here in Norway, and I didn't see it mentioned in my research.

So I thought it would be good enough if we used my credit card, similar to how I've paid for rentals here in Norway many times.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by PickledHotdog on Sunday December 26, 2021 @09:52PM (#29698595)

I agree you should research heavily before holidaying in developing countries

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by tinco on Sunday December 26, 2021 @10:06PM (#29698677)

Fun fact, you can't use a credit card to tank gas in the US. When you try, they'll ask for a zipcode, which you don't have since your card is not in the US. Luckily they do take debit cards so you can just use your debit card. But good luck finding that out during your research.

I suspect that if you claim your credit card is a debit card it might work as well, but I haven't tried it yet.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by gizmo686 on Sunday December 26, 2021 @11:16PM (#29699127)

The terminal on the pump will ask for a zipcode. If you can't pay at the pump (which sometimes happens even for locals for no apparent reason), you can step out of the car, go inside, and tell the cashier which pump you are at, and pay as if you were buying any other product.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by nix0n on Sunday December 26, 2021 @10:40PM (#29698882)

For a Canadian card, put the numbers from your postcode then add zeroes until you get to five digits. I've never tried this myself, but gas stations in Niagara Falls NY will commonly have signs about it.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by cperciva on Sunday December 26, 2021 @11:14PM (#29699112)

Can confirm that this works for Canadian credit cards at the gas stations I've used in Washington and Nevada. (In case the parent was unclear: If your postal code is A1B 2C3, your "zip code" is 12300.)

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by rootsudo on Sunday December 26, 2021 @10:44PM (#29698906)

Not true, it will bypass the ZIP requirement based on BIN, the BIN is the first 6 digits of the credit card, or bank identification number. They will not enforce zip on foreign non USA issued credit cards.

I've used Japanese credit cards on the same pumps I use USA based one, and no issue at all. Both Visa and JCB branded.

Worse comes to worse, go inside and do a purchase via credit card for gas. The same way as if the point of sale at the pump was broken or defective, no gas station will refuse this. If worse comes to worse, just say the machine wouldn't take your card - works easier then explaining you're a tourist with a foreign card.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by brewdad on Sunday December 26, 2021 @10:29PM (#29698807)

I ran into a similar problem, the other way in Norway. I couldn't buy gas with my USA credit card because I had no PIN. The station was unmanned. Fortunately, I had a debit card and could use that and it's PIN instead.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by ImprovedSilence on Sunday December 26, 2021 @11:26PM (#29699200)

likewise, I've def run into this problem in Europe (several years ago). Some unmanned ticket kiosk for the local train/public transport would invariably only accept credit cards and require a pin, which I would not have. I think at some point I found out you could request a pin for you card, but I never actually got that to work either..

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by zoomablemind on Monday December 27, 2021 @01:41AM (#29700077)

> ...I think at some point I found out you could request a pin for you card...

Wouldn't such PIN transaction amount to a 'cash advance' with a draconian interest rate?

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by lambertsimnel on Monday December 27, 2021 @06:11AM (#29701450)

My (European) credit cards require a PIN for most payments, not only for cash advances. Presumably, a payment for fuel with PIN wouldn't be considered a cash advance.

If I did want cash, I'd use a debit card and it would be interest free (assuming there's money in my account), but I'd still have to pay a currency conversion fee and/or spread.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by 1123581321 on Monday December 27, 2021 @01:43AM (#29700086)

Yes you can use your card at the pump. Just look up what people do in the US with credit cards from your country. It's going to be something like 00000, or another number in your address, or the numbers in your postal code plus extra digits.

Plus you can pay inside, as others said, or do contactless at the pump with your saved card in the phone and you won't get asked.

Sorry you had a bad experience, but this is google-able...

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by jjav on Monday December 27, 2021 @02:20AM (#29700284)

> Fun fact, you can't use a credit card to tank gas in the US. When you try, they'll ask for a zipcode, which you don't have since your card is not in the US.

Yes you can, you just need to go inside and pay (with the credit card) at the counter.

Sometimes if a keypad number that I need is broken or whatever, this can happen to a local as well. But can always pay inside.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by jkhdigital on Sunday December 26, 2021 @10:46PM (#29698916)

I’ve noticed that touchless cards (with the symbol that looks like a sideways wifi logo) don’t ask for a zip code when you use then touchlessly. Not sure how common this feature is on cards issued outside the US though.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by Digory on Sunday December 26, 2021 @11:04PM (#29699046)

I have been asked for a zip code buying gas with a tap to pay card recently. I assume that’s going to be more common.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by gregkerzhner on Sunday December 26, 2021 @11:23PM (#29699177)

If it’s during open hours, you can always walk inside the store and buy gas from the attendant which should let you use your card without a zip.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by josephcsible on Sunday December 26, 2021 @10:17PM (#29698740)

Can't you just pay inside with it?

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by larrysalibra on Sunday December 26, 2021 @10:30PM (#29698816)

Yes, you can usually pay inside. Also, just entering any 5 digit zip code will often work. Had no issues with random 5 digit zip codes and my UK and HK-issued cards at gas pumps in the USA.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by tinco on Sunday December 26, 2021 @11:10PM (#29699083)

Weird, I tried my friends' zipcode and it didn't work. Maybe I got it wrong or something.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by Merad on Sunday December 26, 2021 @11:52PM (#29699401)

It probably depends on the company. Most gas pumps in the US only support swipe payments (as opposed to chip based EMV or contactless). The gas station gets charged lower credit card network fees if they submit address info with the swiped payment. Whether the address is correct or not doesn't affect the fees, and it's usually up to the company to decide if they want payments to be declined when there's an address mismatch.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by faeyanpiraat on Monday December 27, 2021 @04:33AM (#29700968)

Mismatch between which addresses?

Why can’t I fill my car anywhere, regardless of where I live?

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by lazyasciiart on Sunday December 26, 2021 @10:00PM (#29698649)

I don't think Argentina is usually considered a "developing" country, even with the incredibly wide range of meaning the phrase is five these days.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by bombcar on Sunday December 26, 2021 @11:02PM (#29699028)

The joke was that the USA was the developing country.

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Re:The absurdity of renting a car will no longer be tolerated by vegasea on Monday December 27, 2021 @09:07PM (#29709506)

Hardy-har-har. Found yet another smug European. It's like shooting fish in a barrel.

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