what if you do not have a credit card?

Hi everyone i have a silly but important question to ask.....due to the climate financially which is effecting lots of people how would you get by with out a credit card... for example my friend wanted to book direct with a hotel the price to book sep airline and hotel would of saved her lots of money however when she went to book they asked her for a major credit card in which to accept the booking this has stumped her as she no longer has one and more important she no longer wants one as she paid it all of and got rid due to the interest on the bill............any ideas out there? they will not accept visa debit/electron or switch debit ??????????????? any help truelly greatful for

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what if you do not have a credit card?

Hi chelly1

If your friend has the cash in the bank, they could always ask someone with a credit card. if they would be willing to use their card and they give thecredit card hold the cash.

One good thing about paying with a credit card, is after paying over 100 pounds. Is if anything goes wrong you are covered, the credit cardf company will reimburse you.( I think I have got that bit right)If I am wrong, there are many on this forum who will gladly help me out.

what if you do not have a credit card?

best thing is look for a credit card with o% on purchase there for no interest its always best to book with a credit card as you are covered in case of any collapse like XL airways when you arrive in the states most hotels also ask for one to cover any charging and damage to the room

Sadly, in this day %26amp; age, a CREDIT card is almost an essential thing to have. It offers the solution to the problem described here and also as others have said, offers protection against losses when companies go bust and so on - not just travel, but other things where you pay up front - a deposit on furniture is a good example, but there are many others.

The thing is, it requires you to have a huge amount of self-discipline, something which many struggle to find. If you can **religiously** pay off your account, in full, very single month, then it%26#39;s a total win-win thing to have. But if you can%26#39;t, this is the route to ongoing debt and ultimately possibly misery.

Some card issuers offer a scheme where the account is automatically paid off in full by Direct Debit from your bank. So long as you have funds in your bank account - which is another discipline - you (sort of) can%26#39;t go wrong.......

Most travel companies (including Disney) will accept cashier%26#39;s checks for deposits and traveler%26#39;s checks for on-site payment. She will need to make a cash deposit, on arrival at the hotel, to cover any expenses/damage. Be sure to speak directly with the hotel/airline, for specific details, prior to travel.

Having said this; a credit card is far preferable, for all of the above mentioned reasons.

Because of the Credit Crunch there are more ways now than to have a credit card, you can purchase a prepaid credit card, which looks the same as the normal ones, you load it with funds and pay with it that way, this way you would be able to pay for hotels and flight, most prepaid ones are with mastercard, go onto google and do a search and you will see tons of them , the post office does one for example, you do pay approx a tenner for it then a small charge to use, but for those that dont have one it can be invaluable. Esp in places like the US that doesnt really allow us to use a standard debit card.

Ebookers were very good for prepaid rates and do take electron and solo for payment but you need to ring them to make the payment as those options do not show on the payment facility when looking on line.

ATM%26#39;s dont appear in the US to take electron or solo only the standard debit cards with current accounts ie barclays connect.

Travellers cheques are def worth taking as you use them as you go along and if lost they are replaced , everywhere takes them more or less even the fast food chains, i think the only place that doesnt is walmarts but you cash them for cash anywhere without a fee.

No fee to get them either and we found after a certain amount you got a better rate at the bureau exchange here in the uk , i eover 700 dollars gave us a extra 10 cent on the exchange rate from 1.35 to 1.45.

For car hire the named driver i understand must hold the credit card which could pre paid and needs to have approx 500 pounds min on it of which they block until the car is returned.

Hotels dont demand credit card details if the accommodation is prepaid , if not prepaid then expect to pay in advance and they may ask for a down payment if they suspect you will want to charge, but just say you will pay as you go along, but they will use of making phone calls etc from the room, but you can get a phone card for approx 10 dollars to make calls back to the uk , you ring a toll free number either ask the hotel operator to do this or from a payphone then enter the card details of the phone card.

US def can be done with ease without a Credit Card.

just to add there is no credit check or agreement with the prepaid card you literally purchase one frpom the post office and load it with money.

you can not go over even by a penny as your usage is purely what you have put on it.

Treat it as a pay as you credit card.

http://www.mycashplus.co.uk/

is the post office one with payment protection etc and all the security feature of a running credit card.

I see no problems having a credit card if you pay it off every month by direct debit - I do this with my Nectar AMEX card and get loads of points to spend in Sainsburys too. An added bonus is you get to put off some spending (say, all your groceries) for a month before you pay your first bill = instant extra cash!

It%26#39;s not so much of a problem not to have a credit card in the UK, where your ATM card is generally also a debit card, but you can come unstuck on holiday - my fella%26#39;s Visa debit card has not worked once in the USA, and I%26#39;ve just had to stick his purchases on the AMEX to be paid back later. Extra points, ah well :o)

The problem people have is those that never have had a credit card , will find it virtually impossible to get one today with decent running credit, ive seen that people that pay off in full regulary are now haveing there credit facility massively reduced. ive had credit on one reduced from 4000 to 400 even though the balance was clear and always when used cleared at the time.

Lenders are very nervous and 400 is neither use nor ornamentto me for holidays.

So for me the prepaid card is a god send for those that a) havent or cannot get one, or b) those that have defaulted, got into problems or have gone bankrupt and may not get running credit for some time, its a facility that allow those to have same options as those with a running credit facility and the protection it offers is great.

You can load it up from any debit card at anythime wherever you are in the world immediately and it looks the same as a normal mastercard.

thankyou so much for all your help i have passed info on to friend just now and she is going to p.o for the pre paid option that way she is covered and can not over spend lollol

did not realise visa electron not taken anymore in u.s all other times we ave gone over i have used mine no problems in atms and shops have they stopped accepting it now?