Reply #13: Hotels, Airlines - yes, debit card works just fine. [View All]

[mwooldri]

Car rentals? you got to be careful.

Plus car rental companies like placing holds on credit cards... if it's a debit card then they're holding up $X in your checking account, that money is then no longer available to you. Also a lot of credit cards offer their holders some form of car rental insurance so that's an extra protection that you don't get with a debit card.

That is if they accept the debit card in the first place.

The by far best way to use a credit card is for those big ticket items, and for you to already have the money stashed away in the bank. Use the credit card to make the purchase. Then pay it off when you get the bill and are satisfied with the goods received (if you can). Credit cards offer you protection that debit cards generally do not. When airlines go bankrupt and cease operations, credit card customers tend to get their money back, less so the debit card customers. You get the protection of the Fair Credit Billing Act - you can dispute a credit item for nearly any reason and if you've been billed for the transaction, you do not pay for it until the billing investigation is complete. If it's not in your favour the CC Co may well charge you interest but that depends on the CC Co. Debit card customers don't have this available to them... sure Visa/MC will cover for fraud transactions but certainly not for things like checking into a hotel and finding the room completely unacceptable to the point you can't stay there, checking out and going nearby but that original hotel bills you anyway... you can fight that with a credit card far easier than with a debit card.

Sometimes credit cards are useful for the rewards programs but then again you have to be disciplined and pay off your account in full each month.

Mark.