No Deposit Car Rental: Pay Your Rental, Keep Your Card Free

No Deposit Car Rental: Pay Your Rental, Keep Your Card Free

No security hold at the counter. No hundreds of euros frozen for weeks. You pay the price you booked — and nothing else is touched.

No Deposit Car Rental: Pay Your Rental, Keep Your Card Free

The security hold is how most car rentals work. You book online, pay the rental fee, show up at the counter and then a separate $200 to $500 gets blocked on your credit card for the duration of the trip. It is not a charge, technically. But that money is not available to you until the hold releases, and that can take up to 30 days after you return the car.

True no-deposit rentals are less common than the name suggests. Major chains like Hertz, Avis and Budget almost always place a hold, regardless of what their booking pages imply. The alternatives that genuinely skip the deposit tend to be car-sharing memberships (which require monthly fees) or specialized booking platforms that work directly with local suppliers offering prepaid, no-hold deals.

Abbycar is that kind of platform. We connect travelers with vetted car rental suppliers whose pricing is prepaid and whose deposit requirement is zero. No monthly membership, no credit check at the counter, and nothing blocked on your card beyond what you paid at booking.

WHAT YOU GET

Security Deposit€0.00
Cdw With Excess€0.00
mileageUnlimited mileage
PricePrice fixed at booking

How Abbycar's No-Deposit Rental Actually Works

The mechanics are straightforward. Abbycar works with local car rental suppliers who have dropped the security deposit for bookings that include full physical damage coverage. Because the excess on collision and loss damage is zero, the supplier has no uncovered financial exposure and therefore no reason to hold funds on your card. When you book through Abbycar, Full Protection is included in your rate. This covers collision damage, theft and third-party liability with a €0.00 excess. That coverage is what makes the zero-deposit possible, and it is already in the price you see when you search.

1

Book and pay online

You pay the full rental cost at the time of booking. The price shown is the price charged, with a full breakdown before you confirm. Young driver surcharges, additional driver fees and any other applicable charges are shown before checkout, not added at the counter.

2

Pick up your car

At the pickup location, present your driving licence, booking confirmation, passport or national ID, and the credit or debit card used at booking. The supplier will check your documents and hand over the keys. There is no pre-authorization placed on your card at this stage.

3

Return and finish

Return the car in the same condition and with the same fuel level you received it. With most car rentals, this is when you wait for a deposit to unblock, sometimes for weeks. With Abbycar there is nothing to release because nothing was held in the first place.

You Pay the Full Rental Cost at Booking. Here's Why.

Paying the full rental cost upfront is what makes the no-deposit policy possible. The supplier receives payment before you arrive, which removes the financial exposure that deposit holds are designed to cover.

What you pay at booking is your rental fee, not a deposit. It does not get held and returned. The amount is the same figure shown in your search results, and the itemized breakdown before checkout will show every line, including any age-related surcharges or extras. Nothing is added at the counter.

The tradeoff is simple: you pay earlier in exchange for no hold at pickup. For most travelers, that is a better deal than paying less upfront and then having several hundred dollars frozen on their card for the duration of the trip.

Pay Earlier, Hold Nothing

At booking

Your full rental fee, itemized before you confirm.

At the counter

Nothing added. Nothing blocked.

Which Cards Are Accepted?

A credit card in your name is required at pickup. It must be a bank-issued card with a chip and PIN, and it must be valid for at least three months beyond the end of your rental. The card you present at pickup should be the same one used to pay at booking. Debit cards are accepted at certain locations under supplier conditions. If you plan to use a debit card, contact Abbycar before completing your booking to confirm eligibility for your specific card and pickup location. Standard agencies often require a return flight ticket or credit check for debit card rentals; Abbycar suppliers handle this differently depending on location.

Accepted

Visa credit card, Mastercard credit card, Debit cards (contact us before booking to confirm)

Not Accepted

Virtual credit or debit cards, Prepaid debit cards, Unembossed cards, Cash

Note

All cards must be bank-issued, chip-enabled and in your name. Cards from non-bank financial institutions are not accepted

Why Major Rental Chains Still Charge a Deposit

Large chains set deposit policies globally and apply them uniformly. That means a traveler booking through Hertz in Athens gets the same hold policy as someone renting in Chicago, regardless of local supplier practices. The policy is not about individual risk, it is about administrative standardization at scale.

Abbycar operates differently because the model is different. We work directly with regional suppliers who have agreed to no-deposit terms for bookings that include full coverage. Those suppliers set their own policies and can offer flexibility that a global chain cannot. The result is that the deposit disappears from the transaction entirely, not as a marketing claim but as a structural feature of how the booking is set up.

The specific numbers: security deposit required is €0.00. CDW and LDW excess is €0.00. Mileage is unlimited. These are fixed terms across Abbycar's network, not negotiated at the counter.

Available Pickup Locations

Abbycar operates across 40+ countries. The zero-deposit terms apply at all locations, whether you are picking up at an airport counter, a downtown office or a port.

Search Your Destination

What You Need at Pickup

All documents must be originals. The supplier does not accept photocopies, printouts or digital images shown on a phone.

Note: If your driving licence uses a non-Latin alphabet (Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Japanese), you also need an International Driving Permit alongside your national licence

Common Questions

Everything you need to know about our services

Yes. The security deposit required at pickup is €0.00. Abbycar works with suppliers who have structured their pricing around full prepayment and full physical damage coverage, which eliminates the need for a card hold. Your credit card is not pre-authorized for any security amount at pickup. The only charge on your card is the rental fee paid at booking.

With a standard rental, you pay the rental fee at booking (or at pickup) and then a separate security hold of $200 to $500 gets placed on your card when you collect the car. That hold can stay frozen for up to 30 days after you return the vehicle. With Abbycar, the hold does not happen. You pay once at booking and nothing is blocked at pickup.

Major chains apply their deposit policies globally as a default, regardless of the individual supplier. Abbycar is a booking platform that connects travelers with local suppliers who have opted into a no-deposit structure backed by full coverage insurance. Because the damage excess is €0.00, the supplier's financial exposure in the event of damage is already covered, and the deposit serves no purpose.

Search your destination, pick your dates, and pay once. That is the whole process. No hold at pickup, nothing to wait for at return.

Security Deposit: €0.00 • Cdw With Excess: €0.00 • Unlimited mileage • Price fixed at booking