Budget Car Rental FAQs Budget Car Rental FAQs

Absolutely. You can save on your car rental expenses at most U.S. and Canadian locations when you reserve and prepay toward your rental online at budget.com with a credit or debit card. Online is the easy way to reserve and pay. Learn more about our Pay Now option. Or, if you prefer, reserve on budget.com and pay in full when you return your car.

Yes. When you return your car, you may pay for your final rental costs with cash, credit or debit card. However, to release a car to you at rental pick-up time, you must provide a deposit using a credit card or, at some locations, a debit card. See What kinds of credentials will I need to present when I pick up my rental? for information on required holds.

 Our corporate-operated locations accept the following major credit cards: American Express, Budget Charge Card, Budget International, Discover, JCB/Japan Card, MasterCard, Optima, PHH and Visa. Please note that acceptance of these cards may vary at locations outside of the U.S. and at our licensee-owned locations.

At some locations, debit and pre-paid charge cards are not accepted at rental pick-up time, but are accepted for payment at time of car return. See What kinds of credentials will I need to present when I pick up my rental? for information on required rental pick-up holds.

No. At the time of rental, the renter is required to present a valid driver's license and credit card with his/her name imprinted on it. The name/address on the credit/debit card MUST match the name/address on the driver’s license.

If you use a credit or charge card issued by a financial institution outside the U.S., and if your charges are billed to Budget in a currency other than U.S. Dollars, the full amount of your charge will be converted to the card account’s billing currency unless you submit a written request in advance to have the currency conversion performed by your card issuer. The conversion will be based on a conversion rate published by Reuters and will incorporate a processing charge no higher than 3% for all amounts relating to the transaction. This charge will replace the currency conversion processing charge applied by your card issuer. Although your card issuer has a currency conversion process; you have the option of choosing not to use your card issuer’s currency conversion process. In this case, you will have no recourse against your card issuer for any matter related to the currency conversion.

A Budget credit card exists for corporate accounts to use for business rentals. It is not available to general consumers.

If a company wishes to apply, the account needs to establish a central billing agreement with Budget. After the travel manager of the account identifies company employees who require cards, those credit cards will be issued. You can help save your company money and time by applying for a company account today.

Yes! Budget issues "Authorized Rep" cards to companies who wish to make a card available to employees who travel only once in a while. As needed, an employee can request an "Authorized Rep" card from his or her employer or travel coordinator. The card can be used for the duration of the Budget car rental, and then returned for use by another authorized employee. All charges will appear on one central billing statement, which makes it easy to track company rental car costs.

These cards have the words "Authorized Rep" stamped on the back in the cardholder's signature area. Although the renter's actual name does not appear on the "Authorized Rep" card, it is acceptable at the Budget counter as credit identification.