Do you need a credit card or will a credit/debit card do?

[Hagabel]

My hubby and I do not have a credit card (we cut them all up about 2 yrs ago) and we are going to NZ for 2 weeks in the spring. We both have debit/credit cards (popular in US) with one of the major visa, mc etc symbol on it.
Are we going to run into problems hiring a camper van w/out a credit card? We are planning on paying for it before we arrive.
We are also going to use travel cards which I know from my last trip there were good for drawing cash and at EFTPOS's (as I recall). I had a ccard last trip so used it for picking up hire car etc.

Thanks.

[Duncan74]

We got a CC just before we came in 2008 after being in teh same postition as you. Very glad we did as at that time then Eftpos machines wouldn't accept our HSBC 'Maestro' debit cards. If you've got Visa or Mastercard debit cards you should be OK, but otherwise you may struggle. Personally I'd say get one with enough credit limit ot buy a few nights accomodation and flights home, and then cut it in half as you land back in the states.

[Manks]

The thing with hiring a campervan is that they take an "insurance deposit" - basically the deductable from your insurance package - and put it straight on your card when you pick the van up (in our experience). At the end of the hire they refund it if you haven't had to claim on insurance.

If you're using a debit card, that will automatically come out of your account, so you'll need to have the funds in your checking account to cope (ours was NZ$1000 I think - but depends on the company and your insurance package). If you use a credit card, it just gets logged as a transaction and then repaid anyway, so you never "lose" the money.

In terms of living over here, I don't think you need a "debit" card. We have EFTPOS and a credit card. EFTPOS does everything a debit card does, except you can't buy things online/over the phone with it. We use our credit card for all those purchases.

Debit cards (not EFTPOS) have a fee attached that is roughly the same as a credit card. Typically you need a credit card anyway (for hotels, etc and building up a credit history) so why pay two lots of fees?

[Duncan74]

(Note that the fist post was in relation to a 2 week trip, so EFTPOS cards aren't going to be a sensible option).

[Hagabel]

We got a CC just before we came in 2008 after being in teh same postition as you. Very glad we did as at that time then Eftpos machines wouldn't accept our HSBC 'Maestro' debit cards. If you've got Visa or Mastercard debit cards you should be OK, but otherwise you may struggle. Personally I'd say get one with enough credit limit ot buy a few nights accomodation and flights home, and then cut it in half as you land back in the states.

Our debit card is one of the major ones. Thanks for the info. We would rather not take out another one as we are pretty much with having cards but I wil talk to hubby about it.

[James 1077]

Our debit card is one of the major ones. Thanks for the info. We would rather not take out another one as we are pretty much with having cards but I wil talk to hubby about it.

Personally I would never go travelling without a credit card or A LOT of money in my current account (not savings as you never know when you need it and whether you'll be able to get online / to a phone to transfer it and if that transfer will go through instantly).

The good thing with a credit card is that it gives you peace of mind. If everything hits the fan and you need out / emergency medical treatment etc then you can do it. Similarly if someone nicks your wallet then having a credit card in your bag at the hotel is a godsend! My Dad once had to provide a deposit of around $20,000 for a medical emergency when we were on a family holiday - whilst it was covered by insurance the hospital wouldn't accept the insurer's promise to pay so he needed to provide evidence that they could; credit card out and the $20,000 was put on hold. Cost ended up being closer to $5,000 so paid up and reclaimed the money from insurance - but without that credit card it would have been much tougher!

99% of the time you may never use it (other than for when you put the rental deposit on a car / hotel etc - making sure you pay with the debit card); but that 1% of the time a credit card makes everything so much easier!