Quote: Fatbelly "VW,
I know you live over there so will have better knowledge than me but when I was trying to book hire without a CC (which I had lost and no time for replacement )I rang every Car Hire company at Perpignan Airport who wanted a cash deposit of 2500 euros on top of the hire costs for a booking without a CC.'"
I am (sadly) back in the UK at the moment! That sounds about right amount wise. The thing with a CC is that once you allow a company to swipe it they have a right to charge it whatever, a debit card is different you could report it stolen etc and they can't charge it hence why asking for such a large cash deposit. On a seperate note (ish) cheques in France are cashed immediatly rather than waiting 3/4 days to clear and it is illegal to write a cheque when you dont have the cash in the account to cover it hence why the Frenchies write cheques and they would be accepted for car hire!