So you want to rent a car from a particular car rental company, but limited in funds? Or maybe you left your credit or debit card at home, leaving you with only your Apple pay wallet? Can you rent a car with apple pay? And what car rentals openly accept them?
This post “4 Car Rentals that accept Apple pay ” covers everything you need to know about whether or not car rentals do accept Apple pay.
Can you rent a car with Apple pay?
If you’ve been in the car rental industry for a while now, you’ll notice that the payment method on most platforms revolves around credit cards and debit cards.
Even worst, most car platforms only accept credit cards.
So then, what happens to other popular e-wallets like PayPal, Apple Pay, and Samsung pay?
In a recent article, we talked about PayPal and its eligibility status for most car rentals. In this article, our focus is on Apple Pay.
So do car rentals accept Apple Pay?
The simple answer is yes. But it varies.
Majorly, car rentals rarely accept any other payment method aside Credit cards.
So you’ll find out that there could be some car rental that are willing to accept your Apple Pay card, provided that it’s a credit card, even though they outrightly don’t accept PayPal.
But, why?
Well, the reason to this is that credit cards appear to be the only secure option for these companies.
In the case where a customer damages the company car, they could easily get coverage for the damage, if it was a credit card used.
Whereas for debit cards or any other payment method, this can’t happen. The worst part? It isn’t going to affect the user’s credit history. So, it’s a highly risky play for any car rental company.
However, there are still some car rentals out there that accept debit cards and other weird payment methods, majorly car rental agency. This doesn’t exclude Apple Pay.
It’s also worth mentioning that when you talk about Apple Pay as a payment method, there are 3 things it could involve, especially in the context of making payment to a car rental company.
They include:
- You plan on making payments with the Apple Wallet
- You plan on using the Apple credit card
- You plan on using the apple debit card
Now, you might see a number of car rentals that would be willing to accept the apple credit card, even though they don’t normally accept Apple Pay.
Again, this is because it’s a credit card.
On the other hand, the Apple Wallet might have a hard time being accepted. This is because for a company to accept the Apple Pay wallet, it must have installed a device capable of performing NFC.
Lastly, the Apple Pay debit card would only be accepted in locations that accept debit cards.
4 Car rentals that accept Apple Pay
In the course of this article, we were able to perform some research on a few car rentals. We did this by contacting their customer support on different channels, and asking them whether they accept Apple Pay.
Below is a list of car rentals that accept Apple Pay:
- Discover Cars
- Avis
- Alamo
- Enterprise
- Turo
Our Best Pick: If you’re looking for a stable option that allows Apple Pay, alongside all other modern payment methods, then you might want to go with Discover cars.
The reason is that about 90% of the car rentals listed here would only accept Apple pay based on some conditions and are restricted in some particular locations. Whereas with Discover Cars, using Apple pay is guaranteed. Alongside, you get the best value for money.
Discover Cars
Unlike other options below this, Discover cars is actually a car rental agency, partnering with a handful of well-known companies in the transportation and car rental industry.
This includes some of the big brands like Enterprise, Hertz, Avis, Alamo, etc.
So why Discover cars?
Well, Discover makes an edge over other companies, as it allows renters to find the best value for price to any location, by easily using the filter feature.
This means you could scroll through the prices of a list of car rentals that are available at your location.
The best part is that there are no hidden fees, unlike booking traditionally from car rental companies like Budget or Thrifty.
Lastly, Apple pay as a payment method is guaranteed. Alongside you could also use Paypal.
URL: Discovercars.com
Avis
Home to a list of prominent car-sharing and rental companies, Avis is one of American’s oldest car rental companies, founded way back in 1946.
It is the mother company to Avis, Budget Rent a Car, Budget Truck Rental, and Zipcar.
Arguably, Avis is among the top 10 car rental companies in the world, with its network of users spread across 165 countries.
Read also: Does Ampm accept Apple Pay for gas refills?
Coming to the payment methods, Avis doesn’t outrightly accept Apple Pay. However, you could use your Apple Card (credit card) to make payment for your reservation at Apple Pay.
Alamo
The next we have on our list is Alamo, a car rental company that has a wide reach in South Africa, North America, South America, India, Australia, and New Zealand.
The company was founded way back in 1974, so it’s no newbie in the industry.
From our chat with the customer agent at Alamo, you can rent a car with Apple Pay. This includes any form of payment option, which includes the Apple wallet, and the Apple Card.
To confirm this statement, we contacted Alamo at their customer service.
Fortunately, we got a nimble response.
So here is it.
Alamo does accept Apple Pay. However, it is most likely limited to some rental locations. So, you might need to confirm from the rental location you intend using, to find out if they accept do accept Apple Pay.
Enterprise
Founded way back in 1957, Enterprise is the leading car rental company based in the United States.
Besides “Enterprise” which is known as a popular brand, the company is also affiliated with other established car rentals which include Alamo, and National car rental.
Read also: Renting a car with an Out-of-state License? Is it possible?
Just like we did on Alamo, we decided to make the same research on Enterprise.
We contacted Enterprise on their customer support page, to find out if they accept Apple Pay.
The answer?
Yes. Enterprise car rental does accept PayPal, alongside other payment methods which include debit cards. But again, it depends on the rental locations, as not all rental locations are equipped with a tablet that accepts NFC.
Turo
Lastly, we have Turo on our list.
Unlike the aforementioned car rentals, Turo is a bit different, as the company operates on a car-sharing business model.
Fortunately, Turo car rentals accept Apple pay, alongside Google wallet. The company stands to be one of the few car rentals with the most flexible payment option.
You can find a resource on this on their payment info page:
Car rentals that does not accept Apple pay
Now, what if you already have a car rental company in mind? If you have gotten up to this point, you might want to find out the rest other car rentals that don’t accept Apple pay.
Here’s a look at car rentals that don’t accept Apple pay.
- Hertz
- Thrifty
- Hertz
- Budget
- Zipcar
It’s worth mentioning that this list is not a comprehensive list of all car rentals that don’t accept Apple pay, but a list dug from our research.
Final Thoughts
There you have it. While many car rentals don’t accept Apple pay. You don’t have to generalize it, as there are still a number of car rentals that openly accept Apple pay and all of its products.
Meanwhile, if you want to check a list of car rentals that have spare tires, we also have a guide on that.
