My turn for a rant...

[RCCrawler]

Mother fawking, worthless, god damn people.

Had a great vacation in San Diego with the wife and kids, today we were supposed to fly home but all day we kept getting emails saying our flight was postponed later and later. We got to the airport, checked in, and then get an email that they canceled the flight.

I go to the ticketing counter to see what they can do for us, best they can do is get us home Wednesday night with a 9 hour layover in Vegas. I make some phone calls and find a minivan to rent one way to Denver, screw it we'll drive 16 hours home Clark W. Griswold style.

Go to pickup the van, but no they won't give it to us because I refuse to be a slave to debit and I don't own a credit card. It was fine to rent me a fawking car for the last week with just a debit card, but not anymore. Who gives a shit if my credit is over 800. Load the kids up and take a shuttle to the next place, same story. Spend an hour in the parking lot on the phone and everyone is the same, no car with no card. Bullshit.

At this point we are stranded, no flight, no car, no way to get a car.

I logged onto Expedia and started looking for flights, found something for tomorrow, $1800 will get us home tomorrow night, fawk me. We saved for a year to afford a nice vacation now to have to spend another couple grand for no reason sucks major ass.

As of now we found a hotel close to the airport for $200, spent $1800 on another flight, and the in laws get to keep the dogs for another night, the extra day I took off work to decompress after vacation is gonna be burned up as well. The original airline gave us what we originally paid 6 months ago when we bought the tickets, $359 and that was it, didn't even offer a reach around, some lube or even try to get us a room.

Their or story was a flight from Chicago got canceled, which snowballed into our flight from San Diego to Denver being canceled. It's a bunch of bullshit they can't figure out how to bring in a plane from somewhere else.

I get to sit at a hotel all day tomorrow get home more than 24 hours late and $2000 lighter in the wallet, it's a bunch of bullshit that the airline I booked with months ago to ensure my family safe travels basically told me to piss off and gave me my money back.

[lead_magnet]

That blows ass! Hope you make it home tomorrow. They should have comped a hotel or the flight back, what a crock of shit.

[GilpinGuy]

Damn. You got the old with no lube.

We don't have credit cards either. We were just talking about renting a car here in August too. Gotta rethink that I guess.

[Graves]

Uber?

All seriousness, I did avis for a one way (San Jose to LAX) with just my bank card.

[hurley842002]

Crappy deal on the whole flight issue.

I ran into the same thing with the car rental issue. I finally found a company willing to take debit, but since then I've had a credit card, and have come to terms with the fact that they are an essential part of finances. I don't feel like a slave to anything, as I don't carry a balance.

[ray1970]

Hmm. Sounds like you don't travel often. Between the wife and I we deal with this kind of stuff quite often. Usually it works out in our favor in the end other than getting home a little later than planned.

For many years she and I didn't have credit cards. Never had an issue renting a car on the debit card but they usually put some sort of higher amount on the card until the car is returned. I actually rented a car in Houston three weeks ago on my debit card. There was an $800 pending charge on the account until we returned the car then the charge pushed through for $250 after we returned it.

I do actually recommend you get a credit card for stuff like this. You really aren't going to be going into debt if you pay it off every month.

Anyhow, still sucks for you. Hope your luck changes.

[flogger]

Was it Frontier Airlines? They are going downhill fast.

[kwando]

Traveling sucks! I hate flying, but I hate long drives more.

I'm like Ray, Ive rented with my debit card. They hold a larger amount until the car is returned.

There are benefits to credit cards if you can control your spending. Usually it's easier to get your money back from a credit card vs a Bank issued debit card. Some cards offer extended warranties. Just pay the balance monthy and it won't get you in the hole.

Hope you have safe travels home.

[funkymonkey1111]

Was there an explanation for the refusal to allow the rental on the debit card? Was it because it was a one way rental? Or was there a balance issue?

I understand the reluctance to carry a credit card, but you can see where that position could hang you up in the future. What is there was an emergency and you had to get home and you needed the rental ASAP--and you get the run around with this credit card position?

Just because Dave Ramsey says don't get a credit card doesn't mean their not useful in these situations--their cars, their rules.

Also, if it was Frontier--i had a similar situation last week but luckily my flight was only delayed 5 hours, not cancelled. Seems like one is rolling the dice booking with them these days.

[sniper7]

Spirit airlines I assume?

it happens, part of the airline experience at any airline unfortunately. Stuff breaks, weather happens, people happen. Sorry to hear for your troubles, I'd definitely get a credit card just for these types of things, toss it in the safe most days, but traveling it is almost a must anymore.