Europcar Deposit Amount

If you rent a car from a car rental company, you have to pay a deposit. Surely you ask yourself why this is necessary at all. However, it is quite simple: the deposited amount of money protects the rental company against damages to the vehicle caused by you. Not only in case of damage, but also in case of theft, the deposit can be retained. Fortunately, the amount of the deposit at Europcar is a small amount. In addition, the blocked amount on the credit card is released within a few days after the rental.

The amount of the deposit

Of course, the most interesting question is how much the deposit at Europcar during the rental of a car will be. Unfortunately, this can not be answered in such a general way, because the amount depends significantly on the booked vehicle category and paid price.

After extensive research, we were able to find information on this. Thus, Europcar specifies the amount of the deposit as follows: Rental price + 200 USD.

Nevertheless, our experience shows that this rule seems to be not entirely correct. Because when booking through Europcar, the deposit amount is usually much lower. Sometimes only $150 to a maximum of $1,000 must be deposited. If you only book a small vehicle category anyway, then you should not worry too much about the deposit, because compared to other rental companies, the amount is very moderate.

How to pay the deposit

In general, the deposit must always be made with a credit card at the car rental company. It also plays a crucial role that the card is issued to the main driver. Therefore, a friend cannot simply pay the deposit for you. However, if you do not have a credit card, this is not a problem, because Europcar even allows you to pay the deposit in cash.

The following options are offered:

• Major Credit cards
• Prepaid American Express / Visa / MasterCard
• Cash

Debit cards are not accepted by Europcar at the time of rental. However, if you have to pay additional costs after returning the vehicle, you can of course use a debit card as a form of payment.

How long does the refund of the deposit by Europcar take?

Another interesting question is how long it takes Europcar to refund the deposit. It is important to know that the deposit is not debited when paying by credit card, but only blocked. Your card will only be charged in the event of damage. However, our experience and research show that the refund is made within a few days (usually five days).

Europcar is also very fast in this regard, as rental companies often only release the deposit on the credit card after 14 days.

Conclusion:

The amount of the deposit is very low with Europcar in the USA. There are numerous options for depositing the deposit and the amount on the credit card is also released within a few working days.