Keping American Express for business/work travel...anyone have any real expierence...

[ccmisery]

ccmisery- My husband has been using a debit card for nearly 4 years now. He travels weekly. He has had NO problems renting a car, paying for hotel or any of the other expenses with travel. The thing is you have to have money in the account to cover it. We have 2 checking accounts, one is our "home" account, used for everything for the family. And we have a second account that we use as his "travel" account. We just make sure with each paycheck we are putting money (or his travel reimbursement funds from his employer) into the account. As I stated in a previous post, when using your debit card the rental company and/or hotel will put a "hold" on your account for the amount of your bill plus up to 30% more for just in case. When I look at our account I will see the charge for National car rental, let's say $390, then a few days later I will see it for $300. They have removed the "hold" for the extra funds. It's just to make sure you have the money in your account to pay your bill.
He has not traveled to Europe, but we have traveled to the Bahamas and to Mexico since filing BK and have had no issues using our debit card... they are used just like credit cards.

Is it possible to have enough funds in your account during a Chapter 13? If you rent a car for 1 or 2 days, it's usually possible but longer and it can be an expensive hold. How does the trustee look at these extra funds? Say it's $500 to $1000 in cash?

I know Alamo and National don't charge a hold on top of the amount of the rental, they only preauthorize for the amount of the rental and that's it, Hertz and all the others tend to do $200 + the cost of the rental for credit cards and heard for Debit cards, there is a credit check, holds can be higher supposedly for debits.

Are the credit checks a problem for your husband? Do they lower your Fico score because it's done so often?

It's reassuring to hear someone is using a debit card, thanks!

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Is it possible to have enough funds in your account during a Chapter 13? If you rent a car for 1 or 2 days, it's usually possible but longer and it can be an expensive hold. How does the trustee look at these extra funds? Say it's $500 to $1000 in cash?

I know Alamo and National don't charge a hold on top of the amount of the rental, they only preauthorize for the amount of the rental and that's it, Hertz and all the others tend to do $200 + the cost of the rental for credit cards and heard for Debit cards, there is a credit check, holds can be higher supposedly for debits.

Are the credit checks a problem for your husband? Do they lower your Fico score because it's done so often?

It's reassuring to hear someone is using a debit card, thanks!

You can have as much money in your account as you are able to get after you file. I would also suggest a seperate travel account and get as much money in there as you can and use it only for travel. It is a lot easier to use debit cards than it use to be for rental cars and hotels. Does your company have corporate accounts at any car rental places? A lot of times if you reserve under your corp ID it will waive requirements, such as the credit check.

Not sure how or if a car rental inquiry affects your credit, however, your FICO score should be the least of your worries at this point. An inquiry only stays on your report for 2 years and has almost no effect on your score after 1 year anyway.

[MommyMc]

Ccmisery- yes, it is possible to have enough funds. You need to discuss it with your trustee. You will probably need to show proof that you travel with past receipts. My husband is reimbursed weekly so that money feeds the travel account and isn't even counted as income by the trustee.
As far as rental cars, my husband has used National for the past several years. He leaves home every Sunday and returns on Thursday- every week. He has never had a credit check done for renting a car. You can look up each companies debit card policies on their websites and read exactly what their policies are. My husband has never had a $200 hold ontop of the cost of the rental when renting a car. Other than the temporary holds on the account there has been no difference between using our debit card vs the credit card.
14 payments left and going strong!!!

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Why would you need to show some kind of proof about travel? There is no limit to the amount of funds you can have available after you file.
I could have $50,000 in my checking account right now as long as the money was not hidden when I filed and all sources of income have been disclosed. Expense reimbusement is never considered income.

As far as cash on hand when you file you can either exempt it or you can't. Does not matter if you need the funds for travel or to blow at the caisno, if you have enough available exemptions for your cash then you keep it.