R

Raman Wolf

France

May 2, 2026

One-Dollar Freeze

When I think about my trip to Dijon now, the thing I remember most is not the car, but how I paid for it. When I booked the car, my budget was tight and I did not want to put a big charge on my credit card. So when I saw the One-Dollar Freeze on QEEQ, I felt relaxed right away. I only needed to pay 1 dollar first to lock the booking, and the rest would be charged automatically before the rental started. I thought it was nice to lock the car first and not pay a big amount at once. It was around the morning of April 29 when I went to the Avis counter in Dijon to pick up a Toyota Yaris Cross. I stood at the counter and felt a bit nervous. I worried that because I only paid 1 dollar at first, they might ask me to pay some strange extra fee. The staff only asked for my passport and license, checked the booking, and started the paperwork. Everything was normal and no one even mentioned that I had only paid 1 dollar before. I felt a quiet relief and thought this way of paying was really helpful. I remember the day I placed the booking. I was in Japan, sitting at my desk, looking at my flight and hotel bills. I felt some pressure. If I paid the full rental fee at once, my credit card limit would become tight. I did not want to call the bank to change my limit because that felt annoying. When I saw that they said I could pay just 1 dollar to hold the car, I hesitated, then read the text again and again. I wanted to make sure there was no hidden interest. I told myself it would be bad if they charged extra interest later, but I saw that there was no interest, so I decided to try it. After I booked, I checked my credit card record right away and only saw the 1 dollar charge. I felt a bit amused. It was like I pressed a small reserve button. In the next few weeks, I sometimes suddenly thought about it and felt a little worried. I wondered if the later charge would fail or if the booking might be canceled when I arrived in Dijon. So I logged in from time to time to check my booking status. Every time I saw it was still there I felt calmer. A few days before my trip, I got a notice from my credit card app. It showed that the rest of the rental fee was charged in one time and there was no extra interest or strange fee. I really let out a breath. I thought they really did what they promised. At that moment I felt my old worries were too much, but I also felt it was normal to be careful with money. When I landed in France and finally arrived at the Avis office in Dijon and saw the Yaris Cross, I was not worried about payment at all anymore. When the staff checked my booking, I was standing there thinking that if there was no One-Dollar Freeze, I might have waited longer to book to keep my card more free. Then maybe the price would go up or there would be no cars left. This way helped me keep the car and did not lock too much limit on my card. For an overseas traveler like me, it felt really easy. During my days in Dijon, I drove the car around the city and nearby places. On the road I sometimes thought about the booking again. I felt the best part of the whole process was that there was no interest from start to finish and no one pushed me to pay everything early. I could plan my other trip costs first and then let the system charge the rest a few days before the start. This timing felt comfortable for me and it made the money pressure smaller. On the evening of May 2, when I returned the car to the Dijon office, the staff checked the car and said everything was fine. I gave back the keys and walked out. At that moment I realized that from the time I clicked the booking button in Japan to the time I finished the return in Dijon, money did not become an extra burden for me. One-Dollar Freeze felt like someone helped me put a heavy stone aside before the trip, so I could focus on other plans first. For someone like me who is careful with budget and still has a bit of a student feeling, paying 1 dollar first and then being charged later with no interest made the pressure on my credit card very small and made it easier to enjoy the trip itself.