I have to complain about myself first because every time I travel I plan a lot but my credit card limit is always tight. For this Spain trip I booked a car from Malaga to Alicante through QEEQ and I was already a bit nervous. Plane tickets and hotels had taken a big part of my limit and I really did not want a full car rental charge before I even left home. When I saw the One-Dollar Freeze option I did not trust it at first. I thought it might be something that looks nice but later has strange fees. I read the explanation carefully. It said I only pay 1 dollar first as a booking fee and the rest will be charged before the rental starts and there is no interest. For someone like me whose card is almost full before a trip this sounded very good. I chose a Volkswagen Polo manual from Budget with four doors. It is a small car and that is better for me because I am not very confident driving in big cities. I remember it was the afternoon in early June around one o clock when I was going to pick up the car in Malaga. The night before I checked my credit card bill and I saw only the 1 dollar charge. I felt so relaxed and thought this plan was perfect for a tourist like me with a tight budget. In the days before the trip I still had some hotel pre authorizations to handle. If the full rental amount was charged at the start my card limit would be really stressed and I might even need to call my family to help pay part of it. This time I only had that 1 dollar on my bill. It felt like my car booking was already safe but my card was not crushed. I could keep more money ready for flights and rooms and let the rental be charged later when I really needed the car. When I arrived in Malaga the sun was very strong. I walked out of the airport into the heat and a bit of sea wind. On the way to the rental counter I suddenly worried that maybe they would tell me the payment failed or ask me to pay the full amount again there. I opened my banking app and checked. I saw there was still only the 1 dollar charge. I guessed the full charge would come very soon. I had already kept enough limit free so I was not scared anymore. At the Budget counter the staff checked my booking and my license. Everything went quite smooth. They printed the contract and asked me to sign. Right then I looked at my phone again and saw that the full rental fee had just been charged. I felt like a debt was finally paid. For several days before I had no stress from this payment and now when I was really going to drive they took the money in one time. The timing felt just right to me. After driving around Malaga I started to go east passing some small towns and later I planned to return the car in Alicante. During the whole trip I kept thinking this payment plan was smart. At the beginning of a journey expenses are always the highest. If there was no One-Dollar Freeze I would keep counting my balance and maybe even feel nervous about simple things like meals. For me the biggest feeling is that this payment style moves the pressure to a later moment and there is no extra interest. The 1 dollar is like saving a spot for me without making me feel empty before I start my trip. In the past when I booked a car I had to check my balance many times before I dared to confirm. This time I saw it was just 1 dollar and I clicked confirm very fast. I felt much more relaxed. When I was at Alicante airport to return the car I checked my bill again. The rental fee was charged correctly and there were no strange extra fees. At that moment I thought this kind of pay a little now and pay the rest right before use is really good for people like me who travel abroad and need to control cash flow. It keeps my credit card from feeling too heavy and lets me enjoy the trip more.
Odkryj, jak nasza usługa pomogła innym klientom
