PAYMENTS AND PRICING PAYMENTS AND PRICING

A Credit card is required at pick up to secure funds for the rental. At car return customers may have the option to pay by cash, please enquire with your selected return location.

It is a condition of rental that at time of pick-up, the renter must present a physical Credit Card or Debit Card. See accepted cards and payment methods below.

• We accept the following Credit Cards: Visa, MasterCard and American Express.
• We accept the following Debit Cards: Visa and MasterCard ONLY.
• We do not accept a prepaid or reloadable stored value card, a travel money card or an EFTPOS card. Please note: some locations may accept a prepaid or reloadable stored value card as a final form of payment at the end of the rental – you are advised to enquire with the locations directly.
• We do not accept electronic payments with phones or contactless tap-and-go payment types.
• When paying by credit card or debit card a transaction fee of 1.29% including GST will apply on all charges at time of payment.

When you start your rental, a pre-authorisation hold will be placed on your credit or debit card for the duration of the rental. Please see What is the pre-authorisation for Budget vehicles? under Requirements For Renting for information regarding pre-authorisation hold amounts which will be placed on your card for the duration of your rental.

Your travel agent can sell you a prepaid voucher that you can use to pay for rentals at various locations within and outside Australia. In some cases vouchers do not cover taxes, surcharges, additional coverage, extra days, upgrades, etc. Therefore, you should carefully read the voucher information to understand exactly what is included. You may also be asked to present your credit cardwith your voucher and drivers licence. 

Most rental locations in Australia will accept cash, a traveller's cheque, or a debit card as payment for a rental. A personal cheque or money order is not accepted.

When paying by Visa or Mastercard debit card:

At the start of your rental a hold will be put on your card for total rental charges plus an additional pre-authorisation of up to $400 that must be available at time of pick up (i.e. if your rental charges total $90, a hold of $490 will be placed on your card).

Charges will be processed after completion of the rental and if applicable the unused portion of the authorisation will be released.

Budget will send an electronic message to your bank on the day you return your vehicle requesting the release of any holding amounts. Depending on your bank, this may take up to 10 working days to release. 

When paying by cash:

For details on 'cash qualification', the required pre-payments, refunds and the time required to process qualification applications, please call Budget Reservations in Australia on 1300 362 848.

Note: if you have paid a cash deposit any refund will be issued via cheque, this can take up to 14 working days.

Rates are subject to change based on supply and demand, much like the airline and hotel industries.

No, for security reasons we cannot take payment over the phone.

Car rental pricing is like airline pricing -- if you travel at off-peak times or make a reservation seven or more days in advance, you often get a better deal. Also, watch the Hot Deals section on the Budget web site.