Back in the 1980's, one would have a hard time renting a car unless one was at least 25 and had major plastic. I had to have my mother cosign for me at age 22 to rent a Cadillac in 1986 to chauffeur a senior high-school boy at my workplace and his girlfriend out on a date for prom night . In the summer of 1995, I got out of the army in Germany and came back home stateside. I reserved a Lincoln Town Car with Hertz over the Skyphone on the plane. I had a big hassle when I'd arrived to pick the car up at 2 in the morning at the airport. It took about a half hour of arguing and even having to speak to the manager but I finally got into the car to drive home. I was age 31 at the time and did have major plastic but I had no stateside driver license, only a valid international one. Apparently, these airheads at the car rental agency weren't familiar with these. No running through airports on one's two feet (like O.J. Simpson from The Man, maybe) but running your mouth off trying to explain the validity of an international driver license. I had hard time once in Germany, circa 1994, getting on the airplane because the middle-eastern customs guy with the funny accent didn't undertand that a US military ID was acceptble in lieu of a passport.
Travel is especially difficult without a major credit card and you will be hard-pressed to rent a car if you are under 25. In 1999, at age 35, I visited some relatives out of state by commercial air. I was traveling with no major plastic at the time and did have a tough time finding a rental car agency that would get me into a car without major plastic. I finally found some fly-by-night agency to get me into a Kia econo car, not a Lincoln as I was hoping to find, sans card. I had a book of American Express Travelers Cheques then. I was waiting on my new credit card and a new debit card both to arrive in the mail following opening up a brand new bank account, but I could not postpone my travels to wait on the card. 10-12 business days.
Nowadays travel is virtually impossible without major plastic and/or a PayPal account. My Uber app is connected with my PayPal which is connected with my VISA card.
Some traveling tips: avoid KIA campgrounds like the plague, use mom-n-pop ones or government agency ones...... avoid Motel 6 like the plague, try to find budget-priced independent motels if you can, generally cleaner and much more friendly, try to get a motel in town before 8 PM if you can, I once arrived in Kingman, AZ at 10 at night in early 2000, I asked the guy at the Motel 6 counter for the cheapest room available and he was rather crabby, I wanted to drive around town looking for another motel but I was too tuckered out ... you might just ask for the lowest-priced room available ... the word "cheap" brings out the monster in some people in the service industry, women seem to be more polite than men in many service industry jobs
Largely, I hate travel, period.
Travel is especially difficult without a major credit card and you will be hard-pressed to rent a car if you are under 25. In 1999, at age 35, I visited some relatives out of state by commercial air. I was traveling with no major plastic at the time and did have a tough time finding a rental car agency that would get me into a car without major plastic. I finally found some fly-by-night agency to get me into a Kia econo car, not a Lincoln as I was hoping to find, sans card. I had a book of American Express Travelers Cheques then. I was waiting on my new credit card and a new debit card both to arrive in the mail following opening up a brand new bank account, but I could not postpone my travels to wait on the card. 10-12 business days.
Nowadays travel is virtually impossible without major plastic and/or a PayPal account. My Uber app is connected with my PayPal which is connected with my VISA card.
Some traveling tips: avoid KIA campgrounds like the plague, use mom-n-pop ones or government agency ones...... avoid Motel 6 like the plague, try to find budget-priced independent motels if you can, generally cleaner and much more friendly, try to get a motel in town before 8 PM if you can, I once arrived in Kingman, AZ at 10 at night in early 2000, I asked the guy at the Motel 6 counter for the cheapest room available and he was rather crabby, I wanted to drive around town looking for another motel but I was too tuckered out ... you might just ask for the lowest-priced room available ... the word "cheap" brings out the monster in some people in the service industry, women seem to be more polite than men in many service industry jobs
Largely, I hate travel, period.
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