[stanmancan]

Without a credit card, how do you buy anything online, or sign up for any SAAS? (the ones that don't accept Paypal, which is most). Using pre-paid Visa cards are possible sometimes (but not always accepted) but are also a hassle to manage as a primary payment method.

Booking travel online? All credit cards.

Renting a hotel or car can be next to impossible without a credit card to put down. Once I had to pay a $500 deposit to stay in a hotel for 1 night because I didn't have a credit card they could put on file.

[tptacek]

We're talking about actual revolving credit credit cards, not debit cards. I understand that you need access to the Visa payment system to function in modern society, but you can trivially get access to that simply with a checking account.

It is absolutely not impossible to book a hotel room or rent a car without a credit card. This is a weird thing that HN seems to believe about consumer finance that has not all that much basis in reality. I book rooms exclusively on debit cards, and doubt there is really a hotel that will refuse to do that. You might not be able to book a car with Hertz, but who cares? Other major rental car companies take debit cards.

[stanmancan]

The Debit/Visa cards work for lots of things, but last I tried most places wouldn't accept them to have on file for damage deposits and such (hotels/cars). I have to admit, I haven't tried for about 5 years. A debit/visa is no different than a prepaid visa. On an actual credit card, they can push the charge through even if you don't have the money available (pushing you over your limit if needed). Visa/Debit and Prepaid Visa's can't go over the available balance.

I'm not sure about the sentiment on HN, but I'm speaking from personal experience. Any time I've tried to use a Debit/Visa when checking into a hotel they've required me to pay a deposit that was returned on checkout.

[lawnchair_larry]

You’re not from the US. Debit means a whole different thing in the US. Unlike other countries, visa debit is functionally equivalent to a credit card, and the retailer doesn’t know the difference between visa debit run as credit vs visa credit.

[tptacek]

Once I again, I have a credit card I use almost exclusively for renting cars, and I believe I invariably check into hotels using debit cards. I can't remember ever having a problem.