Aircraft leasing workers earned €206,000 on average last year
workers
in the Irish aircraft leasing business each earned €206,000 on average last year, new figures show.
The Republic is home to the world's top aviation lessors, including AerCap, Avolon and SMBC Aviation Capital, along with many others, buying aircraft from manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing, and renting them to airlines.
Figures published by the State's Central Statistics Office (CSO) show these businesses owned aircraft worth €268 billion at the end of 2024.
It calculates that 3,005 people worked in aircraft leasing last year, earning a total of €620 million, slightly over €206,000 each on average.
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Caoimhe Johnson, statistician in the CSO's national accounts division, said on Thursday that the business had grown over the last few years.
'People employed in the industry rose from 2,804 in 2019 to 3,005 in 2024, with total earnings increasing from €517 million to €620 million over the same period,' she added.
Average pay increased 11 per cent during that time, from €185,000 in 2019.
Lessors employed 1,853 men and 1,152 women in 2024. Women earned an average of €137,168 while their male colleagues received €249,318.
The CSO cautions that as not all staff surveyed had worked a full 52 weeks, it had added up all the weeks worked and divided its total by 52.
The aircraft leasing sector has continued expanding over the last five years, despite many countries grounding airlines during the 2020 Coivid pandemic and the Ukraine war's subsequent outbreak, which resulted in many companies losing aircraft leased to Russian airlines.
Demand for aircraft is growing around the world, particularly in Asia, where companies say that increasing numbers of working people can now afford to fly.
The CSO report, Aircraft Leasing in Ireland 2024, shows that China was responsible for 9 per cent of global income from leasing activity over the last 10 years, while India accounted for 6 per cent.
Lessors earned €19.5 billion from renting aircraft to airlines last year, 59 per cent more than in 2014, when the figure was €12.3 billion. The industry earned €2.1 billion in profits last year.
Companies use their own cash and loans to buy the aircraft. Irish aviation lessors owed €149.3 billion to lenders last year, while shareholders had provided businesses with €52.8 billion.
Bonds – another form of borrowing – accounted for €28.1 billion of the finance that Irish lessors had raised by the end of 2024, according to the CSO.
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Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
‘We have no choice': Palestinian women reveal exploitation working in Israeli settlements
'Did the Irish fall into a vat of Guinness and propose something so stupid that it would be attributed to [an] act of diplomatic intoxication?' wrote US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on X in July last, referring to Ireland's proposed Occupied Territories Bill . 'It will harm Arabs as much as Israelis. Sober up Ireland!' If entered into law, the Bill could ban all trade with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. Its proponents say this is in line with requirements under international law, which deems the settlements to be illegal, while some critics suggest a wider boycott could impact Palestinians, as well as Israelis, because of the loss of economic opportunities. Many Palestinians say their economic reliance on Israel is the result of a long-running tactic to exploit them and seize more land. It means individuals can be denied opportunities if they are identified as troublemakers or complain about the status quo, said one Palestinian West Bank municipality director, adding that even participating in a peaceful demonstration could see a Palestinian blacklisted. Despite the West Bank being controlled by Israel and the Palestinian Authority – not Hamas – Palestinians from there had their permits to work inside Israel cancelled after the attacks of October 7th, 2023. READ MORE Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. Photograph: Sally Hayden The West Bank suffered a 22 per cent contraction in its GDP within a year afterwards, and a loss of about 306,000 jobs, according to Oxfam. Unemployment nearly tripled, to 32 per cent , according to a UN Trade and Development report. The Palestinian Authority is concurrently facing a severe economic crisis, fuelled by Israel withholding tax revenues. Some Palestinians have continued working for Israelis, either in settlements or illegally in Israel. In a March 2025 briefing paper , Oxfam said approximately 29,000 Palestinians were working in Israeli settlements. This included more than 6,500 Palestinian women, who were primarily employed in agriculture and manufacturing . 'Economic dependency on settlements is not incidental – it is the result of decades of policies that have eroded the Palestinian economy, leaving workers, particularly women, with no viable alternatives,' Oxfam's report said. 'Israeli settlement expansion, land confiscation and restrictions on Palestinian trade, movement and development have systematically created conditions of poverty and unemployment that push more Palestinians into exploitative labour ... [ 'Hanging on by a thread': Two days with activists protecting Palestinians from being forced off their land Opens in new window ] 'The reliance on Israeli-controlled labour markets is a direct consequence of deliberate economic strangulation, reinforcing Palestinian dependency while stripping them of sustainable opportunities within their own economy.' The Irish Times spoke to six current and former settlement workers in Nablus. All of the women's names have been changed, at their request, and the interviews have been edited for length and clarity. Sara (53): 'I'm against the boycott ... only because it could impact the opportunities I get' 'I was a university graduate with a degree in medical analysis. I kept applying to try to get a job with the [Palestinian] ministry of education, but unfortunately I couldn't. My kids scored high grades in school and I needed to send them to university. I wanted a good education for my five children. 'I worked in a Palestinian factory a few days a week. In 2016, a broker who takes women to the settlements called me and said if I'm looking for a job I could go there. So the other days I would go to the settlements. They took four-five busses of women, around 80 women, to the settlements from my village. The bus fits 18 people but sometimes we are 26. The Palestinian brokers encourage it: the more girls and women they get, the more money. So they put in extra chairs. 'We woke up at 3am to start the journey, going through a lot of checkpoints. We had to get there on time, starting at 6am. We worked for eight hours, for 90 shekels (€23) a day. We only had half an hour break at 10am, finish at 2pm, then travel back again. 'They were agricultural plantations – working with grapes, dates and sometimes nuts and dried fruits. Of course we felt they were using Palestinians as cheap labour. 'All they cared about is getting the job done, but there's no health insurance, there's no coverage for accidents so if someone had an accident they wouldn't treat them except maybe first aid. 'There was an accident with a young girl, her foot was run over by a forklift truck and she was treated in a Palestinian hospital. There was no sort of compensation for her. Maybe the Palestinian broker would give her some 100 shekels if he had some decency, but it's nothing. 'If we worked inside Israel itself then we would get paid three times the amount, maybe more. 'I still work in the settlements when there is an opportunity. We always feel the guilt but I was forced to do that because of my children, because I want a better life for them ... We are living in a big village but there's no work opportunities, there's no factories, there's no investments, we need alternative opportunities. [ Exhausted and imprisoned: how life in the West Bank is getting worse for Palestinians Opens in new window ] 'I'm against settlements but, for me, there's no other alternative. Because of that I'm against the boycott of the products coming from the settlements but only for one reason, because it could impact the opportunities I get. I'm doing a big sacrifice. It's a huge suffering but we don't have any other choice. 'It's all about the family. If I didn't do this then what would happen to my children? I don't want them to end up working in settlements like me. They have been offered the opportunity to go to work in settlements but there have been incidents of harassment. It's not a safe environment for my daughters.' A vendor near a checkpoint where Palestinians sometimes wait all day trying to cross in Qalandia, West Bank. Photograph: William Keo/The New York Times Rita (50): 'You are held and detained for hours and they search our bags, going in both directions' 'I am single but I had siblings I was in charge of raising after my father and mother died. Four male siblings are married now, and two of my brothers were killed, assassinated by [Israeli] special forces in 2005 and 2003. I betrayed my brothers by working in the settlements, I only did it for one month. 'I received 90 shekels a day. The Israelis pay 150 shekelsbut the brokers take the rest of money. 'I began before October 7th [2023]. After, things became different. We had some really tough situations. For example, we were not allowed to go to the bathroom. So I protested and they were surprised that someone spoke out. 'When we went there we thought we'd be working in factories but it was grading dates, sorting through them outside on a plantation. They do the sorting in three stages: us women were the first stage. They would take the good stuff to go to the Israeli market or international market and the ruined ones go to the West Bank. 'One day I was at the checkpoint going home and I told the soldiers we were very tired, so I was detained for four hours. 'Even when we go inside the settlements, and they are looking at our IDs, you are held and detained for hours and they search our bags, going in both directions. I wish these settlements were shut down. I was once kicked out because of the inspection. They searched us on the way in and out because they wanted to make sure no one stole anything. I speak a little Hebrew and I heard them calling us 'thieves'. The Israeli guard said 'I don't want her to come back', and I said, 'I don't want to come back'.' 'I am totally against settlements and the expansion of the settlements. New settlements must stop. The settlers are becoming very violent because we are allowing them to become violent. We're not united and we don't stop them. 'I still feel guilty until this day that I worked in a settlement.' Palestinians in their cars waiting to cross a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus. Photograph: EPA Esma (36): 'We have to be at the checkpoints at 2am. Sometimes we sleep in the car ...' 'I have four daughters and one boy. My brother was killed when I was 14. He was wanted by the Israelis and they hunted him with spies. 'I started working there in the Jordan Valley, seven or eight years ago. My husband was against it because he knows about the things that happen in the settlements, especially for young women ... it was shocking for me at the start. 'I went there and started sorting dates. I later went to work in another settlement in a dry cleaners, with much better conditions than working in plantations. I worked for one year and got paid 500 shekels a month. During Covid-19, they let some people go and kept only the good people, but they also started exploiting us, giving them extra hours without getting paid. There was a lot of work pressure. 'At some point they made us sleep in the dry cleaners. In the whole day you get half an hour break for lunch and then go back to work. We wanted to pray but couldn't even get the time to pray. 'In settlements, there's a humiliation in our treatment. There was a gate for Palestinian workers and a gate for Israelis. Once a broker took me to the wrong gate, they checked my ID and found out my brother was in prison and made me stand in the sun for an hour. They released me, but only after the guard asked the Israeli broker to go and get a weapon as the guard said it was dangerous to be around me. 'We have to be at the checkpoints at 2am. Sometimes we sleep in the car and sometimes we can't sleep. Sometimes there's conflict at the checkpoints, they'd shoot gas bombs and sound bombs for no reason. We don't have any alternatives. Our government is not creating the opportunities for us to work. 'The war has destroyed everything. Because of the war, Palestinian workers are unable to go to Israel so they had to shift to working in the settlements if they are allowed to. There used to be Palestinian brokers making 600 shekels a day but now they're making 90 . The business owners, the settlers, say if you don't like it there are a lot of other workers who want this. I am originally from Gaza and they can see that on the system; I was held for three hours at a checkpoint as a result. 'They've brought Chinese and Indian workers and they're paying them more than the Palestinians, but they're not doing a good job. 'There's harassment, humiliation, especially for young girls. One of my employers fired me because there was another lady willing to take the job and go out with him and things could get physical. It depends on the personality of the women and the conditions, some of them are divorced, some are tempted, some are forced. They are pressured into it, especially in the settlements.' A car park at the Barkan industrial estate beside the Israeli settlement of Ariel, in the occupied West Bank. Photograph: Sally Hayden Lama (52): 'My family and relatives ... would prefer me not to go work in Israel or in the settlements' 'I have one boy and one girl, and used to live in Jordan with my family before coming back in 2021. I was surprised to find out that women worked in Israel and in the settlements because before that it was only the men. 'I needed income and had to find a job. There was a Palestinian clothes store near home that paid 20 shekels a day. I consulted my brothers and my sister-in-law who said there's an opportunity in the settlements where they heard you could make 220 shekels a day. 'Actually, it should have been 150 shekels, but the broker takes 60 ). I worked in a factory inside Israel too and got 280 shekels a day, with the broker still taking 60. We would use illegal crossings next to a checkpoint where they cut the fence and smuggled us in. We used to leave at 2am or 3am to get to the crossing. 'The first thing is the challenge of getting there ... We would get to the settlement and wait for the broker to pick us up from a very crowded area with no clean bathrooms. Go to the factory and be standing the whole time. We couldn't sit on chairs on the production line, couldn't talk, couldn't joke, you have to be moving the whole time. Your hands have to keep working. 'Some – especially old women – used to get diseases, like liquid in their feet, and they would go home sick. The buses were crowded because the more women, the more money for the brokers. We worked from 6am-10.30am, then the first and only break. Sometimes it's only 20 minutes. Then you go back to work until 3.30pm. Sometimes they say 'who wants to do some extra work?' and two out of the whole bus would want to stay, and the whole group will be forced to wait for them or work too. They were promised extra money but it wasn't given to them. 'The Israelis were not dealing with us directly, it's definitely a Palestinian operation. I didn't see any Israelis doing the same jobs for the same money. They wouldn't. We hear news from the workers being smuggled now into Israel after the war and they say the Israelis are complaining, they want the Palestinian workers to come back. 'There was a debate the whole time from my family and relatives. They would prefer me not to go work in Israel or in the settlements.' A car park in a settlement in the occupied West Bank. Photograph: Sally Hayden Maha (55): 'I would encourage banning trade with settlements if there's alternatives for Palestinian women' 'I am a mother of two boys and two girls, and I started working in settlements in 2015. I also went inside Israel, where they have industrial zones and big factories. 'Sometimes we'd organise dates and grapes, packing and sorting, avocados, mango, grapefruit, corn. It's exhausting, it's not an easy job. We had to leave at 1am to get to work because of the checkpoints. 'I then worked as a broker, because I was exploited as a worker before. I didn't want women to experience the same thing. I paid them in full. The women were very appreciative of that. I had a group of 45 women and I would get paid a commission just for bringing them. 'I wouldn't encourage working in Israeli settlements if we had the alternatives, our own businesses, our own projects, but this is our only choice. 'This is not something that we like, having these settlements, this is something that we were forced into. I would encourage banning trade with these settlements if there's alternatives for Palestinian women. 'We could invest in our local market, in our local agriculture. For example there are some Palestinian packing houses for grapes. What we really need are exporting opportunities for our products. If we can find these, then people will turn to these sectors. 'If the international community can support us to open channels to export our products then this would be good for us. Then we could control our life and our time. Our lives would become easier.' Nawal (59): 'I witnessed this exploitation of young women in most settlements' 'I started working in the settlements eight years ago. There was a bad economy, no work opportunities, nothing else to do. 'It was the worst kind of circumstances. No bathrooms: sometimes you just do it on the land. No privacy. The main cause of me leaving the job was the bad treatment. The harassment that took place was disgusting. 'There's a lot of harassment. Sometimes the girls are forced to agree to go with the men. They would go to their houses with them. If she wants to keep her job, if she wants more money, she has to ... it's really heartbreaking to talk about. They are 17, 20, they go to college and they come to work because they need to earn some money to pay for their education. The women themselves said this is the only option they have. I witnessed this exploitation of young women in most settlements. 'I got blacklisted when I advised one of the girls not to go out with the Israeli business owner. I said: 'Why are you doing this, you are destroying these young women's lives and future?'. And the settler responded saying: 'I have a lot of bastards in [the Palestinian city of] Tulkarem'. He has the power, he has the money, he has the work opportunity that these young ladies need. 'If a woman got pregnant he would give her nothing. Sometimes they do abortions. If she's a widow, if she's divorced, she would definitely need to do an abortion because she would not survive the community. If their communities found out they could be killed, they would take it out on her because they can't do anything to the Israelis. 'Now, during this war, it has increased because there are no other options. I wouldn't do it, I would die out of hunger not to allow anyone to touch me because of my principles and my religion. 'We need protection, we need income opportunities, health insurance, so that we can quit this life.'
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Lip-Bu Tan, Intel CEO with Silicon Valley's toughest turnaround job
At the top of the to-do list for many American business leaders is a simple priority: placate Donald Trump. Anyone doubting the need to keep the CEO-in-Chief happy has just been served a stark reminder by Lip-Bu Tan, boss of chipmaker Intel. A week ago, Tan had the dubious distinction of being the most prominent American business executive whose head Trump has demanded on a plate. The presidential call for his resignation appeared to stem not from Intel's struggles and recent threat to abandon cutting-edge chip manufacturing, but from Tan's former existence as a prolific start-up investor in Chinese semiconductor companies. A hastily arranged meeting at the White House on Monday turned the tide. Trump declared Tan's rise 'an amazing story' and hinted mysteriously at 'proposals' from the company that would soon follow. Days later, it emerged that the US has discussed taking a stake in Intel in return for investing in one of its manufacturing plants. READ MORE If Tan has won over the deal-besotted president with a tempting transaction, it is a fitting sign of the times. While the White House experiments with a new form of capitalism-by-fiat, extreme political volatility has descended on the US chip industry. For Tan, a widely-respected industry veteran who landed in the top job at Intel in March, the drama has complicated what was already one of the toughest turnaround jobs in the history of Silicon Valley. 'Semiconductor leaders have had to pivot from being an industry that was under-appreciated, not understood ... to now being in the bullseye,' says Jodi Shelton, chief executive of the Global Semiconductor Alliance, an industry group. The political warning signs should have been obvious. Intel was the biggest beneficiary of the Biden administration's move to pour $39bn into reviving chip manufacturing in the US. Trump has chafed at those grants, though he has so far stopped short of killing them outright. Through Walden International, a US venture capital firm he started more than 40 years ago with just $3 million put up by family friends, Tan has played a significant role as a start-up investor in China's tech industry – investing in China's state-backed chip manufacturers SMIC and Biren Technology, as well as Sina, creator of Weibo, China's answer to X. Those deals made him a natural target for Washington's China hawks. US senator Tom Cotton wrote to Intel's chair last week asking if Tan had a 'conflict of interest'. Tan, who dismissed the queries as 'misinformation', appeared to lack the political antenna to recognise the seriousness of the threat. 'It's taken too long for him to get to Washington. He should have got there sooner,' says Daniel Newman, an analyst at The Futurum Group. That marks Tan out from his predecessor. Pat Gelsinger, who was pushed out late last year after losing the confidence of his company's board nearly four years into an attempted turnaround, worked Washington hard and positioned Intel as a national champion. On Gelsinger's watch (and with Tan on the board until last year) Intel made some headway. But it failed to meet his habitually upbeat predictions and was caught out by the surge in demand for Nvidia's AI chips. 'Intel are losing share in almost every category they're in,' says Ben Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies. Tan (65) is willing to challenge orthodoxy inside one of Silicon Valley's most hidebound cultures, bringing an investor's eye to an engineer-led company. His arrival has been welcomed both in the chip industry and on Wall Street (Intel's stock has risen by more than a fifth since his appointment), though he has taken on a position few envy. 'Intel is where good reputations go to die,' says Michael Marks, a veteran Silicon Valley executive who is partner in a venture capital firm with Tan. Tan has taken a circuitous route to the top of the US corporate world. Born in Malaysia, he obtained a degree in quantum physics in Singapore before moving to the US to study nuclear engineering. By his own account, he dropped out without completing his PhD at Massachusetts Institute of Technology after the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster and moved to Silicon Valley. He went on to build Walden, his VC firm, into a behemoth with $5 billion under management. That was followed by a surprise move in 2009 to become the head of Cadence, which sells software used to design chips. The role cemented Tan's relationships with many of the semiconductor industry's leading figures. In contrast to Gelsinger's optimistic rhetoric, Tan has emphasised the deep problems besetting Intel. According to a former colleague at Cadence, he is 'demanding but very fair, very clear'. Despite taking early action to slim Intel down, the company's finances are still under pressure. Nor has Tan ended uncertainty about its strategy. Last month, he threatened to drop its push into advanced manufacturing. With the future of the last US-headquartered manufacturer of cutting-edge chips in doubt, suspicions in Washington about Tan's role as longtime cheerleader for China's semiconductor industry have been harder to quell. Learning to play by the capital's new rules is now paramount. The fate of a struggling Silicon Valley icon depends on it. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Unwelcome car-hire experiences might prove enlightening for intending travellers
We have heard from a few readers who have encountered difficulties at car-hire desks around Europe over the course of the summer, and their experiences might save others from getting into trouble before they leave airports on foreign shores. First up there was James who got in touch in connection with an issue he encountered while renting a car at Pisa Airport. He was less than pleased when the company refused to accept his Bank of Ireland -issued credit card on the basis that his name and the numbers and expiry date were printed on the card, rather than embossed, as used to be the case with the cards. He notes that this restriction was explicitly stated in the terms and conditions, although he did not realise it ahead of time. READ MORE He was fortunate that he had another, older, embossed AIB card that he was able to use, but he 'witnessed two other Irish people at the desk who had no other option but to pay extra charges in order to leave with a rental car. [ Travel insurance and car hire for your holiday: An essential guide Opens in new window ] 'I have contacted Bank of Ireland, who said it had nothing to do with them, and said I should contact Mastercard. Mastercard says it's nothing to do with them and to contact the Bank of Ireland.' We contacted Bank of Ireland to see whether it was aware of the issue and was alerting customers to the issues they might have at car hire desks. Bank sources expressed surprise at this query as the situation appears to be out of line with broadly accepted rules and industry standards – which includes non-embossed cards and widespread acceptance of phone wallet payments. We contacted Bank of Ireland and received the following statement: 'We're sorry to hear that the customer had this experience when using their Bank of Ireland card at a car hire company in Italy. Mastercard scheme rules require that merchants accept all valid Mastercards. The rules emphasise non-discrimination of cards at point of sale. 'Merchants cannot refuse a Mastercard card solely based on appearance, including whether it is embossed or not. If the card is valid and the transaction can be authorised electronically, it should be accepted. These scheme rules apply across Europe including Italy. 'In Italy, rejecting a Mastercard solely because it isn't embossed is not compliant with scheme rules. Retailers must accept valid cards regardless of embossing. The only exemption is if the merchant was to solely rely on old manual imprint machines, which is unlikely to happen given that current industry standard includes non-embossed cards and widespread acceptance of phone wallet payments.' We then heard from Ronan, who booked a rental car in July for his family's summer holidays in Tuscany. 'The rental was for eight days and I booked it through . 'I paid €574 for the car and €116.42 for fully comprehensive insurance for the eight days,' he writes. 'I had previously booked a car with the same company – Drivalia – in Leeds Bradford and did not need a credit card. 'When we arrived at Florence train station to pick up the car, we were told that we would have to provide a credit card and a deposit of €500. Neither my wife nor I use a credit card. I used to have one, but done away with it (begone Satan) and all of that,' he writes. 'The guy told us that we couldn't have the car because the rental agreement states that we have to give a deposit of €500 on our credit cards,' he says. 'Then I realised that I had a virtual credit card on my banking app, but he wouldn't take it.' Ronan then offered a deposit of €500 on his debit card, which he said they could claim back if I returned the car in one piece. 'He refused. I had to pay an additional €100 insurance because I only had a debit card (I don't own a credit card). The extra was on top of the insurance I had already paid and it was non-refundable! — Reader Ellen 'Then, realising that we were going to be stranded, I offered to pay €500 extra for the car, as I knew this would be cheaper than having to book a rental car at short notice. All of this the guy refused. 'Luckily we went around the corner and a very kind man at Avis allowed us to book a car with the debit card, but it cost us €1,000 and we had to leave the car back to Florence,' he says. 'This cost us an additional €250 on train fares, as we had planned to deposit the car back at the airport in Rome, so we had to get a train from Florence to Rome and from Rome city centre to the airport. 'The question I'm pondering is this: why did Drivalia have a different policy at Leeds-Bradford to the one it had at Florence? Why do some car rental companies insist on a credit card when a debit card should suffice?' Then there was Ellen, who had an issue this summer in Crete with Europcar not accepting a debit card. [ Holiday car hire pitfalls to watch out for Opens in new window ] 'To be fair, it was partly my fault, as the email had said you need ID, credit card, etc, but I just assumed that meant credit/debit card as I have never encountered a situation where credit is the only option.' At least when it came to Ellen, the company were able to show a bit more flexibility. 'I had to pay an additional €100 insurance because I only had a debit card (I don't own a credit card). The extra was on top of the insurance I had already paid and it was non-refundable!' When it comes to Ronan's queries, we can't say for sure how the company goes about its business, although it is not uncommon for car-hire operators in different countries, even those trading under the same name, to have very different policies. Having said that, we struggle to see why it was unable to accept his virtual credit card. As to the second question, car-hire companies always prefer people to use credit cards for the very simple reason that it gives them more protection should something bad happen to their car while it is in your possession, and it is easier for them to get financial redress long after you have returned home – some might say it is far too easy. It is not uncommon for the damage done to a car to exceed the deposit paid, and car-hire companies also have to factor in things such as cars being returned with fuel tanks almost empty, in contravention of stated policies, as well as the potential for unpaid tolls, parking fines and other road traffic violations. If they have your debit card, they will take a set amount from your bank account and you need to have the funds to cover that cost in your current account on the day in question. With credit cards, however, they don't actually take the money, but freeze it up to a predetermined amount, with that amount unfrozen once the vehicle is returned and the account settled up. So on that level there should be no difference. But it is probably easier after the fact for car-hire companies to extract money from your credit card account – should further charges materialise – then it is to get it from your current account. They simply take the money and the credit card provider does the chasing when it comes to payment. It is also worth remembering that whether you use a debit or credit card, it must be in the name of the main driver. Offering them the card of a spouse or partner will carry no weight as there is no contract in place between an unnamed driver and the car hire company.
