To rent a car, you’ll need to use a credit card with enough available credit to cover the rental car company’s authorization charge in addition to the total cost of your rental car. Typically, rental car companies will place a hold on your credit card to cover any additional charges that might come up with your rental. These funds become unavailable to you during your rental and are released when you return the car. The charge varies by rental company: Hertz charges $200 on your card, while Enterprise charges a deposit that varies by location.