Well, I am more or less ready for the off. My prepaid Mastercard is, I hope, sufficiently loaded for my car hire which is only costing $165.00 for one week. As a general rule, you CANNOT hire a car anywhere on the planet unless you book and pay for it with a credit card in the drivers name (i.e. you cant use a friend's card). If you can't get a regular credit card, most hire companies will accept a prepaid one but, as well as the hire charges, will take an authorisation/security deposit of around $500.00, which they re-credit to the card up to 30 days later. So, if you are using, a prepaid card, make sure you have enough money loaded when collecting the car. Apparently, some hire companies in the US - or which are US based - do accept debit cards but, if you book in advance online, you have to register and use a credit card.