The sun in St Thomas was shining on the sea and the white boats were lined up on the water. I walked out of the airport with my backpack and I was actually a bit nervous. Why was I nervous? I was traveling alone and I had just paid for the flight. I also paid for the hotel deposit. My credit card limit felt very tight and I still needed a car. So what could I do? I wished I could just pay a little first. When I checked online I saw QEEQ and I saw something called One-Dollar Freeze. It said I only needed to pay 1 dollar first to hold the car and the rest would be charged before the rental started with no interest. My first thought was is this real. My second thought was I must lock the car first. If my limit is not enough I cannot go anywhere. I chose Budget in St Thomas and I was fine with a small car like a Toyota Yaris. It was automatic with 2 doors and 5 seats and that was more than enough for just me. That day I looked at the price on the screen. I was counting how much limit was left on my card and I asked myself should I try this. If I only pay 1 dollar will there be some hidden fee. Will they ask me to pay a lot more at the counter. I still clicked confirm because I saw they said the rest would be charged before the start and there was no interest. For someone like me who cares about budget it felt friendly. After I booked I felt a bit unreal. How could I hold the car with just 1 dollar. I checked the confirmation email again and again because I was afraid I missed some tiny text. Time passed and soon it was mid March. I changed my plan a little and finally set my pick up around the evening of March 14 in St Thomas and drop off around noon on March 18. In these days I had a small question mark in my mind. The question was when they charge the rest will it make me feel sudden pressure. The answer was simple. When the charge came to my card my phone showed a message. I looked at the amount. It was the same price I saw before. There was no extra money and no strange fee. At that moment I felt okay so it really just held my booking first and it did not push my credit card too hard. On the pick up day I walked to the Budget counter with my backpack and suitcase. The staff asked if I already had a booking. I showed my confirmation and it went pretty smooth. He checked the car group and gave me a similar car. I was thinking that if I could not pay just 1 dollar at the start I might not dare to book so early. Maybe I would wait until right before the trip. Then the price might be higher and maybe no car was left. Now it was different. I had the car key in my hand and I knew this small car would go with me around the island for the next few days. On the return day March 18 close to noon I parked the car in the return area. The staff walked around the car and checked it. He said it was fine and I gave back the key and left. I stood at the side of the car park and I looked at the Yaris. I suddenly felt a bit funny. What was I really after. I just wanted to pay a little first so my heart could relax a bit. Because of One-Dollar Freeze I only paid 1 dollar when I booked. This number was so small that I had no fear and I could still hold the car. Later my trip became more clear and I prepared the money for the rest. Of course I still had to pay the full rental later but that was the price I already knew. It was not a surprise hit. For a solo traveler like me this payment way felt like cutting the stress into two smaller parts. The first part was do I dare to book the car early. With just 1 dollar I did. The second part was will the later charge be messy. From what I saw it was just a normal charge with nothing strange. When I think back to this trip the strongest picture in my mind is not me driving along the sea road. It is me staring at the words pay 1.00 on my screen and asking myself one question. It is only 1 dollar why are you still thinking. Then I clicked confirm. For someone like me with limited budget but who still wants to see more places this way of freezing 1 dollar first and charging later really made the pressure on my credit card much lighter.
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