Car Rental Advice in Costa Rica
Hi Everyone,
I've searched this forum, but couldn't find anything recent on this topic. Leaving Friday for Costa Rica. Just noticed that Avis wants a $2,000 deposit for my rental car in Costa Rica! I don't mind a couple hundred dollars, but a couple thousand to me seems a bit outrageous. My primary insurance covers my car and I rent with AMEX and get the AMEX coverage, which also acts as primary. Anyone have any RECENT experience renting a car in Costa Rica and not paying an egregious deposit? I don't mind a couple hundred dollars, which is pretty standard. Any suggestions on other rental agenices? Appreciate any advice here! Thanks a bunch! Drew |
Deposit amounts vary, but $2,000 is common. I've never heard of any figure less than $1,000.
On the topic of insurance, you must purchase Costa Rican liability insurance. Neither your back-home insurance nor your credit cards will cover that. It's required by law, and that's just the way it is. Of course, that's coverage for any damage the renter might cause to other people, vehicles, or property. It doesn't cover any damage to your rental vehicle itself. For the rest of the coverage, your credit card should suffice, but it needs to be very clear to the rental office what your card does cover. If not, you'll be forced to purchase more local insurance when you pick up the vehicle. Having covered tourism in Costa Rica for 25 years now, I'd say this topic is the biggest source of complaint and frustration among visitors. Rental costs frequently end up higher than anticipated, and it leaves a bad taste in the visitor's mouth. There's no one standard for the way companies have to display their prices, and customers can be surprised at the price when they pick up the car. Get through that stage, and have a great trip. |
Depending on where you plan to go, when you see some of the roads and driving conditions, you'll want to have the best insurance coverage possible, whether it's local or foreign insurance. Look at the policy carefully. You will not be allowed to ford a stream, for example. The insurance would be invalidated if you do something like that and cause damage to the car. (Not that you'll have to ford a stream, but I know of stories where it's happened to drivers in remote areas.)
|
Thanks for the advice. I found a place that has reasonable rates for the week and the insurance costs are not too high. I have the premium AMEX coverage, so that will save about $250. From what I saw, U-Save deposits run from $500-1500 and I'm hoping that with all the coverages, it'll be on the lower end of that. I have rented cars all over the world and have never seen such egregious deposits anywhere. I'm prepared to pay for the insurance through the rental car agency if it saves $1,000 in a deposit.
At the TLV airport, they try to scam you with a ton of 'required' extras, and act like they are doing you a favor, so I always head into town and rent from there...saves literally a few hundred dollars. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case here. We are heading to La Fortuna straight from the airport...don't anticipate any stream crossings, but got a 4WD in case of rain and poor road conditions. Thanks again. |
Originally Posted by divrdrew
(Post 34477967)
so I always head into town and rent from there...saves literally a few hundred dollars. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case here.
The agent who checks you in at pick-up at the rental place will walk around the vehicle and make note of any scratches or anything out of the ordinary. Walk with him or her, and if you notice something they don't, make sure it gets noted on the rental form. When you return the vehicle, they will do another inspection. You want it to match exactly to the form they filled out when you took the vehicle. Have a good time! |
Thanks...sounds similar to other places I've rented from. Would be nice if they standardized the charges up front so you knew exactly what you are charged for and what's required up front.
|
I used Adobe, negotiated rates, low deposits, and other freebies. I paid $700 for 15 days of use and got a 4WD Mitsubishi ASX SUV.
Great experience, best price and was accessible. |
Wound up going with U-Save. Total cost for the week with all insurance options on a compact 4WD SUV was $517 and the deposit dropped down to $500. Very friendly and helpful people. Got a ticket on the way back for following Google Maps and doing an illegal left turn which it told me to do. Total scam...cops were there just pulling people over. U-Save didn't charge extra...just the cost of the ticket. Overall, a great experience and just a few blocks from the airport! Will rent again from them when I go back.
|
Three questions:
1) Anybody have experience with National/Enterprise using corporate rates? My employer's corporate rate is FAR cheaper than the retail rates and my reservation on National's website says that Third Party Liability and Collision Damage Waiver and Theft Protection are included in the rate. Will I have any problems with attempted upcharges when I pick up the car at SJO or is the rate I see on the website what I'll actually pay? I note that going through the Costa Rica site (natcar.com) as opposed to the US/global site (nationalcar.com) provides more granular options regarding insurance (it offers optional roadside assistance, $0 deductible and "maximum coverage" options in addition to the mandatory SLC or LDW/SLC options), but doesn't seem to let me use my corporate rate. I'm guessing they'll try to sell me on those. Is roadside assistance worthwhile if we're going to do a fair bit of driving in relatively remote areas? 2) We're spending our first night at an AirBnb in the middle of San Jose and then driving to Uvita and on to Osa. The AirBnb supposedly has secure parking. Am I better off renting at SJO on arrival (which will be pretty late--our flight doesn't land until 9:30pm) and parking overnight at the AirBnb, or taking a taxi/uber to the AirBnb and renting a car in the city in the morning? It looks like there's a National office pretty close to the Airbnb. Any big inventory advantage at the airport vs the city location? I want to make sure we have a decent SUV that will fit our family and work well on the Osa roads. 3) How well do Google Maps and Waze work in Costa Rica? We'll have international data on our phones and I'm familiar with downloading offline Google Maps for more remote areas. I also have an old Garmin GPS unit that I could load CR maps onto. Is it worth bringing the Garmin as a backup? Given that it seems many Costa Rica places don't have street addresses like in the US, how do I enter location info into the Garmin? Aside from that first day in San Jose, most of our driving is going to be on roads where there aren't many opportunities to turn, but it's awfully nice to be able to see on a screen where a turn is coming up (and to know how much farther it is). |
Can't answer the first two, but for GPS, worked great, which is important since there are not a lot of street signs around many of the towns. I used my Verizon phone and paid about $10 / day for service. Coverage only blanked out a couple times, but came back pretty quickly - very windy mountainous roads. For us to find our airbnb, the host sent us a google map location which worked perfectly. That was how we got around. Found the place in google maps, then got directions. Worked every time. Very easy! I can't imagine what it was like there before GPS lol!
Have a great trip! |
Great service
At first I thank you all for the recovery of my mobile hand set Samsung Note 8. I also take this opportunity to convey my heartiest Regards for the outstanding efforts contributed by Team Go First, specially Mr Bill in particular, who performed his duty with utmost dedication and commitment and showed true colors of services.
To recall the instance in brief: On 19th August, 2022, I was on business travel. While leaving the airport lounge to board my flight I missed to collect my Samsung Note 8 from my sitting place at lounge. I realized this during my flight and subsequently lodged complain id C888.436.0851 at airport while informing the authorities. Then, in due course, I was confirmed that my handset was safe with the lost and found section of Airport authority. Finally, I received my handset last week. The whole process support was very well executed. My congratulations and all the best wishes. |
Back from my trip and can now answer my own questions.
Originally Posted by themicah
(Post 34599423)
1) Anybody have experience with National/Enterprise using corporate rates? My employer's corporate rate is FAR cheaper than the retail rates and my reservation on National's website says that Third Party Liability and Collision Damage Waiver and Theft Protection are included in the rate. Will I have any problems with attempted upcharges when I pick up the car at SJO or is the rate I see on the website what I'll actually pay?
I note that going through the Costa Rica site (natcar.com) as opposed to the US/global site (nationalcar.com) provides more granular options regarding insurance (it offers optional roadside assistance, $0 deductible and "maximum coverage" options in addition to the mandatory SLC or LDW/SLC options), but doesn't seem to let me use my corporate rate. I'm guessing they'll try to sell me on those. Is roadside assistance worthwhile if we're going to do a fair bit of driving in relatively remote areas? FYI National/Enterprise/Alamo all share the same location and shuttle vans (and probably the same cars, too). They have three separate counters at both the airport and the rental facility, but customers of all three brands were being served from the Enterprise counter at both locations when we arrived. We're spending our first night at an AirBnb in the middle of San Jose and then driving to Uvita and on to Osa. The AirBnb supposedly has secure parking. Am I better off renting at SJO on arrival (which will be pretty late--our flight doesn't land until 9:30pm) and parking overnight at the AirBnb, or taking a taxi/uber to the AirBnb and renting a car in the city in the morning? It looks like there's a National office pretty close to the Airbnb. Any big inventory advantage at the airport vs the city location? I want to make sure we have a decent SUV that will fit our family and work well on the Osa roads. How well do Google Maps and Waze work in Costa Rica? We'll have international data on our phones and I'm familiar with downloading offline Google Maps for more remote areas. I also have an old Garmin GPS unit that I could load CR maps onto. Is it worth bringing the Garmin as a backup? Given that it seems many Costa Rica places don't have street addresses like in the US, how do I enter location info into the Garmin? Aside from that first day in San Jose, most of our driving is going to be on roads where there aren't many opportunities to turn, but it's awfully nice to be able to see on a screen where a turn is coming up (and to know how much farther it is). |
Originally Posted by themicah
(Post 35049018)
Google Maps and Waze worked great. .
|
So I’ve done a ton of research on this topic. We’re going to LIR next month. Essentially just use the Costa Rican car rental company Adobe Rent-a-Car. Forget about your status with international car rental companies because it will count for nothing in CR.
See these 3 articles, the last two have links to get discounts with Adobe, but MyTanFeet seems to have a better discount: https://costa-rica-guide.com/travel/...car-insurance/ https://www.twoweeksincostarica.com/...ing-confusion/ https://mytanfeet.com/special-deals/...ar-costa-rica/ |
Does anyone have any experience with European car reservations in Costa Rica?
The reason that I'm asking is that in Europe, most people don't have insurance included with their credit cards, so car rental reservations made via European web sites always include mandatory insurance. E.g. if I search for cars for one week, 1-8 May, with Expedia.com, I get rates starting from USD 26. But on Expedia.se, the cheapest rates for the same dates are SEK 2030, which is about USD 196. And Expedia.se says that the price includes CDW and theft protection with a USD 1,000 deductible. So, the question is whether I'll face the same shenanigans as visitors from the USA will do, with a prepaid booking with insurance made via a European web site? |
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:11 am. |
This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.