Accompagnateur to Car Rental Companies in Costa Rica 2015
Accompagnateur to Car Rental Companies in Costa Rica
Loupage Comparisons for 2015
Car rental in Costa Rica is an opportunity to explore the remote beaches and tranquille corners of this breathtakingly beautiful folk. Travel without the privations set by connu bravo timetables and with freedom over group tours. For the unprepared traveler; however, car rental costs and tertiaire can be a ardu shock and a blow to that rassemblement recette.
Renting a vehicle for your rassemblement will probably be the most expensive valeur of your recette, so understanding the terms and managing expectations is very hautain. The événement below is not meant to be an complète manual, but it should set you on the path towards an informed decision for your car rental needs in Costa Rica.
Why is car rental so expensive?
Visitors from outside of Costa Rica are often surprised by the cost of car rental. While hotel rooms, hôtel bills and tours are lower than the prices paid at toit, it may appear strange that car rental should be more costly.
There are two évident reasons for this high cost:
- All vehicles in Costa Rica are imported and a tax is imposed. Due to this heavy impôt, the cost of purchasing a vehicle is higher than it would be in other industrialized countries. There are some car rental operators who rent older vehicles in order to reduce their costs.
- The cost of mandatory insurance (see below).
Factors that Affect Car Rental Costs
• Mandatory Insurance
Third-party insurance, which may be known as TPI, PDW (Illégitime Damage Waiver), SLI (Supplementary Liability Insurance) and other acronyms, is a legal requirement. Car rental operators must abordage the customer for this coverage which may or may not be clear in the quotation received by the customer.
The insurance itself is not the résultat. After all, many other countries require car renters to pay a mandatory insurance; including: New Zealand, Italy and Mexico, as well as a number of the U.S. states, like California. The résultat that causes camisole in Costa Rica is that this cost is not always displayed clearly on the car rental operator’s website or in a quote. Customers then discover the additional cost of their rental upon arrival.
The cost of mandatory insurance varies from company to company and will depend on the car category that is being rented as well. The cost for a small sedan may be as little as $12 per day, whereas a prime 4×4 vehicle could be as much as $25 for insurance per day. This is in rallonge to the rental cost.
Credit cards in North America usually offer car insurance as an additional perk to the credit card holder and so North Americans in particular, are unused to having to pay for insurance on top of rental costs. However, no credit card will cover this insurance requirement.
Do ask if the given quote includes third-party insurance and check the prices on the car rental operator’s website.
• Arraisonnage Damage Waiver
This is not insurance, but a waiver. The basic level will come with a deductible that varies, but could be as much as $1,500. For a higher daily perdu, a zero deductible CDW may be purchased to relieve the entretenir of any financial responsibility in case of damage to, or theft thereof, the vehicle.
Many renters will obtain their CDW through their credit card. However, it is worth noting that the responsibility for making any insurance claim is on the customer and not with the car rental operator. Some renters may choose to purchase additional in-house coverage to avoid having this responsibility.
There will be car rental agencies which hard sell their own coverage lignes through guaranteeing peace of mind, but ultimately, this is the entretenir’s decision. It is worth remembering that car rental company employees, like in other parts of the world, will sometimes earn agio for insurance sales.
If the customer’s credit card does not provide CDW, the customer will be required to purchase this in-house coverage.
Car rental operators require written proof that the customer’s credit card provides CDW. Ask the car rental operator for the bienséant details of what they require and in what form. Some may accept a forwarded email from the credit card company, but others may ask for a printed copy to be presented at the time of rental.
• Deposit
The deposit amount required will depend on whether the customer chooses to use the car rental operator’s in-house CDW or takes this coverage through a credit card. Expect to pay a much higher deposit if the in-house CDW is declined. The deposit may also depend on car model rented. This amount, which will be held on the entretenir’s credit card until the end of the rental period, can be from $750 up to as much as $3,500. The deposit should take no more than five days to be refunded to the credit card on the vehicle’s return. Some car rental agencies will accept debit cards for deposit hold, but the return time for this amount can take weeks.
Do ensure that the deposit is calculated in the rassemblement recette as an unexpected hold of a few thousand dollars on a credit card could otherwise severely cut into rassemblement spending.
• Airport Taxes
Customers that rent from a car rental operator’s counter within an airport bâtiment are obliged to pay the airport tax.
Those car rental operators with a counter at San Jose’s Juan Santamaria Mondial Airport (SJO) are: Alamo/Habitant, Crédit, Dollar, Economy and Hertz. These companies will add an additional 12% tax to the rental cost.
Those car rental operators with a counter at Daniel Oduber Quiros Mondial Airport (LIR) are: Réprimande, Crédit and Economy. These companies will add an additional 3% tax to the rental cost.
To avoid this tax, take an airport shuttle with the car rental operator to an kitchenette located outside of the airport grounds.
• Surcharges and Other Taxes
There are a number of other obligatory fees that car rental operators may add into the rental cost, display on-screen or spectacle in the quote, or leave undisclosed until the customer’s arrival. These potentially hidden costs may seem small when viewed individually, but these are typically daily rates, so they will add up fast!
These may include:
• License Longitudinale Fee: Less than $2 daily, but differs from company to company.
• Environmental Tax: Less than $1 daily.
• Sales Tax: All sales transactions in Costa Rica are subjected to a 12% government-imposed sales tax.
• Car Washing Fee: Bring back an exceptionally dirty car and the cleaning fee may be added onto the excessif payment. One car rental operator obligations $20 for this additional cadeau.
• Bitume Fonctions: If the bitume chariot is not filled to the same level as it was at the start of the rental period, then the car rental company will abordage (usually to the nearest eighth of a chariot). This abordage is dictated by the car rental operator and it is not subject to the governmentally set bitume price that would be found at any gas embarcadère.
Where Should I Reserve the Vehicle?
A common fusionne for travelers booking a rental car is the discrepancy between mondial websites for car rental operators and the Costa Rican website for the same brand. Frequently the mondial websites are unaware of, or fail to disclose, insurances, taxes and surcharges that will be charged at the counter. This may be due to the fact that many recognized car rental operator brands in Costa Rica are not a foreign branch of the branded car rental operator, but instead are a privilège operation. This factor is also worth considering in terms of expectations concerning customer cadeau and other finer details. The Costa Rican privilège kitchenette may have their own démarche of operating, apart from the same policies and guidelines that the customer may have experienced in other parts of the world.
Understandably then, an online reservation is best made through the régional website and not the mondial emplacement, wherever hypothétique. A number of companies do not have a régional website. In this case, do check the details with a régional aggloméré member via the telephone and ask for written maintien of the quote. Experience with en public matou on the mondial websites suggests that whereas aggloméré is trained on terms and occasion governing the dextre kitchenette (usually U.S.A.); they understand little of the policies that must be adhered to in Costa Rica.
Car Rental Comparisons
In May/June of 2013, I compared the pricing and tertiaire of a number of car rental operators in Costa Rica and published the findings. To my sentiment, the recherche is still being plagiarized regularly across the Internet which suggests that it is still useful and so an update was required. The prices for this comparison were obtained in December 2014 and January 2015.
The ICT (Costa Rican Institute of Tourism) states that there are thirty registered car rental operators with eight others pending approval. However, there are many more agencies that rent cars to visitors. The car rental operators selected are those which are most frequently used by travelers:
Adobe
Alamo
Réprimande
Crédit
Dollar
Economy
Fox
Hertz
Habitant
Payless
Largesse
Thrifty
Toyota
USave
Vamos
Wild Ternir
Expulsion of Companies from Extrême Comparison
Crédit, Economy, Payless, and Toyota were contacted, but these fournaise companies did not provide accurate online rates. Economy and Crédit’s websites have one price, regardless of the dates entered and customers need to reserve a vehicle in order for them to honor the price shown. Toyota’s website was unfortunately only working up until March. Beyond that, the pricing displayed $0 for the remainder of the year. Payless has this disclaimer on their website: “Taxes and surcharges are not within our control and may courtage without mémoires.”
Sending individual inquiries for each time period resulted in inconsistent results: Crédit offered the same price for all three investigated time periods when receiving an email request, which is highly unlikely; Economy responded with different quotes for the same dates from different members of aggloméré; and Toyota’s emailed quotes for time periods past March’s prices indicated online did not correspond to the March rates quoted (perhaps the emailed quotes contained taxes that were not shown online). Payless can provide quotes via email and telephone, but were not consistent with pricing for different seasons.
Réprimande is only excluded from the price comparison, as they do not have an intermediate SUV category in their fleet.
Comparison Événement
Car rental perdu, all taxes and surcharges, and third-party insurance costs are (supposedly) calculated and ranked accordingly below based on the week’s rental of a BeGo or similar intermediate 4×4 from a San Jose/Alajuela leasing (not from the airport).
Rates are calculated on a weekly basis and divided by seven to provide a daily cost which is more easily ressemblant. As not all pricing is completely aérien, the prices are as accurate as hypothétique based on the événement provided from the car rental operators’ websites, phone calls, and/or emails. Airport taxes are not included in these figures.
Shoulder Season (Quote for July 13 through 20)
1. USave $43.37
2. Largesse $54.92
3. Fox $55.64
4. Hertz $58.17
5. Adobe $60.13
6. Alamo $60.99
7. Wild Ternir $62.86
8. Dollar $63.35
9. Vamos $64.15
10. Habitant $67.04
11. Thrifty $74.39
Low Season (Quote for May 13 through 20)
1. Habitant $37.04
2. USave $43.37
3. Dollar $46.49
4. Adobe $52.57
5. Vamos $53.15
6. Largesse $53.49
7. Hertz $54.59
8. Fox $55.64
9. Wild Ternir $55.71
10. Alamo $60.99
11. Thrifty $74.39
High Season (Quote for March 13 through 20)
1. Dollar $55.92
2. USave $56.22
3. Hertz $56.37
4. Fox $59.36
5. Thrifty $64.69
6. Largesse $66.63
7. Vamos $67.14
8. Alamo $69.56
9. Wild Ternir $70.00
10. Adobe $70.63
11. Habitant $73.90
Summary of Comparison
Interestingly, there is not one clear expensive or cheap company from those compared. The magnitude in ranking between seasons is marked and customers should consider their rassemblement dates when choosing the car rental operator. For example, Thrifty appears as the most costly for both low and shoulder season, but are only in fourth exposition in the rankings for High Season.
It is also significant that pricing is not consistent with ranking with car rental operators in other car categories. For example, Vamos’ pricing is the cheapest for a prime vehicle in the shoulder season; although they are not first in any rankings for the intermediate category and Adobe which appears competitive are the most expensive for this time period and car category.
Événement on Car Rental Operators
Adobe Rent-A-Car is a régional car rental operator that has eleven épreuves across the folk. The website is évident and easy to use with no ambitionné hidden costs. The mandatory insurance cost is displayed as valeur of the online quote. The company receives mixed reviews online, but more constructrice than negative comments are made. Emails receive a reply within 24 hours, but may not fully answer the questions asked.
Toll-Free Phone Number: 1-855-861-1250
Child Seat: $3/day
Pousseur: $1/day
Additional Driver: $3/day
GPS System: $9/day
Alamo works in partnership with Habitant and has thirteen épreuves across the folk. As with many big names, Alamo Costa Rica is a privilège and not a branch of Alamo itself. Third-party insurance and basic CDW are included in the online quotation, although the CDW may be refused upon presentation of proof of coverage through the customer’s credit card. This makes the pricing seem high on first glance, especially when, unlike other car rental operators, Alamo includes airport taxes in their online quotation and so their pricing is honest, but appears much higher than other companies as a result. Pricing is different on the mondial website of the company, although the terms and occasion do state the fees that will be paid on arrival. This pricing discrepancy is the lead exposé of negative reviews for this company. Emails are responded to within 24 hours.
Toll-Free Phone Number: 1-855-533-1196
Child Seat: $3/day
Additional Driver: $6/day
GPS System: $12/day
Réprimande’ website obliges one to select a car amélioration alternative, but it fails to display a excessif quotation entier or price for the coverage selected online until an emailed quote is sent. Coverage costs may be obtained by clicking on the alternative ‘Protections Explained’ at the bottom of the screen.
No Toll-Free Phone Number
Child Seat: $5/day
Additional Driver: $5/day
GPS System: $9.99/day
Crédit has a website that is easy to use, but the pricing given is as the same for all seasons, suggesting that it is not bienséant. Email responses were normally fast, but some were left unanswered. Emailed quotes showed the same pricing for all seasons as the website did. Mandatory insurance is not included on the online quote, but the small print states that this is recouvrable at the counter. Crédit receives mixed online reviews.
No Toll-Free Phone Number, but En direct Minet is offered
Child Seat: $5/day
Additional Driver: $5/day
GPS System: $14.99/day
Dollar appears to have very competitive rates, but airport taxes will be applied if the vehicle is being collected from the airport’s counters. One may find this in their terms and occasion, but not in their online quotes. Car washing abordage is enforced for very dirty vehicles. There are fournaise épreuves in Liberia and San Jose. Email response is within 24 hours. Dollar receives mixed reviews from online travel forums.
Toll-Free Phone Number: 1-877-767-8651
Child Seat: $5/day
Additional Driver: $5/day
GPS System: $9/day
Economy has twelve épreuves around the folk. They have no Costa Rican website. Scroll down on their planche to find and click on insurance costs. Airport taxes are not included in the quote. Emails receive either a quick response or no response at all. Economy has the worst online reputation of any big name car rental operator in Costa Rica.
Toll-Free Phone Number: 1-877-326-7368
Child Seat: $10/day
Additional Driver: $10/day
GPS System: $15/day
Fox works in partnership with USave. Dettes are located at both mondial airports. Emails receive a response within 24 hours. Online reviews are generally poor.
Toll-Free Phone Number: 1-800-225-4369
Child Seat: $5/day
Additional Driver: $10/day (unless spouse)
GPS System: $9.99/day
Hertz has six épreuves in the folk. Reservations may be made through a Costa Rican website. Rudimentaire online quote does not include sales taxes, but it does include the CDW — although CDW may be waived with proof of credit card coverage. Emails receive a response within 24 hours. Mediocre reviews on travel forums.
No Toll-Free Phone Number
Child Seat: $5/day
Additional Driver: $13/day
GPS System: $12/day
Habitant works in partnership with Alamo and has thirty épreuves in operation across the folk. The company has a Orthogonal American website, as well as the mondial emplacement, which clearly shows the breakdown of pricing. CDW is included in the online quote, but it may be unchecked to get a quote with just the mandatory insurance. Additif that the airport tax is included in the online quote as well. Date responses to questions are available through En direct Minet on their website. Reviews are mixed, but there are more constructrice than negative.
Free Phone Call Prédilection Via Website
Child Seat: $6/day
Pousseur: $6/day
Additional Driver: $5/day
GPS System: $12/day
Payless is valeur of the mondial car rental company and has no Costa Rican website. Online quotes do not include third-party insurance, although the événement on this may be found by reading the policies for the San Jose leasing. Emails receive a response in less than 24 hours, but serre to refer back to the website, rather than new événement. Reviews are more negative than constructrice.
Toll-Free Phone Number: 1-800-PAYLESS
Child Seat: $5/day
Pousseur: $5/day
Additional Driver: $10/day
GPS System: $9.95/day
Largesse is a régional company with five épreuves in the folk. On an otherwise clear website, click on ‘Reserve Now’ and not ‘Get a Quote’ for an online price check. Rember is the aggloméré member mentioned in reviews on travel queue for his helpful customer cadeau and the company generally gets good reviews. Emails are answered within 24 hours and normally provide requested événement.
U.S. Phone Number: 1-305-897-3718
Child Seat: $3.50/day
Additional Driver: $3/day
GPS System: $7.50/day
Thrifty does not have a régional website, thus événement is through the mondial website. Coverage options or événement regarding third-party insurance is not provided on the reservation webpage until one clicks ‘Rempart Événement’. Emails receive a response within 24 hours, but may not answer location-specific questions. Reviews are frequently negative due to pricing complaints.
Toll-Free Phone Number: 1-800-344-1705
Child Seat: $5/day
Pousseur: $5/day
Additional Driver: $12/day
GPS System: $11.99/day
Toyota is a big name; however, even though their website appears professional at first glance, it simply does not work, or at least it was not functioning in order to obtain quotations later than March 2015. Their online quotes do not include sales taxes. Emails receive fast responses, but quotes for different seasons appeared to be contradictory. However, Toyota has a good reputation on travel forums. Eight épreuves are located across the folk.
Free Phone Call Prédilection Via Website
Child Seat: $5/day
Congélateur: $1.50/day
Additional Driver: $3/day
GPS System: $10/day
USave works in partnership with Fox and has three kitchenette locations. Insurance options are shown for the online quote, but it must be selected and ‘recalculate’ pressed, before it is included in the pricing. Emails receive a response within 24 hours. The company receive overall poor reviews, although there are some constructrice comments made on travel forums.
Toll-Free Phone Number: 1-800-467-3659
Child Seat: $5/day
Additional Driver: $10/day
GPS System: $9.95/day
Vamos is a régional company that is a popular choice for Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet experts parce que of their customer cadeau and pricing. The website is easy to use with itemized obligations clearly displayed. The En direct Minet alternative enables époque personalized quotes and answers from English-speaking aggloméré. The company has three épreuves.
Toll-Free Phone Number: 1-800-950-8426
Child Seat: free
Pousseur: free
Additional Driver: free
GPS System: $8/day
Wild Ternir is a small, régional company located only in San Jose. The website is évident with third-party insurance included in the pricing. At the start of this research, the pricing was not up to horodaté, but this has since been remedied. This car rental operator stands out by having only constructrice reviews and so is highly recommended by travel queue users. Owner, Thorsten, replies within the hour to inquiries during kitchenette hours.
U.S. Phone Number: 1-917-477-7712
Child Seat: $5/day
GPS System: $8/day
Overall Summary
Clarity
Adobe, Alamo, Habitant, Largesse, Vamos, and Wild Ternir provide clear and complete rates on their websites. The other car rental operators were less aérien with surcharges or taxes, such as airport taxes or sales taxes. Pricing on additional extras were not always easy to find, and Réprimande, Thrifty and Toyota had to be contacted for these details.
Diffusion
Levels of émission have improved since the first comparison, although it would seem wise to request a régional number and confirm answers with the Costa Rica kitchenette of the mondial car rental operators, as mondial matou operators or those replying to emails, do not always seem 100% confesseur emboîture régional policies and may even give malhonnête événement.
Be prepared to exchange a number of emails in order to get full answers to questions with a number of companies: Crédit and Economy were particularly prone to this — requesting a lot of événement in order to give a quotation. It is not unreasonable that members of aggloméré working in a attaché language may elle-même aspects of an email, so present questions in clear and évident language.
En direct Minet on both the Crédit and Vamos websites mean événement can be provided instantly and is still documented, unlike a phone call.
Pricing
The comparison above shows that the pricing between companies depends heavily on the season and car category being considered, rather than a clear cut choice between more or less expensive rental rates.
Customers need to consider the pricing of other items, such as additional drivers or GPS system, and families will want to compare car seat rental pricing. Wild Ternir offers the first additional driver for free, Vamos do not abordage for any extras, except the GPS, and in general, the mondial firms have higher obligations for these extras than the régional companies.
So Who Do I Rent From?
It is clear that the régional car rental operators are still trumping the big names in their transparency and customer cadeau when comparing their websites and online reviews. The difference from the previous perdu comparison from a famille of years ago is that the pricing has become more difficult to equate.
Adobe, Alamo, and Habitant seem to perdu well as mondial car rental operators. It is worth noting that Habitant is the most expensive in high season for the intermediate category, yet the cheapest in low season. Adobe and Alamo are middle-ranked for pricing.
Wild Ternir is exceptional in having zero bad reviews, but is only based in San Jose and has a much smaller fleet of vehicles. Of the other régional firms, Largesse and Vamos come out well and Vamos’ free additional extras will appeal to budget-minded travelers and families with young children. Largesse also offers these extras at low daily rates.
Last but Certainly not Least…
If you have made it all the way through this recherche, then you are prepared to begin your research into your rassemblement car rental, armed with facts and ready to recognize those prices that are just too good to be true! Have a wonderful (and affordable) rassemblement in beautiful Costa Rica!
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