TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Car rental questions

We have stayed in St Martin many times in the orient Bay Area. We have always rented from thrifty, with very good results. My husband went on Hotwire this morning and found Avis to be less expensive. We will be in St Martin next year for a month and that would amount to a decent savings. We find this board to be very helpful, and would appreciate any feedback on Avis. The website also said the car is picked up and dropped of at the airport. Also any information on insurance would be greatly appreciated
Thank you in advance

First question - was the Avis price from Hotwire on an actual Avis International site or was it Avis on St. Maarten/St. Martin? This can - not saying it will - make a big difference and the local agencies aren't ALWAYS known to honor the International website quotes, even when you arrive with quote in hand. Some of the local companies of the same name are not affiliated with the international big guys.

I understand fully about wanting to get the best available price, and particularly since you're talking a month as opposed to just a week or so. You might try your Thrifty island contact and see if they can match the price you got, particularly if you've dealt with them for a while and have established a repeat relationship, and another suggestion might be to contact Avis on the island just to be certain they will honor those prices. They may very well do so. We always find it much to our advantage to deal with a real person than with a website. And I would also suggest if you deal with someone via email, save and bring the copies with you.

Regarding insurances, your US liability will most likely NOT cover you on SXM and your personal umbrella probably won't either. I think most of us depend on our credit cards, many of which automatically include the collision damage waiver in their pricing but you need to check your cards to be sure of your coverage and you need to refuse the car rental's coverage for it to be effective.

I would also question airport pick up and drop off of cars but that's just me. There is a specific fee involved to park cars there I believe, and most companies don't do this but actually pick you and your belongings up and take you to their offices. Again, not saying Avis does or doesn't but if it matters to you that's another question to ask.

Thank goodness we have a local company that we've used for years and years and don't worry about these things but I keep reading sad stories both here and on TA about car rental company issues.

I agree with Pat's post. For a few years we went the gambit, Avis, Thrifty, Hertz until we read posts hear. Now we use one of the car rental sponsors listed here. There's a link TTOL Sponsors at top of this page.

Also they would need to check with their CC company about the length of time for the coverage on the collision as it may or may not be good for 30 days.

Thank you for your responses. I guess there is so much to know when it come to something out of the country. we have plenty of time to figure this out, we are going next Jan/Feb. This forum has been such a blessing as we have gotten lots of awesome tips.

Total means total.
Base rental of the kind of car selected + liability rate: $X per day ($5to $12 per day), Collision: usually covered by cc, tax, 10%?, How many drivers?
That is total!

As to insurance - rental companies provide liability waivers and CDW/LDW waivers - some like Hertz provide the liability waiver in the rate quoted - you can add on CDW/LDW or use your credit card for this - watch as some rental companies ask a deductible that can be steep for the collision (CDW/LDW) while credit cards cover 100%.

In January we rented an economy car for 3 weeks from Avis through a 3rd party called Argus. We had no problems and the price was good. We used the CDW provided by VISA.

I have a number of questions that never get satisfaction.
For example you are driving a rental car and commit an action which makes you negligent in most US States. Your passenger is killed or seriously injured. Can they or their heirs sue you back in NY or NJ or whereever you both lived at the time.Are the damages controlled by the SXM limits or those of the State with the most interest?