www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Hello to all my CRT brothers! Thanks for sharing all your info and insuring we had a terrific 1st trip.

We are visiting Sept 9th for another surf trip and was hoping for some SUV rental recommendations. Is it better to reserve in advance or at the desk in SJO? Any good experiences? More importantly, any bad ones?

This will be an even more informed trip and very exciting.

Thanks in advance. Pura Vida!

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"Pura Vida"

www.carrentals.com reveals a few good deals by Costa Rica standards.

you can rent a Toyota Prado (exact same as a Lexus RX 430 SUV) through Thrifty rental car at the SJO Airport for about $370 for the week.

Same site has a Mitsubishi Montero for about $230 for the week through Economy Rental car.

If you have American Express you DO NOT need the insurance as it is included with your annual fee from Amex. If you do not have Amex rental cars in CR are very expensive.

For my first year living in Costa Rica I rented cars monthly from a couple of different companies and usually paid about $700 a month for a economy car. Prices through these web sites have really gotten better.

CRGolfer, you rule!! Thanks so much - this saves us over $350 from our last trip.

You're the man!!

CRT bros are the best!

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"Pura Vida"

DO NOT RENT A CAR FROM THE AIRPORT COUNTER

The company that manages the airport (Alterra) tacks a 10% surcharge on any car rental that is done at the airport counters. So either take a taxi or shuttle to one of the nearby lots or rent from downtown SJ when you're ready to leave for the coast (since having a rental car while in SJ is not worth the pain of driving, parking and daily cost relative to cabs).

Do you need to reserve in advance? Well, you will probably be able to find a car by just showing up considering that September is a non-peak travel month, but why not reserve ahead anyway? You know when you'll need your car and you're going to want to shop around for the best deal before you go, so why not just lock it in to make sure the agency with the best deal will have the vehicle you want?

Some people recommend that you only rent from affiliates of US based chains like Thrifty, Dollar, Alamo, Avis and Hertz, because that leaves you with a little more recourse if you wind up having problems. Of those, I'd recommend Thrifty or Dollar for having the best deals and service. Avis and Hertz tend to be pricier and Alamo is known for often having service issues. There are a few CR based companies that are pretty good too and they often have better pricing. Mapache is one that comes to mind. One other outfit that advertises on carrental.com with low prices and a bad reputation for service is U-Save but I'm not sure where they are based.

Rental cars in CR are NOT very expensive if you don't have an Amex card. The type of card you use does NOT effect the rates they charge you. The only thing you're choice of credit card will effect is whether your insurance will picked up by your credit card company or whether you'll need to buy that on your own. And Amex is NOT the only credit card company that covers insurance of rental cars. A gold Mastercard will probably cover it too, but you'll need to check to confirm the conditions for your particular bank.

Thanks for the post re suv rentals. I appreciate this info.

I've reserved one on the phone w/Dollar (no credit card) and have a confirmation #. Will I be subject to the 10%? Last trip I think it was Payless or maybe even Dollar and they shuttled us out to another location. Have I done this wisely? I certainly want to spend as little as possible. Thoughts?

Again, thanks. G2U

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"Pura Vida"

Got this coupon in my email today.... worth comparing.

10% off of weekly rentals through Avis, here is a link to use the coupon

http://www.avis.com/car-rental/reservat ... ON=TUWA045

There are 2 types of insurance that is needed when renting in CR. One is CDW (collision damage waiver) and SLI (supplemental liability insur). CDW is covered by most credit cards. My Citibank AA MasterCard covers it. SLI is not covered by CC's. You must pay for this coverage unless you can provide written proof that your home auto insurance covers your rental specifically in Costa Rica. Most US insurers do not. SLI costs anywhere from $6-25/day, depending on car class and rental company.

Prolijo is right about them adding an "airport tax" whenever you rent from the airport counter. But it's 12%, not 10. They still take you to the rental location in Hamptonn Inn, just outside the airport. You can take a taxi from the airport for ¢1000 and save on the tax. This is especially good if you are renting for more than a couple of days.

You can also rent from downtown locations, but you usually have to renturn the car downtown, and then still have to taxi to the airport. Some allow airport drop-offs (even if you rented downtown) for $50-100 drop off fee.

I find that the local companies (Toyota, Ace) offer better rates than the big US companies (Hertz, Dollar). This past week, I rented a Terios BeGo (small SUV) for $40/day +$10 for SLI from Ace (which is really Toyota Rent-a-car). I only needed the car for 2 days, but they have a weekly rate. It's $240/wk + $10/day for SLI, $310 total for a Daihatsu Terios BeGo. A RAV4 will cost $288 + $12/day for SLI, $372 total.

One thing to remember about the car rental websites is that the quotes do NOT usually include SLI. It can be as much as $25/day, depending on the size of the car and the rental company. Economy adds $20 SLI for SUV's. So that $240 quote turns into $380.