Cheapest car rental?

[Lorenzoid]

Actually, I started using Telerin because at the time, they were the only rental agency that accepted American Express, not because of any low cost perception.

In a post above it was said that Avis now accepts Amex, if you give them a $650 deposit (which I assume can be charged to the Amex and later disputed if necessary). Any other rental companies accept Amex on Bonaire?

. . .

A lot of people get the impression they are getting good service when they never have a problem. When you get bad service when there is a problem, the bad service was always there, you just didn’t get the opportunity to realize it.

And there lies the difficulty. We just don't have real statistics here. You had problems with your rental on two occasions in which you felt Telerin left you in the lurch, while I had a problem on one occasion and felt like Telerin responded right away. These are not statistics. But I do appreciate hearing about others' experiences. We can all draw what conclusions from them we wish. I don't have statistics, but I would not be at all surprised if the companies that charge more give better service, on average. I expect that.

 

[wwguy]

Multiple emails have gone unanswered

FWIW after reading your post above yesterday, and then thinking about my upcoming trip, I sent an email to Poppy reconfirming my reservation. She responded early this morning from the same hotmail email account she's been using for years.

I didn't ask about the other stuff that divezonescuba discussed. I plan to do that in person when I'm on the island.

In a post above it was said that Avis now accepts Amex, if you give them a $650 deposit (which I assume can be charged to the Amex and later disputed if necessary). Any other rental companies accept Amex on Bonaire?

Regarding the deposit: I'm surprised that Telerin doesn't do this too. Unlike CDW coverage offered by rental companies, the Amex insurance coverage is a contract between Amex's insurance company and the Amex cardholder. If you have an incident, file a claim, and are approved for payment of your claim, then Amex will reimburse the cardholder... not the rental company. In event of a claim, the car rental companies that allow their customers to use this type of policy are stuck waiting for money that's twice-removed from tourists who are no longer on the island. So I can't fault them for asking for a deposit to cover incidentals.

 

[DustyC]

FWIW after reading your post above yesterday, and then thinking about my upcoming trip, I sent an email to Poppy reconfirming my reservation. She responded early this morning from the same hotmail email account she's been using for years.

That's the one I've used every time I email her. I've tried from 2 different email addresses. Too late now, booked through AB.

 

[wwguy]

Just following up on the previous discussion above... both of our Telerin trucks are in good shape, have sequential license plate numbers, and are registered to Poppy per the registration papers in the glove box.

 

[DustyC]

Ended up renting the second vehicle from AB. An SUV, with auto transmission. The I'm stupid was shot, several warning lights. We returned it, all they had available was a truck with a manual transmission, so that's what we got.

An interesting aside, Avis doesn't have Hiluxes anymore, not that we could see anyway, so we were upgraded for free to a frontier with an auto, power everything, back up camera, etc. Even had big, meaty hankook tires, not the normal donut sized chinese crap you see on most trucks. It had less than 6k miles on it and served us well.

 

[PStrangerX]

Question - our flight home from Bonaire is an early 5am flight. Would that mean booking from Avis might be a better idea since we can drop it off right at the airport? Or should I stick to trying to rent a truck from AB Carrental? I just don't know how easy it would be to get to the airport that early by taxi.

 

[DustyC]

Question - our flight home from Bonaire is an early 5am flight. Would that mean booking from Avis might be a better idea since we can drop it off right at the airport? Or should I stick to trying to rent a truck from AB Carrental? I just don't know how easy it would be to get to the airport that early by taxi.

I honestly have no idea how early they run the shuttle. I just had a pretty good experience with Avis there. I don't know what their open hours are either. I know PB rental and Poppy at Telerin both do airport drop off as well, just leave it in the short term lot and fly away.

 

[PStrangerX]

Ahh, PB Rental is right at the airport. That should work unless anyone does not recommend them?

 

[DustyC]

I've used them without issue.
The only issue I've ever had with any rental company there is Telerin. She doesn't answer emails much of the time. But the people that have gotten through and set up rentals are generally pleased with her.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Telerin lets you pick up and drop off in the main parking lot right in front of the terminal. Just leave the truck and walk away.