Possible warning re "Curacao Now"

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Last year the terms and conditions of the promotion were vague and difficult to follow. Usually the checks would arrive months later, and I had clients whose checks arrived and then bounced. This year working either directly with one of the tour operators listed or your a travel agent booking with one of the tour operators list here Curacao NOW | Great Deals for your trip to the Caribbean Island of Curacao you will know for sure whether or not you are getting the discount before booking, with no long wait.

Curacao Underwater photos
 
Hi there, I find that booking your package through us makes it easier for our clients. We quote the air, book the hotel and diving, and discount the $200.00 per person right of the total package, no waiting to get money back or having to mail coupons in. Car rental, yes is an issue, so far, difficult to get responses from the Island. Remember guys! March 15th is the deadline!! Hurry... Joe at Maduro
 
So, we get the free dive and $400 airfare credit, but the free night is a little more amusing. They jack the price up, then give you a free night. We do get a $200 spa credit.

It's our first time in Curacao so I hope it's good! Travel safe everyone. Would love to find some folks to dive with while I'm there! Feel free to message me.

This is exactly what I saw both this and last year as well. From what I was looking at this year, it would cost me more to use the deal than not, even after the rebates and such. :bonk:

But regardless of how you get there, I'm sure you'll love it. Check out the other posts in here for lots of places to see and things to do.
 
Well, we found today the one part of the Curacao NOW program we can't depend on is the 1 free day car rental through

The free car day is a complete joke, the rates were way jacked up. If you didn't already get it as part of the all west package you're better off by just booking it on the car companies main website and googling for coupons.
 
The free car rental day in 2009 worked perfectly for us, no rate-jacking at that time, but it looks like it is problematic for the 2010 promotion.

The Hertz weekly truck rate includes a free day, then we got an additional negative a la carte day off our 2009 truck rental. The only 'jacking' was the mandatory $2/day theft protection since I was using the AMEX premium rental insurance, but I still came out $55 ahead last year and the Hertz rates still show a free day with a week's rental if you do the math. We stayed 1 week each at 2 different properties on our 2009 trip (Sun Reef Village one week and All West one week) so renting from Hertz made lots of sense last year for us. Basically, 3 free days!

We were evidently part of the 'early' 2009 promotion group, where we submitted the form and copies of our passports right after we made our reservations. We got our checks and deposited them before we ever departed, no problems. Horrible to see someone post others received rebate checks that bounced later in 2009. Knowing that, I'm even more OK booking our 2010 trip through Maduro since I saw the same airfare on Orbitz, and see the $200 per person directly deducted in my itemized Maduro invoice for our 2010 trip.

This time the total truck rental rate with All West is lower, even including the All West insurance (no airport fees makes a big difference!) but I'm not able to use the AMEX premium rental insurance with All West. No big deal, never had to use vehicle insurance yet on any trip we've taken, but the ZERO deductible and primary coverage from the AMEX premium plan is something I use all the time with companies whose primary business is car rentals. I'm using it for my upcoming trip to St. Croix, renting a Nissan Frontier from Budget, even though my personal auto policy applies in the USVI per our State Farm agent.

Man, wish I was there already - either spot! Won't be long though . . .
 

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