We are renting from Budget at the airport, is this wise or should we rent from budget at a different location? I heard something about a airport fee! STT Virgin Island. Plus has anyone recieved & used their $1300.00 coupon booklett on STT? Thanks for any info, Steve

Do yourself a favor and rent from another agency. I've had problems 2 x's out of 4.

Never ever was offered the 1300.00 coupon booklet.

We had good service at Discount Car Rental.

There is an additional fee to rent front the airport, but Discount doesn't charge that fee because they are not IN the airpot. They are basically at the end of the runway. You land, get your luggage, call them and they'll pick you up, take you to their office and you're off.

Good luck!

We have been lucky and very happy with Budget so far. All our reservations were made through Continental Airlines' website. Reservations were made at least three or more months ahead of time and they had the best price. Also noticed that if you went directly to budgetstt's website they were pricier than the regular budget website.

Only thing is, make sure you clean the interior of the vehicle before you return it or they will tack on a cleaning surcharge. Afterall, who wants a sand filled vehicle?

lol, Patrick, I had to laugh when I read your last paragraph because both times we got our cars from Budget, they were full of sand and dirty in general. They were pretty banged up too and the last time there was something sticky (probably soda) all over the dashboard.

I guess my original problem with Budget was the girl who worked there. I think she may not be there anymore, but oh my...was she a treat.

I know Budget seems more convenient because it's in the terminal although when we rented from Discount last time, their prices were even lower then Budget.

Lol! They probably banged somebody on the head for cleaning charges then didn't even bother to clean the vehicle. Go figure! Lol!

Pricewise, it worked for us via Continental. I did make a print out of the reservation details though and presented it to the desk person upon checking in so there were no hidden surprises. No hassles with the desk staff either.

I have rented from budget many times and will not anymore. Last time down I believe we returned 4 vehicles due to damage, dead batteries, you name it. Horrible customer service.

We have also rented from Budget and have had bad experiences with them. I reserved months in advance and printed out my rental information and price before arriving on STT. When we went to return the rental we were charged about two hundred dollars more than quoted on the website. I showed the lady at the counter all my paperwork, but she didn't seem to care. Once we arrived home I called Budget International and they filed a claim and a report. We did eventually get credited for the difference, but it was a hassel and not what we were quoted origionally. Ever since tthen we have rented from Dependable Car Rental and have had no problems at all. Their prices are comprable and you are allowed to take the car on the car ferry over to STJ if you choose. You call them when you get off the plane and usually within 10-15 minutes they are there to pick you up. Just enought time to get your luggage and have a complimentary rum punch or two.

Connie,
Do you have a website or phone # for Discount? They're on the ball eh? Don't have to wait long for them to pick you up? Are returns pretty painless as well?

Thank you,

Linda

stthomas...just google discount car rental + st. thomas. They're very easy to deal with. They're really nice people, ask for Austin (you'll probably get him anyway). They pick you up really fast. You give them your arrival time and then you call them when you get there. They will be there within 5-10 minutes. Taking the car back is easy and they will drop you off at the airport.

Had no problems at all with them. No problems at all.

Sorry, just got back from Cape Cod and trying to catch up on the threads. It will probably take me a week!

Go to www.discountcar.vi

They are really great. We ended up not taking them because our driver had to be back before the STJ car ferry's first run, but they had the best prices and Austin is awesome to work with!

I tried both Budget and Discount to rent a full size 4 wheel drive SUV for 8 days. Budget was significantly less expensive. I really wanted to rent somewhere else this year (Budget isn't the most customer-friendly and you sometimes get a pretty beat-up car), but the nealy $200 difference is too much to pass-up ($630 versus $820).

VI

I agree....i tried to rent from Discount last year....and I called today for this winter's rental......Discount is still significantly higher than Hertz (including all of the airport fees & taxes).........but I do use the AAA discount with Hertz. The only drawback is that I can't take the vehicle to STJ.

F.I.

Thank you Connie, I know how it is after being away. We have to save where we can these days, I'll give Austin a holler.
Thanks again.........

We were in STT in July for the first time and rented from ZIP rentals on recommendation from a person on the tripadvisor forum. They were great! They don't have an office at the airport so they met us there (we had given then the flight, airline and time in advance) with our car and the paperwork. We stood in front of the airport and signed. There were no additional fees just $50 per day. We drove away (keep to the left, keep to the left) five minutes later. For our return it was the same scenario in reverse. Couldn't have been easier. I dealt with Lisa and I believe it is a husband and wife team with a couple of employees. Very nice and efficient business people. Their website is www.ziprentalsvi.com

I have gotten our quote from Discount and it is $527.00 for 2 weeks. Avis is $670.00 and Budget $600.00. Oh, and I submitted a request to Zip so I will let you know what that comes in at. So far it looks like Discount wins............

Linda

I'm trying to get some info on (decent) lodging on Tortolla but haven't gotten a reply yet from Rick??? Any of you ladies have suggestions for us? We would even consider another island, just want to do a few days exploring this trip.

Thank you