Hi Scooby
We rented from Hertz at the airport this summer and are currently checking prices for March. One thing about Hertz is you can't take them off island, there were enough of us to make renting a car on STJ the way to go, and will do it again with the 2 of us, rather than hassle with the barge and having to leave STJ earlier in the day. Just make sure you get your car on StJ reserved early! If you go Hertz, they offer a plan at the airport where you pay up-front for a tank of gas rather than returning it full, which we did and found their price of gas to be comparable with what we saw on the island. We just used a full tank in 8 days and we were all over the place! Hope this helps!

thanks lolly, how did you find hertz? do you happen to have a web sight for them? thanks scooby

Scooby,
Right now I'm all over the place looking at rates, right now Hertz.com and Avis have the best rates over Expedia and AAA, you might also look at Budget. Funny thing, Expedia rates were $50 less today than Sat. its all a game! Happy hunting!

I'll be visiting STJ in Novemeber, and looked at lots of rental car providers. Since that's what I do for a living, I'm probably more picky than many people. I made a list of providers from this website, Orbitz, Travelocity, and other websites, and then contacted the car rental providers directly. Cars are just mobile chunks of iron that get you from point A to point b, but to me, the service is what's important! I emailed and faxed many of the providers, and ended up reserving with Felix at "Cool Breeze" rentals. He took the initiative to pick up the phone and call and ask for my business! And he got it.

The national chains aren’t necessarily the best choices on STJ. That’s the only place I visit where I prefer the local companies. The rates are pretty comparable (all are expensive) and there are other factors to consider. Will they be open when you arrive? If not, what arrangements will they make? Can you park in their lot when you come into town (this is HUGE)? These guys depend on repeat visitors and they know most returning guests will stick with the same agency if they have a good experience the first time.

Hello Scooby,

Here is their web site https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/index.jsp?targetPage=reservationOnHomepage.jsp

The airport code for St. Thomas is STT or you can enter the name of the airport which is Cyril E. King Airport.

--Islander

You might like the people at Dependable rent a car. It is a family owned company and they have been a very good place to rent.

I rented from Conrad Sutton Car Rental in St John for a Jeep Wrangler for 371.00/week. That is $53 per day. I thought it was pretty good. Might want to check out their web site.

I find that usually the best deals are when you call ahead or do it online

i found a bunch of companies around my house from http://www.allrentalpages.com

thanks all for the replys, i dont know who i'll go with from the airport,would like to know who is available directly from the airport, is there just avis,budget, and hertz? think i'm going to rent a car for a week for stt. i dont mind paying the airport tax i guess. also on st. john, i only want to rent a car for 1 day. is this possible? i don't want to mess with the car barge i guess. thanks all for the replys. scooby

I checked a few months ago and it seems to me that the best price was to be found at the Budget website. If you have a car on STT, it will be cheaper to take it to STJ for the day on the car ferry than paying for parking, then paying for the ferry, then renting a car on STJ, but you can if you would like.

Hello Scooby,

Avis, Budget and Hertz have actual booths in the baggage claim at the airport. Some of the others mentioned will pick you up at the airport and bring you to their office to sign the paperwork, get the car.

Sure you could rent a car for the day on St. John. The majority don't take reservations for 1 day rentals. I believe the exception is Hertz, who works with one of the local rentals (I think Paris Car Rental). Basically you would have to go over to St. John and then walk to the car rental offices (they are all pretty centrally located in Cruz Bay) and look for a rental.

--Islander

thanks islander, i heard of people being turned away trying to rent on st. john for 1 day in busy season. so hopefully i'll be able to come up with something, will try hertz and others if i have to. thanks again, scooby

We took a day trip over to St John last year during Thanksgiving week and got off the ferry and decided we wanted our own vehicle so we just started walking and found Varlack (I think I have the name right). They had a great, almost new, vehicle (4WD) that they rented to us for the day. They were very nice and great to work with. Maybe we just got lucky to find a vehicle at the first place we found, but that worked for us to just go with the flow and not have anything reserved ahead of time.

Carolmo

hi carolmo, thank you for the reply, we are going in february, prime time. so am alittle worried. i will try varlack. you or anyone know there website? thanks all. scooby

hey marty, how much is parking a car at red hook for all day? 7a.m.- 5p.m. you or anyone know? thanks scooby

$5 I believe. Or free if you park along the road and walk. I never do either, as it's just as easy to take the Harley or Jeep over...cheaper in the long run, too.

Hey scooby,

The site is www.varlack-ventures.com. I don't know their policy on one day rentals. Like I said, we didn't reserve ahead of time, we just took a chance when we got there. Won't hurt to ask them. Good luck!

Carolmo

thanks all for the great info, have a great day! scooby