Congratulations on your wedding/honeymoon.

We usually rent from Hertz using our AAA membership card for a discount. You can also get a discount from Hertz, Avis & Budget with the Entertainment Book coupons, but the AAA is (so far as I know) the best discount. You may also qualify for other special dscounts through your employer or club.

We are renting a midsize for the week of April 21 on STT. With our AAA discount it comes to $206.99 for the week (plus taxes/fees).

F.I.

You also may want to check with hotwire.com. They usually go thru Avis. We got a mid-size car for less than $20/day.

If renting with Budget, we were told upon arrival that "the owner has just purchased a bunch of new Jeeps in time for Carnival". They were upselling Jeeps hard and we ended up with one for $12/day more over our compact that we had reserved on-line.

It made STJ a whole lot more enjoyable, particularly out on the East End.

Mountaineer Girl:

I've tried hotwire several times, but could not beat the AAA discount.

I just tried hotwire a few minutes ago for our future trip to STT and got $56. per day for a mid-size.

The less than $20./day is a super deal.

F.I.

Try the Continental Airlines website and look at the specials. They sometimes have discount codes you could use when putting in a reservation for a vehicle.

Just keep in mind that Hertz rules forbid taking the car to St. John, but that may not be a bad thing. Last month we rented a small car from Hertz for STT and then took the passenger ferry to St. John and got a Jeep on the spot there for $80 (including the extra insurance). That allowed us to stay for dinner on STJ because the car ferry leaves early.

FI,
wow that is alot. We reserved ours back in November for our April trip - maybe that's why we got such a great rate. The compacts then were about $17/ day and the economy slightly more..I guess I lied (just checked) - we're paying $22/day for the midsize plus taxes etc ended up being $204 for the week. We are AAA members also, but I forgot about checking with them for the car rental. stupid me. 🙁

Here is one of my favorite links to find hotel & car rental discount codes. Try some, you never know!
www.fatwallet.com Then click on forums at the top of the page. Next, click on travel on the left of that page. Scroll down until you see a bunch of car rental names. The first page gives you the codes. Go to the last page to get recent comments about certain codes. The first page has an old date but is usually updated regularly with discount codes.
Good Luck.

I just found a car on hotwire for 227.95 for a week and that includes ALL taxes... is that a good deal or should I book it? The only problem is you don't know what carrier you'll be buying from and that it's full payment at time of booking. Anybody have other advice or is hotwire the best deal?

Thanks,
Jeff

From what I understand, hotwire ALWAYS gives you Avis at the STT airport. If anyone has had a different experience with hotwire on STT, please say so. And Avis let's you take your car to STJ if you want to go over for a day while on your honeymoon. I think $227 is a good rate for this close to your trip.

try hotwire.com i go to stt about 5 times a year and find them to be alot cheaper. you will get a hertz ,avis or budget. the last time i got lucky and got a brand new car fullsize for about $24 a day that included everything caue i use my amex and they cover your insurancr. good luck,btw if you dont pay in advance with most companys there is no gaurenrety you will get a car. in feb. many people had to taxi.

I keep reading about people getting great car rental rates with Hotwire.

I've tried several times, but it always comes up slightly higher (for an SUV) for Hotwire than what I was quoted from Dependable Car Rental in St. Thomas ($521 vs. $504 for 8 nights in June). The rental company that has come up the last couple of times using Hotwire has been Thrifty.

The rate for Hotwire is $5 less per day, but Dependable offers a 25% discount for a 1 week (or longer) rental, which made them the lower priced option for us.

socatraveler,
I just checked hotwire too (picked a random week in June) and it is more expensive than the rates we got for our upcoming trip. Like I said before, we booked way in advance (Nov. for the April trip) so this may be why we got good rates. Maybe the closer to the time you want to book, the rates go up because its a supply/demand thing. I don't know - I'm just glad we booked when we did.

You also said "The rental company that has come up the last couple of times using Hotwire has been Thrifty." Have you used Hotwire before on STT and they gave you Thrifty? Because I thought you can't know who its thru until after you book/pay. Its been said on this forum before that Hotwire nearly always give you Avis, but again, maybe its only if you book well in advance. Avis' cars may be all booked, so then they switch you to another company who have higher rates?? just thinking aloud 🙂

Hi Mountaineer Girl,

When I click the green "Search for Cars" button, which is the page after the one where I entered STT and my dates, it gives me several choices of car types. Then when I select the SUV button and click "continue" it takes me to a page where it says "Select a Rental Agency" but the only one listed is Thrifty (I assume in some cases it would show others). I notice the same thing happens when I select a Minivan.

BUT, if I click on a Compact or Mid-size car (for my dates, anyway) it doesn't give me a specific rental company... instead it lists 5 companies that the car may be from and tells me I'll know the details AFTER I complete the registration.

Hmmmm.....

yeah, that's how Hotwire works with hotel reservations, car rentals, etc. You get a great rate, but you are paying upfront and notified of the company (or hotel) after you commit. For me, I really didn't care which agency my car came from, so I committed. I have also used Hotwire for booking hotels (not at STT!) - you pick how many "stars" you want and the location (airport, seaport etc) and you are paying when you commit, then you are told which hotel it is. Not something everyone would want to do (and not all the time) but there are times when it pays.

Anyway, for you it sounds as if Dependable is the way to go. A 25% discount is awesome, I wouldn't pass it up for an SUV.

Have a great trip!

We always use Amalie Car Rental www.amaliecar.com and they are the NICEST people.

I also know that is you rent a Jeep from them, they do allow you to take it over to St. John, not all rental companies will allow you to do that.

SoCo from California.

I just wanted you to know that we rented 2 jeep wranglers from Budget and total rate with the taxes is 339.00 for a week. I think that's alot cheaper then what you go. From what I can tell on the Budget site it still looks about the sme price. You may want to check that out.

Anyone have any ideas for getting an upgrade? The jeep is fine for the 20 somethings, but for the 40 and 50 somethings, i think a liberty would be a better choice.