Off airport car rental- Santo Domingo

Looking for information about off-airport rentals..to save on the airport taxes..... We rent off-airport on occasion, mainly to save $, and it appears I'll need to use every trick in the book on this one..... DR rentals are very expensive...

Looking at National and Thirfty now but open to suggestions for our 11 day rental in early February...

Anyone know if there is a big difference in inventory comparing airport vs. off airport? Of all the majors, who has the closest off-airport location/best inventory, etc.....If they will pick you up gratis..ie.courtesy phones at the airport, etc.

In playing around this morning, I've saved about $USD 95 but this is the first of perhaps many visits.... so local knowledge...on the ground intelligence....would be very much appreciated!

Finally, we arrive in early Feb at 5pm...sun be up and beer be cold when we land...

Hey jazzman..thanks for the info....ever had an accident witha DR rental ? and did Amex cover you?

I normally do the same..decline and pray.

I have a Gold VISA but I know I'm not covered for 'overseas' car rentals.....and I've been led to believe that you have to pay for CDW......it's not mandatory?

Will an 'economy car ' really limit where we can go?

Again, thanks for helping me deflect all the spin...

Green or Gold? LDW manditory??

Does the color of the card matter when declining...in some countries/with some companies...they only let you decline with Gold or higher....Platinum....imagine that.....what next???

TIP>>>>When looking for a car anywhere in the world, go to an on-line real time agent like www.1travel.com...and see what's on offer....?ou get quotes* from all the majors in one 'hit' (*base rental price only, not included are taxes,fees, insurance, etc)

Then, using that info, go directly to the site of the major and book.
Never use 1travel to book..mainly because they want payment up front (unlike many of the majors) so you are locked in....Even if the majors want your CC when booking, they make it easy for you to cancel before renting with no hassles. Make sure you know the cancellation policy if you have to give your card no. in advance and try to stick with the majors......

When using 1travel for DR, I was mildly surprised at the rates they were showing.....after going to the 'sources' virtually all of them listed the 'required' extras....and included LDW as 'mandatory' in the quote....with all other taxes almost doubling the base rental price shown on 1travel....So it can be declined???

As far as 'picking' your car from those lot is concerned....National allows customers to do that in the US as well.....I always try to rent the ones with lots of scratches and door dings.....get them to circle every single one (sometimes, out of frustration, they circle the WHOLE car at the gate!) and drive away knowing that one or two more won't matter!!

Once I had a minor accident in St. Martin in a rental with declined insurance...my fault for sure....think I give the guy $USD50 and he drove away with a much bigger smile than mine... big puddles of muddy waters does a great job fixing those minor dents...just make sure you get that 'receipt for that Accident thingy' back, chew it up and swallow it before you jump on the plane!


Ditto about seeing the country a bit slower in ECONOMY..if one were to read all the posts on this board about renting...then a 4x4 with all the coverage money can buy is the only way to go...personally I'd rather spend the $ by going renting ECONOMY class and declining insurance for a few weeks as a 75% deposit on a RTW airfare!

BTW, I don't own a car.....haven't for years and I hope I never have to own one again.....bad for the planet....and I'm always gone anyway...global of course!!

jazzcom.....thanks for keeping this alive....love to hide here on this limb and scratch each others armpits!