Car Rental

National: http://dr1.com/national/

Many DR1er's use them. They may not be the cheapest, but at least you will have peace of mind that you will be backed by a large organization that will support you if you have any problems. This is not always true of the smaller independent rental companies.

I've used Budget and Alamo/National but there are others. If you are in the US you can get the numbers from 411 and make your reservations. Always get insurance and check with your credit card company or any travel programs you may be a member of to see if they offer international car rental insurance. If so that should save you about $12 per day. If not that's about how much more you can expect to pay for getting the insurance through the rent a car agency.

negrecita2003 said:

Can someone please advise what rental company in Santo Domingo is the best to use to rent a car. What additional coverages should I ask for when renting it, just so that I know I will be covered if something was to happen.

I usually don't rent vehicles while there, but because there is a couple of us going and 2 small children and we will be visiting Higuey, I would like to have everyone as comfortable as possible.

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I always reserve a car through expedia.com or travelocity. com before I leave and pick it up at the airport. I would stick with either Avis, Hertz, or National...whichever is the cheapest at the time of your trip. All 3 provide, in my opinion, good service.

Be Prepared .............

jmaz98 said:

I always reserve a car through expedia.com or travelocity. com before I leave and pick it up at the airport. I would stick with either Avis, Hertz, or National...whichever is the cheapest at the time of your trip. All 3 provide, in my opinion, good service.

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at Xmas none of the SDQ rental agncies had cars and denied many reservations, so at busy times they can disappoint.

I have used National a few times and Alamo once. I found National easier to deal with. When I rented from Alamo, it was at STI and they didn't have the car I reserved so I was upgraded for free but I would rather just have the peace of mind in knowing that my car will be there and Alamo left me without much faith in them. I wll always use National in the future.

Larry

Larry said:

I have used National a few times and Alamo once. I found National easier to deal with. When I rented from Alamo, it was at STI and they didn't have the car I reserved so I was upgraded for free but I would rather just have the peace of mind in knowing that my car will be there and Alamo left me without much faith in them. I wll always use National in the future.

Larry

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I thought Alamo and National were the same, except if you call Alamo you get a cheaper quote. I used Alamo for the first time when I went to DR for Xmas. When I got to SDQ and couldn't find Alamo I was directed to the National desk. They did verify my reservation and then drove us to the National office to pick up the car.

ricktoronto said:

at Xmas none of the SDQ rental agncies had cars and denied many reservations, so at busy times they can disappoint.

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This is for good reason. Some Dominicans flying back for this period will book a car with all the major companies and in some cases, so do the people they are traveling with. Imagine, 2 people flying together with 8 reservations!

The people I know at the rental companies tell me this period is a nightmare and this is why they do not allow reservations. Trying to control inventory if you don?t do this is almost impossible. I agree 100% with this policy as I know first hand what happens if they don?t block reservations for the Christmas period.

If any of you (DR1 regulars) need a reservation for this period, drop me an email and I will speak directly to National and get them to help you out.

pati said:

I thought Alamo and National were the same, except if you call Alamo you get a cheaper quote. I used Alamo for the first time when I went to DR for Xmas. When I got to SDQ and couldn't find Alamo I was directed to the National desk. They did verify my reservation and then drove us to the National office to pick up the car.

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Pati,
As far as I know, Alamo and National are owned by the same people but are two seperate companies. They have seperate booths at the airports and give the impression that they are independent companies. It's possible that because they have a common owner, they share a common database and cover each other in the event of an overload in reservations. Not sure.
Larry

Larry said:

Pati,
As far as I know, Alamo and National are owned by the same people but are two seperate companies. They have seperate booths at the airports and give the impression that they are independent companies. It's possible that because they have a common owner, they share a common database and cover each other in the event of an overload in reservations. Not sure.
Larry

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Yes, they are the same owners, but I think things are changing in the USA with ownership.

Both Alamo and National franchises are run here by the same company which is part of the Santo Domingo Motors group. This is also another reason they have top notch cars and are replaced on a regular basis for new models.

Elso Payamps is the boss of National/Alamo here, a great person to deal with, fluent English and will look after you.

Avis is OK, but do you really want to rent a car

I have rented twice from Avis at Santo Domingo International Airport and have a good experience with them each time. Make sure they do a good job identifying all the dings and scratches on the car before you take it. But I will not be renting cars in the Dominican Republic any more since my last visit. I decided to drive from Santo Domingo to Puerto Plata to visit a friend. The experience convinced me it is very risky to drive in the Dominican Republic. I just barely avoided a horrible accident on the Duarte when a car darted out into the roadway with its lights off. I got lost in Santiago and was trapped in terrible traffic jams for over 2 hours on my way to POP from SD. And I ended up driving back to Santo Domingo in a blinding rainstorm. The next morning I returned the car a week early and used taxis to get around town for the rest of the trip. I don't want to scare you, but please consider how you would deal with an accident or other car-related problem in the D/R before making the decision to rent a car. :dead: