I came over to Santo Domingo last week. Researching the threads hadn't found much current information on DR1. I checked about 6 different rental companies rates on the internet, and settled on Budget in Santo Domingo, as opposed to the airport location (I came into Santo Domingo at about 1 am).
Silly me, the next morning, went to National's office above JF Kennedy on Winston Churchill. Pulled out my confirmation number after they couldn't find my reservation - ooops. The Budget reservation was without a credit card to guarantee it, so before I called another taxi to go there, I told National I would take their car if they would match Budget.
tappity tappity tap, OK! - then the negotiating started. The supervisor stepped in and said that the LDW/CDW was obligatory. I said "not for me - the credit card gave me this coverage".
In that case she said they had another insurance that I had to take that was required by National when the higher priced CDW (something like $22 a day) wasn't taken - for $5 a day. If I had an accident, I would only have to call the credit card company for an authorization number, and National would then handle everything else to settle the damage claim, and I would have no other involvement or problems, etc. Fine - peace of mind.
Then, they tried to add the extra $20 for this insurance on top of the agreed-upon $170 rate. I told her to then just lower the daily rental rate to make up the extra $5 a day, or I would just go to Budget where they would give me a car at this rate, and she agreed to do it so that the rate stayed at the $170 total.
They originally were going to give me a compact at this rate, but due to "unavailability", they upgraded me to a Tiilda for the 4 days for US$170. This included the $5 a day car insurance, the personal liability insurance for $10 a day to protect me, and all of the taxes.
After 4 days, I went back and asked if I could extend it for another few days at the same rates, and no problem. They told me it would then be $269 for a 7 day rental, and the entire transaction was easy. They gave me a copy of the new agreement too.
I had originally not chosen National because their rates on the internet were significantly higher than Budget (something like $70 more for the same sized car for a 4 day rental.) Great car, great A/C, and no problems, and the bill was exactly what they had quoted me three days before for the extention - and in and out in less than 5 minutes, a wonder for anything in the DR.
Silly me, the next morning, went to National's office above JF Kennedy on Winston Churchill. Pulled out my confirmation number after they couldn't find my reservation - ooops. The Budget reservation was without a credit card to guarantee it, so before I called another taxi to go there, I told National I would take their car if they would match Budget.
tappity tappity tap, OK! - then the negotiating started. The supervisor stepped in and said that the LDW/CDW was obligatory. I said "not for me - the credit card gave me this coverage".
In that case she said they had another insurance that I had to take that was required by National when the higher priced CDW (something like $22 a day) wasn't taken - for $5 a day. If I had an accident, I would only have to call the credit card company for an authorization number, and National would then handle everything else to settle the damage claim, and I would have no other involvement or problems, etc. Fine - peace of mind.
Then, they tried to add the extra $20 for this insurance on top of the agreed-upon $170 rate. I told her to then just lower the daily rental rate to make up the extra $5 a day, or I would just go to Budget where they would give me a car at this rate, and she agreed to do it so that the rate stayed at the $170 total.
They originally were going to give me a compact at this rate, but due to "unavailability", they upgraded me to a Tiilda for the 4 days for US$170. This included the $5 a day car insurance, the personal liability insurance for $10 a day to protect me, and all of the taxes.
After 4 days, I went back and asked if I could extend it for another few days at the same rates, and no problem. They told me it would then be $269 for a 7 day rental, and the entire transaction was easy. They gave me a copy of the new agreement too.
I had originally not chosen National because their rates on the internet were significantly higher than Budget (something like $70 more for the same sized car for a 4 day rental.) Great car, great A/C, and no problems, and the bill was exactly what they had quoted me three days before for the extention - and in and out in less than 5 minutes, a wonder for anything in the DR.
