Questions on Upcoming Bonaire Trip

[bevo]

Just came back from Bonaire. I have been there many times and have dived with many different outfits. This trip I went with Tropical Divers and I had a really “special” diving week. I was interested in going exclusively shore diving with a guide. We did two dives a day and I did my advanced open water SSI and Nitrox certification. I had time constraints since I was traveling with non-divers and they went out of their way to assist me with a schedule that worked for me. They gave me fantastic personalized service and a great price! A professional group of people and superior facilities. They have a full service training facility with state of the art classrooms. Two steps from the dive shop the have about 12 units they rent out. I took a look and the units were basic with a nice garden area, each room has a small deck. There is also a small pool. You can’t go wrong dining with Tropical Divers. An of course you can’t go wrong diving in Bonaire-abundant sea life and coral. I would definitely think about diving with Tropical Divers..you can email them and they will figure out a package for you. I have dove with the other two dive shops and for personalized service and safe equipment Tropical Divers can't be beat.

 

[boat sju]

Thanks for all the replies and discussion. The restaurant suggestions will be much appreciated as well.

What about with regards to purchasing the CDW insurance or the "Full Coverage" insurance or no insurance at all.
I guess the CDW would not cover the broken glass from a break-in if someone forgot to leave the windows
down. I read someone's experience here with a stolen spare tire. One company that I contacted, said they only
rent their vehicles with their purchased insurance. The others say that it is optional. What are your experiences??

Thank you...

My insurance agent (Farmer's) told me they don't cover rental cars overseas. You may want to call your own agent and ask.

 

[ghesselb]

Many credit cards cover rented cars overseas. None cover trucks from what I can tell. American Express has a premium auto insurance program for which you must register your Amex card separately (one time until you cancel the program). With that program, you pay $24.95 per rental (not per day, as with CDW) and get coverage for almost any vehicle you can rent, including pickup trucks. It does not cover exotics. I use ABCarrental and when I use the Amex credit card insurance, they place a $1,500 authorization on the credit card at time of rental intended to cover damage to the vehicle in the event of an incident. You then use the American Express card to pay for damage that might occur and American Express reimburses you for the expenses. I have never had to collect, so this is not tested.

Visa and Mastercard to do not have a program equivalent to the one by Amex. I do not know about Discover. All my accounts with Visa, Mastercard and Amex cover rentals overseas, with specific country exceptions.

 

[amw5g]

Many credit cards cover rented cars overseas. None cover trucks from what I can tell. American Express has a premium auto insurance program for which you must register your Amex card separately (one time until you cancel the program).

Ghesselb, do you know how this might work when renting the car as part of a sleep/drive/dive package? We purchased our package using our AmEx and have made the final payment. But when I look at the terms on the car rental agency's website, it says they do not accept AmEx for payments (although it claims they do for the $350 deposit). So I'm not quite sure if we would be covered or not if we were to go ahead and purchase the supplemental premium AI program through the card.
I'd really prefer the $24.95 per rental cost to buying CDW from the rental agency, but I also don't want an unpleasant surprise at the counter if they say my card is no good.

 

[ghesselb]

My particular rental company, AB Carrental, does accept Amex, but I rent directly from them. In discussions with Amex about the premium rental insurance, they state that you must use the card to pay for the insurance, and the rental must be paid for in advance of use, which is how it is done on Bonaire. The transaction is processed to Amex as a vehicle rental, so the coverage is effective at the time of the rental. If you are getting a car as part of a package, then the transaction may appear to Amex as a hotel rental or some other type, not as a vehicle rental. I would suggest you contact Amex about the particular issues with the package.

When I rent from AB Carrental, they require a $75 deposit for which I use my Amex. This then kicks off the $24.95 charge. The balance rental payment at arrival on Bonaire also kicks off another $24.95 charge, so I have to contact Amex about the excessive charge every year. Thus it is possible you have paid the $24.95 charge already when you paid for your package. If the payment does not look like a vehicle rental to Amex (I don't know how they specifically id a vehicle rental transaction), they might not consider you to be covered. Talking to Amex might clarify this as well. If you have paid for your package already and were not registered in the Premium Car program at the time, I am not sure if you can include this trip in the coverage retroactively. Amex would be able to help you there as well. Their call center was very helpful and knowledgeable.

 

[amw5g]

Thank you kindly. Since we had already paid for the package prior to enrolling in AmEx's premium coverage, we figured we were out of luck. However we called them up just to check, and they stated that since we had not yet taken possession of the vehicle and had paid for the package with the card, they would note in our file that we would indeed be covered. So it worked out just as well as we'd hoped. Now just fingers-crossed we won't need the service.

 

[DeputyDan]

Thank you kindly. Since we had already paid for the package prior to enrolling in AmEx's premium coverage, we figured we were out of luck. However we called them up just to check, and they stated that since we had not yet taken possession of the vehicle and had paid for the package with the card, they would note in our file that we would indeed be covered. So it worked out just as well as we'd hoped. Now just fingers-crossed we won't need the service.

If you don't have this in writing - it does not exist!

 

[ghesselb]

The $24.95 charge to the Amex account, I think, would be "in writing". See if the charge has been added to your account so you can be reasonably confident of the coverage.

Amex has been very quick in the past to add the charge to my account. It was listed, most recently, two days after the charge to the car rental co., as a "transaction processed by American Express" and in the detail, it was listed as "PREMIUM CAR RENTAL PROTECTION". Reasonably clear.