Autonvuokraukset San Jose Juan Santamaria Intl lentokenttä

Did not have the car

Miinukset: Even though the car was reserved, the place didn't have our car for us. We had to find another car rental, very stressful upon arrival and triple the price given the last minute.

Car not there at pickup

Miinukset: we had to wait to get the car for a few hours because they had non available. We wound up with a smaller vehicle than we had wanted.

Horrible pickup, car unsafe.

Plussat: The car didn't break down, the return process was fast.

Miinukset: We arrived later in the evening, exhausted. The counter was grossly understaffed and VERY slow moving. Causing us to wait over an hour before even reaching the counter. Once at the counter we were told the car we had reserved weeks in advance was not available (it was needed to have a car with some clearance for our plans), but because it was late at night we had no choice but to take what was offered to us. The replacement car had several spots with noticeable body damage and almost completely worn down tires, I was genuinely concerned about the safety of the car. Then we were told we HAD to buy VERY VERY expensive "mandatory" insurance despite having pre-purchased a policy. Then we were told we HAD to sign a BLANK credit card slip authorizing essentially any amount Budget wants to charge. I asked for them to write in an amount before I signed and they refused and told me that ALL car rental places in Costa Rica do this, I travel to Costa Rica a lot and this has NEVER been done before, so that was an outright lie. I would have switched companies but I couldn't because of the hour. I will definitely not be using Budget, and I will be advising all of my colleagues not to as well.

Be aware of insurance difficulties

Plussat: The car itself was great for getting around Costa Rica, I don't recommend anything less than an SUV for that. The problem we encountered was paying for the insurance through Kayak via Allianz. When we arrived at Budget having insurance already, we were told that if we wanted to use our third party insurance (Allianz) we had to put down a $3,000.00 hold on a credit card that we weren't prepared for and was not easy to resolve. We ended up having to cancel the Allianz insurance and purchase insurance through Budget which brought our total from $140 (car rental + Allianz at time of booking through Kayak) to $400 (rental + Budget insurance). Not a cost we had prepared for, plus we had to spend over an hour resolving the issue once we arrived at Budget.

Fine Car, Charges Excessive

Plussat: The car was clean and worked well. It was sized to contain my wife and I, and all our bags. It was a newer model and contained some good features that we enjoyed using.

Miinukset: Check-in took over an hour due to a line of people. There are added costs that you must use in Costa Rica, one being insurance. Unless you can clearly indicate your coverage in a foreign country, you are required to purchase insurance for the car. This was a significant addition to the base car rental price but it is a requirement from all companies. There are probably cheaper options than the one we chose but everyone should be aware. We also wanted a GPS device for navigation but it was very problematic in operation. The commands coming from the device were muffled and we could not understand them. I could not attach the device in an easily viewable area, so my wife had to stay connected to the device to keep me informed of where to turn. Finally, the device would turn off or switch from the specified directions from time to time. It was difficult enough to determine where to go without having to input the directions again and again. This device was not worth the daily price we paid. Lastly, the check out was slightly delayed. They could not shuttle us to a hotel that we were staying in before our flight the next day (San Jose is further away from the airport ) but they did drop us off at the airport to try and find transport from there.