Re: car rental advise

[dream jamaica]

Re: Re: car rental advise

I am still ready & thanks for all the advise. I just wanted to clarify that I have been to Jamaica many times, four in the past yr. I haven't rented and regreted it this last trip (which I traveled 8 days alone to get a feel for it alone & volunteer...my trip report is posted "On the Move"). I am going this time for two weeks to visit & again, volunteer. Only this time there will be so many people that I know on the island, I should almost always have a co-piolet. A freind of mine (Jamaican) will be meeting me at the airport to travel back to Ochi with me so that I am not alone.

I am considering moving & applied for my nursing license (Psychiatric NP) back in March or April. So if thing work out I would be moving and need to drive. This is probably the bast chanace to have so many people around to drive around with. I will probably volunteer a day or so in portland my driving companion(s) will be dropped at teh beach...no a bad job to be a co-piolet!

[dream jamaica]

Re: Re: car rental advise

Oh yeah, and if I hire drivers to bring me to all the part I want to volunteer I can't afford to volunteer...

[dream jamaica]

Re: Re: car rental advise

THanks gang for all the advise. I watched daily & The best price was with Dollar, so I went with them. I will let you know after the trip how they were. Hopefully no problems.

[BND1999]

Re: Re: car rental advise

Before i saw this thread i had already reserved with fun holiday.. as Ohliz had a good experience and the rate was as good as anyone else...

I agree with IM... this isn't about who should drive and who shouldn't.. it's a choice

I have been to Jamaica many times.. and have always used a driver.. for various reasons.... wanted to sit back and relax vs navigating, wanted to give business to others, companionship.... and yes because i am well aware that driving in Jamaica is rather a challenge....

However, next month we plan to travel the north coast to Port Antonio and back up to Negril.. Now thats a lot of mileage, not only very expenisve if i had a driver the whole time...... while in some ways Yes id rather have someone driving me around..and to have their expertise and companionship it's also nice to be able to be sponateous and to move around when you want to...

Its hard to know from stateside what you will want to do on any given day.. what if you want to leave someplace a day earlier.. or stay a day later.. I have changed plans on drivers and it upsets me as much as them... i feel indebted...

given that.. we decided to give it a whirl... worst case scenario we hate it and ditch the car...and yell for Chef.. but i figure if others can do it, so can we..

On the other hand.. i also think if you are in just one place, mostly beaching it and relaxing.....its probably easier to hire a driver for day trips... when we hit negril we will ditch the car.... and thats exactly what we will do.... call soloman..

thanks for all the other rental info.. ive saved it in case we like driving... will come back after our trip and let you know how i felt about it.. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[dream jamaica]

Re: Re: car rental advise

Hi BND, I am sure we will drive past each other in Dec. (beside our visit) as we will both be in the NE region and I will be traveling from Ochi or Portland...and about... [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[SeanPaulGyal]

Re: Re: car rental advise

We have used every car rental agency in and around Mobay and the last two times used Efay. Very good service and close to the airport and wonderful staff. However, the cars we got were very OLD.

So if you do not care bout a new car and want a great price, use Efay.

[CardBoardBox]

Re: Re: car rental advise

Who NOT to use for renting a car: one company in MoBay, aka Dhana car rental. They have a web site at www.mobay.com which has fine maps, but note some events of the past by me and others who picked Dhana:

Once your credit card is approved, US citizens have no recourse against bogus charges (I kid you not). When wanting to catch their plane, since their agency is not at the airport, what a bummer to be told that a missing hubcap requires US$600 cause all 4 must be replaced. Another rentor supposibly had a dent -- I forget the amount involved. There are others examples of immoral behavior from Dhana.

My story: arrived but no car was waiting. Phone call produced "the owner went to India and did not leave any keys. I have no record of your rental."
After the other stories, maybe I'm kind of glad I was forced to use a company at the airport.

I've have used Discount; rate was less than standard one time. The time I had a 7AM flight, and needed to depend upon honesty of the check-in person without me being there, I chose Island. No surprises when the cc bill arrived.

[leightnite19]

Re: Re: car rental advise

I see that there has been a lot of good advice given on the different individual agencies. I know dream jamaica you said that you went to priceline, but they dont do overseas reservations, try travelocity. That was who I searced with and got a reasonable price. Not only that, the vehicle type that I was looking for from the agency, that didnt come up on its website for general reservation.