Renting a car ?

[RyanP]

RyanP...you'll have to build in at least an extra hour before departure to drop off the car in addition to the 2 hour check-in at the airport.

I can give you an approx price for car rentals...
small vehicle (Toyota Yaris) is going to be in the price range of a bare minimum $265us for a week...at this price you are required to have a fully covered credit card & able to prove it (ie.letter from the company)....
with damage waivers & personal accident coverage, windshield/tire coverage etc...it can get into the $400us per week price range.

The road from Montego Bay to Negril hasn't changed all that much in the last 10 years...you just have to know where the new pot holes are located.

I just did an online quote and it wasn’t that high ($265/wk). Are there fees that are not shown? Maybe it is more to rent in High season. We go during Low season.

[Bnewb]

I just did an online quote and it wasn’t that high ($265/wk). Are there fees that are not shown? Maybe it is more to rent in High season. We go during Low season.

What company did you get the quote from?

[RyanP]

What company did you get the quote from?

Island

[Miss Honey]

Considering renting a car, has anyone done that?
Can you give me pro's and con's, is it safe?

I agree with Captain. It depends on what you plan on doing. If we hadn’t had a driver on all of our trips I don’t think we would have seen or learned the things we have. We arrived on New Years Eve around noon. The roads were packed. We kept getting behind visitors that had rented cars. They were driving so slow it was dangerous. Traffic was backed up. It was hard to pass people were trying to. Our trip turned into 3 hours.

[Rob]

Ryan,

The liability insurance is provided by the rental company, covering any damages you may cause to other property or people. But you should get their Personal Accident Insurance which covers the passengers in your vehicle, which is not covered by your CC. Please double check your CC covers your vehicle in Jamaica.

And don't forget that gas will probably be about us$6 a gallon...

[RyanP]

Reading through the coverage, it does appear it would be covered. Some have mentioned a letter, and I will see if they can provide that. We always get travel insurance, and it is just me and my wife. It’s definitely not going to be cheaper than route taxis and hired drivers, for what we do. We’ll just have to think it over.

[wrtiii]

Also be sure to confirm whether your CC insurance has exclusions; for example, Jamaica.

[gdbear65]

$265 / week is a good price but will not include liability insurance which is not covered by your credit card. Do not rent a car without getting liability insurance - as mentioned the driving can be hazardous, especially when you drive the secondary routes. A1 and A2 are pretty good but the roads into the interior can be very challenging - watch for potholes and puddles with sticks in them. You will also encounter animals on the interior roads and lots of blind corners through the mountains. Do not be afraid to use your horn - it is a form of communication - we avoided hitting a dog around a blind corner because i was honking as I rounded it, in time to see the dog lazily move off the road - had I not been honking we would have hit. Don't be afraid to ask the locals for directions - outside the urban areas there are relatively few roads so the locals know them quite well. A good tip for driving on the left side - keep the passenger side to the curb. I hope this helps

[RyanP]

My understanding was that liability insurance was included in the price of the rental. That’s not correct?

[gdbear65]

My understanding was that liability insurance was included in the price of the rental. That’s not correct?

double-checked it: it's changed since I rented with Island and is now included