By Bart Vertenten (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Friday, February 10, 2006 - 6:29 pm: |
Dear bonairetalkers,
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By Tish (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #889) on Friday, February 10, 2006 - 7:32 pm: |
Bart, we are not the experts on your needs. Only you can decide that.
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By Jim Woodward (BonaireTalker - Post #80) on Friday, February 10, 2006 - 11:01 pm: |
American Express offers, for $20./occurence; insurance that I have. I first saw it mentioned here on BT--so do a search. I have used it in Hawaii and had no problems. If the car is charged on an AmEx card the insurance is available. Once set up, your card will be charged for insurance with each car rental. Several others here have used it on Bonaire, but some rental places do not accept Amex.
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By Marcus L. Barnes (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #514) on Saturday, February 11, 2006 - 11:56 am: |
Bart: The short answer is yes, you should take full insurance unless you insure through a credit card as Jim stated above. If you don't take it all, you will have to pay for damage done through vandalism because AB's insurance is a 2 part deal - one part being operational damage and one part being vandalism. As a side note, if you damage the vehicle you will have to pay the deductible which I think is $169.00 at AB. This happened to me with Budget. Even though I took the full insurance, I had to pay their $300 deductible when I damaged the truck; so, if you think you are fully covered and there are no out of pocket expenses when you take the full insurance - guess again. However, $169.00 is better than whatever the whole amount would be if you completely destroyed the vehicle for example. That $300 payout cured me of buying insurance from Bonaire's rental agencies and I now insure through American Express Blue Card as stated by Jim above. My advice is get and use the American Express Blue Card, which is no fee, by the way and forget about buying insurance from Bonaire's rental agencies. If they won't take the card, find someone who will. Have a great trip and by the way, if you are shore diving, I strongly recommend you rent a truck instead of a car. A truck does a much better job of hauling gear and handling the shore diving sites in the Southern and northern reaches of the Bonaire Marine Park. Its all good on Bonaire.
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By Bart Vertenten (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #2) on Saturday, February 11, 2006 - 12:33 pm: |
I will rent a Truck, but I am from Belgium so my Englisch isn't that great.
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By Peter Cabus (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #331) on Sunday, February 12, 2006 - 4:59 am: |
Hey Bart,
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By David Kaye (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #126) on Thursday, February 16, 2006 - 10:29 pm: |
The Amex insurance that covers trucks is extra cost, not automatically included. At $20 per rental it's a good deal. I'm not sure if Peter meant that it is not available at all to a Belgian card holder, or just that it is not part of the basic card agreement. I think it would be worthwhile to inquire if you can buy the coverage.
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By Dean W. (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 1:20 am: |
Please be aware that many USA insurance policies will cover a CAR rental but specifically will not cover any TRUCK. Credit card policies are the same way... not trucks. Be sure to check on this and get your decision made before you head to Bonaire.
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By Peter Cabus (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #332) on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 4:44 am: |
Hi David,
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By David Kaye (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #128) on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 10:06 pm: |
Here's a link back to a previous thread that I started on the subject of car/truck insurance. Amex insurance As the posts at the end of the thread say, as corroborated by Peter above, much of this does not, unfortunately, apply to European cardholders. The analysis about Bonaire insurance coverage is valid, I believe, and is particularly applicable to Europeans, who have no other alternative.
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By Corey Brown (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #9) on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 11:16 am: |
An insurance guy's advise: US policies in fact do NOT cover any rented vehicles outside of the US & Canada. Either buy the available rental car company insurance or the AMEX card plan - but read the fine print CAREFULLY.
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By Nanette Oselett (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Friday, March 3, 2006 - 8:34 pm: |
Am Ex-special truck insurance is not available if you live in California. Rent a car unless you are a very serious shore diver. If you need to rent a truck consider taking the max insurance. Even then there is a $200+ deductible. We had a small dent in the fender of a truck that barely ran and it is costing over $500+ the $600+ for 2 weeks for the rental thus over $1100.
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By Renee (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #4) on Saturday, March 11, 2006 - 1:35 am: |
You know, and maybe this will seem like a dumb question, but between the common thefts and frequent insurance claims, is it really worth the trouble to rent a vehicle on Bonaire just to shore-dive? After all, the same marine life will be seen pretty much everywhere, won't it? I mean, other than the thrill of seeking a new location and experiencing a shore dive, aren't we going to see the same marine life during the boat dives?
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By Peter Cabus (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #340) on Saturday, March 11, 2006 - 3:01 am: |
Hi Renee,
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By Jim Woodward (BonaireTalker - Post #84) on Saturday, March 11, 2006 - 6:04 am: |
Renee, I came to the conclusion about 15 years ago that it was not worth it to rent a car on Bonaire. We've made about 10 trips over the last 20 years. The last time we rented was 6 years ago when our grandaughter went with us-and then I think it was for 2 days. We always stay oceanfront at one of the places with good shore diving "out front", and make some boat dives to Klein, etc. I sure enjoyed the variety of shore diving various places for the first couple of trips, but we found ourselves diving out front anyway because it was easier. Wheels would be nice on a first trip though, see the sights, steal some salt, visit the wild side and park. To me though, it never seemed as much a "vacation" while driving.
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By Randy P (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #440) on Saturday, March 11, 2006 - 10:20 am: |
Hi Renee,
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By Dean W. (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #7) on Saturday, March 11, 2006 - 10:50 am: |
Mega-Dittos to Randy.....
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By Bart Vertenten (BonaireTalker - Post #11) on Saturday, March 11, 2006 - 11:57 am: |
There is only one reason why I am coming to Bonaire.
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By Renee (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #5) on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 7:56 pm: |
Thank you Peter, Jim, Randy, Dean and Bart for your responses. Good info. Hey Peter - although we will probably rent a truck for a few shore dives and definitely for some sight-seeing, we signed up for 12 boat dives! Maybe we can give "everybody" a little of our business during our stay on Bonaire (just hopefully not the thieves!). Take care y'all (from Florida!)
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By Renee (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 10:07 pm: |
This is a special "thank you note" to David Kaye from his posting on Feb. 17. David - you provided very good information in your archive link. I spoke with American Express and they validated everything you said. I am signed up for the vehicle rental option and now I feel comfortable about renting a truck for the shore dives and sight-seeing. Thank you for taking your time to write such an in-depth and informative post! And thank you to all of you other "regulars" who post advice - do you all realize how valuable your words are to a first time visitor? I have spent hours reading these posts and I am truly impressed with your willingness to share your knowledge and experience. Thank you.
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