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Getting around Bonaire: AB Car rental (Insurrance question)
Bonaire Talk: Getting around Bonaire: Archives: Archives 1999 - 2006: Archives - 2005-06-01 to 2006-06-01: AB Car rental (Insurrance question)
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bart Vertenten (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Friday, February 10, 2006 - 6:29 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dear bonairetalkers,

In april i am coming to Bonaire for the first time.
(What a dream :-))

I have rent a car for 15 days with AB Car renal, but i have a question.
Should i take full insurance? Or is the CDW enough?

I will use your advice, sinds you are the experts :-)))

Looking forward to see this beautiful island...
We divers know what is good :-)

(Message edited by bluekes on February 10, 2006)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tish (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #889) on Friday, February 10, 2006 - 7:32 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Bart, we are not the experts on your needs. Only you can decide that.
What insurance do you have from other sources, such as your personal car insurance, which might cover rental cars, and your credit cards, which might provide coverage.
If you have no additional coverage, take full insurance.
If you have additional coverage, get the details, and decide accordingly.
You will love Bonaire!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Woodward (BonaireTalker - Post #80) on Friday, February 10, 2006 - 11:01 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Marcus L. Barnes (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #514) on Saturday, February 11, 2006 - 11:56 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bart Vertenten (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #2) on Saturday, February 11, 2006 - 12:33 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I will rent a Truck, but I am from Belgium so my Englisch isn't that great.

Thanks for the advice...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Peter Cabus (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #331) on Sunday, February 12, 2006 - 4:59 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hey Bart,

even if you have AMEX there will be no car rental insurance included. The Belgium AMEX card does not provide that service. I haven't found a CC in Belgium that covers car rentals.

Peter

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Kaye (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #126) on Thursday, February 16, 2006 - 10:29 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

I do understand Peter to have said that no cards issued to Belgians include any automobile coverage as part of the basic agreement.

David

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dean W. (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 1:20 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Peter Cabus (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #332) on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 4:44 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi David,

neither included nor optional )-:

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Kaye (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #128) on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 10:06 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

My personal observation is that commerce in Europe and the UK is less competitive than in the US. For example, in any area of France, all gas stations charge the same price. In the US, some careful shopping can save you 10% or more. The lack of a need to hunt for the best bargain may make for a more pleasant quality of life there, but it has costs, right in the pocketbook. I'm guessing that the lack of collision damage waiver insurance is another facet of the lessened need for the credit card providers to compete.

I could be wrong; this is just speculation on my part.

David

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Corey Brown (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #9) on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 11:16 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Nanette Oselett (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Friday, March 3, 2006 - 8:34 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Renee (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #4) on Saturday, March 11, 2006 - 1:35 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

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?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Peter Cabus (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #340) on Saturday, March 11, 2006 - 3:01 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Renee,

(-: All dive-ops would be very happy if everybody would switch to boat diving because that would mean more money for them.

The big benefit of boat diving is that you can dive at your own pace, no scheduling involved, and you mostly dive with few divers in the water. I absolutely hate overcrowded dive sites. But you are right about the marine live. It is very similar on each "regular" dive site.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Woodward (BonaireTalker - Post #84) on Saturday, March 11, 2006 - 6:04 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Randy P (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #440) on Saturday, March 11, 2006 - 10:20 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Renee,

Just MY opinion, but by limiting yourself to one location, or just the places you feel like walking to, you are really limiting your Bonaire experience.

IF you are a scuba diver then a rental vehicle is a great idea. If you only snorkel, then a scooter is a terrific choice.

EVERY oceanfront resort has a FANTASTIC house reef and I did over 20 dives right at Buddy's my last stay and saw something new and interesting on every dive, day and night. Plus I did the dives on MY schedule, not the boat captain's. I did do boat dives to experience the reefs off Klein. And I also meandered around the island in my renta-Damas minivan during those hours when I was not underwater, and they actually outnumber the hours spent diving. lol Sightseeing is also a lot of fun for me.

The nice thing about Bonaire is YOU have lots of options and total freedom to craft your vacation as YOU want, on YOUR schedule. There really is no "right" way to experience the place, and also in my opinion no "wrong" way, It's all good.

Have a great trip.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dean W. (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #7) on Saturday, March 11, 2006 - 10:50 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Mega-Dittos to Randy.....

By not renting a vehicle you are limiting yourself. Bonaire is a neat island with many features to see and diverse dive sites from north to south. We toured the island for our surface interval and/or changed dive sites. I do not want to limit myself to boat dives as scheduled by the shop.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bart Vertenten (BonaireTalker - Post #11) on Saturday, March 11, 2006 - 11:57 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

There is only one reason why I am coming to Bonaire.

To enjoy the feeling of freedom (like the word itself).

Shore Diving when I want, and on what place I want.

I can't do that without a car. The island will be too beautiful to lay on my back en dive the same place 20 times :-)

(Message edited by bluekes on March 11, 2006)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Renee (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #5) on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 7:56 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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!) :-)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Renee (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 10:07 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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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