USVI-On-Line

For a 9 day stay on St.John, do you recommend renting a Jeep at the Airport (STT) or renting in Cruz Bay? All the rentals on St John are very expensive, should we go the airport route and car ferry route? And which car rental company would let us take the car to St John?

DELETED

I second Courtesy, we LOVE them and have NEVER had a problem with them!

We've rented twice on STJ and this last trip (2 weeks ago) on STT, and I would definitely rent on STT the next time. We rented from Discount Car Rental, which had the cheapest rates I found. They do allow their 4WD cars to go over to STJ--the only other STT agencies I've heard about who do are Dependable and Budget. Great service, and the Jeep was in good condition. You not only save money on the rental, but also on taxis/ferry especially if you have more than a couple of people in your group, since the car barge is one rate no matter how many people are in your car. For us it was $40 over, and $35 back (different car barge companies charge slightly different rates). The other benefit for us is dumping all of our luggage into the car at the airport, and not having to lug it into the taxi, off the taxi, into the ferry, off the ferry, into the car rental on STJ. We don't do carry-on only (alas!), so this is a Very Good Thing for us.

That said, you do run the risk of dealing with any flat tires/accidents pretty much on your own, since the STT agencies won't come over to fix your car on STJ. Discount told me that if anything happened, I should get the car fixed on STJ and save all the receipts, then they would take care of it on their end. Luckily, we had no problems (unlike poor Jorge!), so it wasn't an issue. The other thing to consider is what time of year you are taking your trip. In high season, renting from a STJ agency that allows you to park in their lot might be a real benefit, since parking is very scarce in Cruz Bay. We were there in August so it wasn't a problem at all, but March would be another story.

Welcome to the forum, and have fun planning your trip!

I third Courtesy, but if you don't pick them, then I recommend renting on STJ. (I do understand all the reasons people pick STT, and it's not just to save a few bucks.) Here's why we pick STJ. The thought of spending a day on vacation trying to get a vehicle towed, loaded on the car ferry, off loaded and towed to the rental agency is more than I can bear. About the only thing we know how to do is change a flat. So if something more serious happened, our only choice would be the trip back to STT. The chances of a major breakdown aren't great, but if it did happen to me, I'd be a mess.

And, if a rental agency on STT told me to go ahead and have the vehicle repaired on STJ and save the receipts for reimbursement, I'd make sure that was included in the written lease agreement. Then I'd still worry.

When I thought about renting on STT I found the prices to be comparable. Maybe I wasn't looking at the right agency but it virtually the same for the Jeep Liberty. Comparing Dependable to Conrad Sutton.

Of course you save the taxi fees (if picked up at the airport) and some hassle. I think if you have 4 people the car vs. the passenger ferry the ferry costs are about even.

You might end up paying more to park in Cruz Bay ($15 at slimmans) vs. parking for free in your STJ rental car lot.

Having had car troubles once (while renting from Conrad Sutton) I was happy to not have to deal with going to STT to get it resolved. We were able to switch out cars in a matter of an hour vs. a day.

And I just like giving my business to a local STJ business all other things relatively equal.

I also like Courtesy. They have a convenient location, parking and also allow for late pickup, which we needed last year. We're renting from them again in November.

Oh also ... Welcome!

We just rented our car yesterday for our upcoming trip, and while it seems to make lots of sense to rent on STT, we found that in the end it works out to be about the same cost on STJ. And, this way, I don't have to worry about getting a car back to STT if anything goes wrong.

We rented from Courtesy on STJ last May & it was wonderful. Their people were friendly & so helpful. I also understand all sides to renting on STT vs STJ but for us, it is worth the 'peace of mind' that if anything did go wrong we could get it resolved alot quicker & save our valuable vacation time. Parking in their lot was never a problem as there was always a space available every time we needed it. We've already got another Jeep reserved for May 09 with them.

Welcome! Our primary reason for renting from Dependable on STT is My 4WD loving husband. He insists on being able to remove the top from the Jeep and has been known, on occasion, to decorate it with fallen Palm fronds and anything else he can get his hands on. To the best of my knowledge, none of the STJ rental agencies will allow you to go topless with their vehicles

DELETED

Thanks to everyone for their replies, they are very helpful. This forum is fantastic, its going to the top of my favorites list.

It's been awhile since we've posted our response to this question, here it is:

The renting a car on STJ versus STT is a question that gets asked quite a bit on this forum; in fact we were asking the same question ourselves a fews years ago. There are opinions (sometimes strong) for both ways; our preference is for renting on STT for the following reasons:
1) A lot less baggage handling – the car rental company (Dependable) picked us up at the airport and loaded our bags into our rental car. The next time we touched the bags was unloading them at the villa,
2) Avoid the whole taxi thing and its associated costs,
3) Avoid the bag handlers/handling at the passenger ferry and the associate cost and tipping,
4) We buy most of our groceries for the week on STT on the way to Red Hook from the airport at lower cost then STJ; same with the booze,
5) When we drove off the barge, our villa rep was right there and we kept driving straight to the villa; we never stopped rolling,
6) Some STT car rental companies (such as Dependable) have no issues with the top being removed from the jeeps, unlike the STJ companies. If fact, Dependable evens boast it as one of their features, and
7) Flexibility when returning to St Thomas to drive around, find a lunch spot, etc, before returning the car and flying home.

The positives on renting on STJ are:
1) Some companies will let you use their lots when parking in Cruz Bay (we never experienced a parking problem in Cruz when we went in June, but some note it as an issue during the high season),
2) It is easier to get your STJ based car fixed if you have an issue. We consider this possibility remote and willing take the risk. We’ve been driving for 35 years, have rented many cars and never had a breakdown while driving.
3) Some people have noted the difficulty in dealing with car barges (lines, getting on), but we found the whole barge loading (backing on) and unloading to be very easy.
4) Passenger Ferries run later; so if you have a late flight or if your flight is delayed, then you might not be able to get your vehicle across if you rent on STT, but some of the STJ rentals can make arrangements for late vehicle pick-up.
5) You generally will have more time on the day you return to STT. This is because you have to allow for more time if you are taking the car barge.

As far a costs go, we believe the costs for two people are fairly equivalent whether you rent on STT or STJ. Renting on STJ you have the costs of 1) the taxi, with tip, from the airport to the dock and then back again, 2) ferry bag handling fees & tips, 3) passenger ferry fare, 4) possible taxi on STJ to the car rental company and 5) higher car rental rates on STJ. Renting on STT you have a 1) lower car rental rate, 2) higher ferry cost with the car barge, and 3) some possible savings if you purchase food/booze on STT. The cost of renting on STJ goes up with the more people in your party since the taxi, passenger ferry, baggage handling fees & associated tips will all be based on the number of people/bags. Renting on STT stays the same since the car barge is the same cost regardless of how many people are in the car.

We rented from Dependable, as mentioned above. They were very nice and helpful throughout the whole process – reservations, instructions, picking us up at the airport, rental paperwork, directions, maps, car return and taking us back to the airport. You avoid the airport tax with Dependable since they are just off of the airport property.

If you use the car barge you have the option of purchasing a one-way ticket or round-trip ticket. The one-way gives you flexibility on which car barge company to take back. A round-trip ticket will be less expensive, but will restrict which barge you can take. A two of the barge companies (3 in total) use to except each others tickets, they still may. The loading area and process is the same no matter which company you use – it’s just whichever one is at the dock and available to drive onto.