There are many things to know about coming to Costa Rica. First and foremost are the acquisition of a rental car. The insurance laws here are dramatically different than those to which you may be accustomed to. Most rental car agencies here will place a hold on your credit card from $1250 to $2500 before they will rent you a car.
If you wreck the car, regardless of fault they will immediately charge your card the entire amount of the hold. If you use American Express or some Visa card for your rental, they will charge the entire amount of repairs to your card. Once the insurance pays what is provided by the policy they will refund that amount back to you. If there is any amount left after the insurance pays, your card will be charged.
It doesn’t stop there
Other things to know about coming to Costa Rica, if you don’t take the comprehensive insurance option provided by the rental agency, you may find yourself responsible for all of the damages, including those to a third party. We recommend that if you rent a car, you get the complete package which provides for collision damage and comprehensive coverage.
You will learn quickly, that the insurance will increase your daily rental substantially. Most comprehensive packages here will run about an additional $80 per day to your rental agreement. Then they add on additional 13% tax and you could be paying well over a $100 a day for a rental car.
While we are talking about insurance, the hospitals here will not take your credit cards for services, they will demand a cash deposit which you can put on your card to treat you. Some private hospitals here require a minimum ofm $5,000 to treat you. One of my clients wound up paying almost $30,000 for a broken leg at one of the private hospitals.
Consider the following
Rent-a-Car Cost Comparisons
As you can see from the rate quote comparisons below the cost for a full size SUV rental can vary from $55.59 per day from Alamo using Credit Card coverage, to $95.90 from the local car rental company, and up to $207.92 per day with full insurance coverage.
