# ST Thomas Rental Car Recommendations



## mjm1 (Apr 9, 2014)

We will be staying at Marriott FC for two nights in late April after 8 nights on St John. We are thinking of renting a car while on St Thomas to shop for food, get from and to the airport, and maybe explore the island.

Any recommendations on who to rent a car from?

Would it be cheaper to take a cab to the store and other shopping if we decide not to explore the other areas of the island?

Any other suggestions are welcome.  Thanks.


----------



## legalfee (Apr 9, 2014)

We've used Avis at the airport for the last four years and they are good. One year I had to wait 30 minutes for a car and they upgraded me from a compact to a SUV. I've heard stay away from Budget and Hertz wont let you take the car ferry to St John.


----------



## Tia (Apr 9, 2014)

We use Avis on  STT and had no problems at all, so recommend them.


----------



## Numismatist (Apr 9, 2014)

legalfee said:


> We've used Avis at the airport for the last four years and they are good. One year I had to wait 30 minutes for a car and they upgraded me from a compact to a SUV. I've heard stay away from Budget and Hertz wont let you take the car ferry to St John.



Yes, Avis you can go to St. John, the others...not so much...


----------



## Hyperplanner (Apr 9, 2014)

We used Amalie and they were great picked us up we did paperwork quickly and were on our way


----------



## SpikeMauler (Apr 9, 2014)

We've used Hertz(can't take vehicle to St John), Discount Car rental and Amalie Car rental. Hertz was the cheapest but you're limited to driving on St Thomas. Also, they didn't have the Jeep I reserved so I drove a mini van for two days until one became available. This seems to be a common occurrence with them. I probably won't use them again. Discount I've used twice. The downside with them is you have to wait to be picked up after you land and driven to their office off the airport to do paperwork and pick up car. At the end of the week you have to drive it back to their office and then get dropped off by them at airport. Kind of inconvenient. Probably won't use them again either. Amalie drives the car to the airport picks you up when you land and drives you to an area right alongside the airport to do the paperwork. Then you drive it back into the airport to pick up bags and passengers. At the end of the week you drive it to the airport where they meet you to take the car. All in all a pretty painless process and the people you deal with are friendly. I would use them again. Next trip I might give Avis a try. If not, then Amalie again.


----------



## amanda14 (Apr 9, 2014)

Avis was solid when I used them


----------



## mjm1 (Apr 9, 2014)

Thanks everyone. 

We will only be using it on St Thomas since we will have  already been on St John for 8 days. I will check out the options you all shared. I am thinking it may be cheaper or about the same to rent a car than to pay for taxis, but we will see.

Mike


----------



## LisaRex (Apr 10, 2014)

Did I share this link with you already?  It gives rates for St. Thomas (and St. John and St. Croix) taxi rentals between common destinations.

http://www.vinow.com/stthomas/getting_around_stt/taxi_stt/


----------



## DavidnRobin (Apr 10, 2014)

mjm1 said:


> Thanks everyone.
> 
> We will only be using it on St Thomas since we will have  already been on St John for 8 days. I will check out the options you all shared. I am thinking it may be cheaper or about the same to rent a car than to pay for taxis, but we will see.
> 
> Mike



Why not rent a car (4WD) on StT and take the car barge over (and back) to StJ?  The car barge is a great way to go - and you do not pay per person and per bag, and then deal with taxis and car rental on StJ, and then on the return.

As often stated by me... we use Amalie Car Rental - they are higher priced, but worth it (IMO) as their 4WDs are almost brand new. They will be at the airport with all paperwork and vehicle ready to go - same with drop off.


----------



## mjm1 (Apr 10, 2014)

DavidnRobin said:


> Why not rent a car (4WD) on StT and take the car barge over (and back) to StJ?  The car barge is a great way to go - and you do not pay per person and per bag, and then deal with taxis and car rental on StJ, and then on the return.
> 
> As often stated by me... we use Amalie Car Rental - they are higher priced, but worth it (IMO) as their 4WDs are almost brand new. They will be at the airport with all paperwork and vehicle ready to go - same with drop off.



Thanks David. I will look into that option. We have reserved the Westin ferry as this is our first time going there, but you bring up an interesting point. We were also planning to take the Westin ferry back to STT one day during the middle of the week, since we only have two days on STT at the end of the trip. I will take a look at it to get a better idea of the cost difference, as well as the convenience.

Mike


----------



## DavidnRobin (Apr 10, 2014)

mjm1 said:


> Thanks David. I will look into that option. We have reserved the Westin ferry as this is our first time going there, but you bring up an interesting point. We were also planning to take the Westin ferry back to STT one day during the middle of the week, since we only have two days on STT at the end of the trip. I will take a look at it to get a better idea of the cost difference, as well as the convenience.
> 
> Mike



As you may already have a car on StT and drive - do not worry about StJ as StT is much tougher to drive.  The WSJ ferry is highly expensive - and will pay for a big part of the rental (esp with the more people you have - 4 is the sweet spot).

Definitely rent the whole time and take car barge - it is simple and the drop off on StJ is very close to WSJ (<5 min). The car barge out of RedHook is ~$60 RT (only buy 1-way tickets so you are not stuck with same ferry service on the return).


----------



## slabeaume (May 13, 2014)

We had a problem with Budget running out of our category of car and telling us the economy car was their intermediate car (hatchback Yurris---really!!!???).   Had to pay to "upgrade" to a car we could fit in.  I did write to corporate when we got home and we were refunded the upgrade fee, but it added to an already stressful start to our vacation.


----------



## bobpark56 (May 13, 2014)

One advantage of the Westin ferry in hurricane season is that, if a hurricane is approaching, WSJ will move forward the departure time(s) to get you to the airport before the port captains on St Thomas close the ports. 

We benefitted from that last fall...when WSJ took us back to Red Hook and then to the airport by buses.


----------



## Tia (May 13, 2014)

Have read on TripAdvisor re Budget and would avoid it in STT



slabeaume said:


> We had a problem with Budget running out of our category of car and telling us the economy car was their intermediate car (hatchback Yurris---really!!!???).   Had to pay to "upgrade" to a car we could fit in.  I did write to corporate when we got home and we were refunded the upgrade fee, but it added to an already stressful start to our vacation.


----------

