car rental under 25?

It's going to be a problem. If someone says they will, GET IT IN WRITING.

I see that Budget in St. Thomas will rent to someone under 25 with a $10/day surcharge. Has anyone used the barge ferry to cross over to St. John? Any problems?
Thanks.

Forest: You might try this question on the Vacation Message board (click above on the right.) More people with car rental experience there, I think! 😉

Do a search on this forum. Ronnie recently posted the names of several businesses that rent to under 25.

Good thing he is coming down here for his honeymoon, in the States he wouldn't even be able to have celebratory glass of champagne! 😉

BTW the car ferry is a logistical nightmare. If you can, rent on STJ.

Question:
Do people ride scooters or mopeds on the Island? It looks to me that this would be the way to go, but in my research I've found nothing on the topic.

I live on St. Thomas, I am under 25, and I have rented from budget. It is an additional cost of $10/day. I have taken rentals to St. John, and it is not a problem.

Megan: I saw two separate incidents this last week of people turned over on Donkey Hill on their rental motor scooters. With the steep hills and blind curves, narrow traffic lanes, frequent quick showers, maniac truck and safari drivers and the lack of an on-island neurosurgeon, motor scooters are NOT a good idea in the VI.

About Budget: best to check with them directly. At least at STX the minimum age is 23. Daily rental surcharges are then $20/day for age 23, or $10/day for age 24. This is a major reason we chose STX over STJ, though perhaps we could have ferried a car from STT. Either way, limited availability and underage surcharges really hurt.
At age 24 with Masters degrees, business travel experience and fistfulls of Platinum credit cards, we'd think the tourism powers-that-be would realize we're their future and be more proactive in limiting vacation enjoyment obstacles. Doesn't seem so in the USVI.
(Sorry about the bizarre date stamp. Remote location = ancient technology!)

LornaD,
LOL... "limiting vacation enjoyment obstacles"... "we're their future" ...how funny. But hey, you can drink at age 18...WOOT!, doen't that open up vast horizons of "vacation enjoyment opportunities"?

Seriously, I think it has less to do with "fistfuls of Platinum cards" and more to do with the historical high RISK of young and inexperienced drivers, especially if they have been drinking and driving during their "vacation enjoyment". Of course, It also has NOTHING to do with a Masters degree...unless you got your Master's degree at the Bondurant School of Driving. Regardless, anyone with a Masters can certainly understand the risk/benefit model used to set the minimum age, besides the health and safety aspects for the community.

Curious though... for someone who has "fistfuls of Platinum cards", why was a $10 - $20 per day surcharge a "major reason" you chose STX over STJ? I expected you to say: "what-EVER... just put it on the card".

LOL,

Heh. Okay, Ed, let me try this again ...

To the best of my knowledge anyone under age 25 cannot rent a car AT ALL on St John or Virgin Gorda. I discovered that while researching those two islands as possible vacation destinations. At the time I was working 60+ hour weeks and doing full-time grad school, so I may have missed a detail or two along the way.

On St Croix there are two agencies willing to rent to under 25s, though with surcharges and/or other conditions. At that point I chose St Croix over the other two islands, having been advised that wheels are essential for a weeklong stay at an isolated villa.

I later learned it is possible to rent under age 25 on St Thomas under similar conditions, and to ferry the car over to St John. Why a rental agency would be taking any less risk renting a car to a 23 year old on St Thomas for transport to and use on St John, versus just renting on St John in the first place, I simply cannot understand. I perceive it as an unnecessary complication for the renter.

Now comes the really, really boring part of my response, so be advised to seek caffeine if you're going to read on.

The availability of alcohol at age 18 isn't an attraction at all now, and it wasn't back then. I can take it or leave it, and usually leave it.

The reason an additional credit card charge of $70 or $140 matters is that I have to pay it back in real dollars. It's all about cost/benefit, opportunity cost and value analysis-- concepts I was taught both at home and in AP Econ. $70 is dinner for two. $140 is a nice day excursion, an early pay-back on my student loans, or a contribution to my investment account. There is no gratification gain to overpaying for a rental car. It just leaves me feeling I've been had.

I've patronized rental places in HI and FL that run a DMV check and some kind of credit check, and rent under 25 without surcharge on that individual basis. They require payment with a credit card that covers CDW, for whatever reason. Supposedly all rental places check DMV data to protect against fake licenses, and do credit verifications so they feel they'll have some recourse if the renter runs off with the car. That being the case, there's little if any increased administrative cost to verifying me as an individual as opposed to a random member of the under-25 category.

My friends in finance and insurance tell me the degrees matter because of a trustworthiness factor-- that on account of them I've got more to lose, so statistically am less likley to take risks. I'm not in either business, so really I don't know.

The other reason the surcharges matter is that I'm a girl, and I get emotional. Realizing I as a responsible individual have to pay more than some goofus a few months older, just on account of some company policy that chooses to judge me on my birth date rather than my individual characteristics, really makes me mad.

See? That was really boring! But you were warned! 😉

LornaD,
You have me ROFLOL! You are really funny. I understand your seriousness, but I can't help but smile when I read your reply.

I can understand not wanting to be had. Keep in mind I am writing this with a big smile.

It's good you can leave the drinking to the younger ones. That's so yesterday.

So you went to stay a week at a Villa. No small price tag, right? No doubt getting the safari's to pick you up would be problematic, not like if you stayed at a fine hotel on island. However, the real "gratification" to paying that little bit extra is you would have the convenience of a rental car! I know that $70-$140 "matters" because you have to pay that back in "real dollars" . I'm sure you meant AFTER TAX dollars, right? How much was the Villa per day? For some real cost/benefit, maybe you could shorten your stay by a day or so, or go on vacation someplace less expensive, or even stay home this year so you could apply that savings to your student loan! Why that $70 AFTER TAX would be the equivilent to... what... $300 -$400 by the time you pay off the loan. That's good AP Econ! Who knows what it could mean to your 401K.

I know it may feel like you are being checked out as an "individual" as opposed to a "random member of the under 25", and that is because you ARE. Everyone will be checked out the same way. The surcharge is not because of any extra administrative charge to process you as you are under 25, it is because the risk statistics show EVERYONE under 25 is a higher driving risk. That is why your insurance will do down when you are 26 or so (see you insurance agent for details).

Your friends in insurance and finance are wrong! Your Degree has nothing to do with your "trustworthiness", and in fact I have never even heard of a "trustworthiness factor". Is it something like a FICO score? LOL I'm sorry, but this one is really funny! Trustworthiness is a matter of character. Now, character is a component of credit analysis in finance, but would not likely be assessed by the car rental clerk. Sorry, I have a vision of you carrying a copy of your diploma in your purse to show the car rental places you have good trustworthiness so you will get a discount. Having a Degree does not in itself suggest you have more to lose, nor does it suggest you will show good character, nor does it show you are less likely to take risks.

As far as being emotional and mad that you don't get the benefits of being 25... don't worry, you'll grow into it!

It was a pleasure reading your post. BTW... did you say you got a MASTERS Degree?

LOL