Car rental scam in Costa Rica February 2024
 

Be careful, even with the most reliable companies like AVIS, even through Air Transat, the local company Rental Cover uses a scheme to scam us out of hundreds of dollars.
More precisely, at the Avis office at the Liberia airport, everything was already paid for by the reservation, no need for additional insurance because we already had ours, but the attendant added without mentioning it and in small print an amount of 965.00$ (CA) on a printed sheet attached to the file.
The amount appeared on the Master Charge credit card website but it disappeared a few days later before the end of the rental. When returning the car, no residual amount appeared on the card. Back in Canada, the amount appeared again on the date of repossession of the car. Called to Desjardins Master Charge, to Avis, they didn't want to do anything. Called Rental Cover, nothing to do either. No recourse possible.
Conclusion, be careful when signing, even if impatient customers are waiting behind you and you are tired from the trip, take the time to reread all the pages of the contract, otherwise you will pay double what was expected.

There's the problem. No. That's not true. That's never true in Costa Rica. At a minimum, you must take the third-party liability coverage. You own back-home coverage or your credit card will not cover that. You have to buy Costa Rican insurance. To anyone renting a car in Costa Rica, make sure you understand what the extra costs will be, and there will be extra costs.