Avis at San Jose Airport

Pros: Horrible totally disappointed

Cons: Rude, time consuming, not willing to listen or meet my needs

Pros: Car was clean

Cons: Got ripped off as had to pay for Avis insurance even though I had my own coverage. Was told it is not optional. If not optional should be included in price. Cost me over $300 more than cost of rental.

Pros: Avis is offsite at the San Jose airport. You will have to pass all the rental car desks as you are exiting the airport. Once outside a man NOT in a Avias uniform will try to help you. I was quite rude to him because he didn't have anything on identify him with Avis so was scared it was a scam. Finally found a guy in an Avis uniform.

Cons: The van needs cleaned that takes us to the offsite Avis. I always put my pickup time early and drop off time later just in case. I reserved the car, it shouldn't matter what time I pick up if it's with in business hours. Was given grief about this at check in. Receptionist at checkin was wonderful but needed help as he had 3 people at 7:30 pm at night and we were all tired. Dropping off was seamless.

Cons: Avis were terrible. Company policies are totally pointless. Our credit card didn’t cover their excessively high deposit, and they offered no alternative. Had to find another rental company, use Paradise Cars, much better and local. DO NOT USE AVIS

Pros: You knowingly charge foreigners exuberant amounts for your “insurance”. It’s an already well known fact but unbelievable to experience.

Cons: Your evil tactics of charging foreigners exuberant amounts for insurance when they just arrived to your country. The complete oposite of Pura Vida and the only negative experience I had in Costa Rica. I should’ve known when the agent wouldn’t even look me in the eye when I questioned it.

Cons: I paid in full to book my rental, but Avis charged me an additional $480.

Pros: N/A

Cons: Wait time, location of the car rental, all tires had low air and there was no windshield fluod

Pros: Not much of anything. It was skiw

Cons: See above.

Pros: Todo

Cons: No hubo ningún inconveniente

Pros: The car was fine

Cons: The additional Costa Rica insurance cost that I had to pay

Pros: Got an upgraded vehicle at no cost.

Cons: Agent was very efficient and helpful

Cons: So so bad, very bad the service

Pros: Nothing.

Cons: Chaos at the airport to get picked up, avis reps were extremely rude, hidden fees of 3x the rental price- they forced us to get avis insurance even though I had my own through my credit card company, kept a 1000$ deductible??? Absolutely atrocious.

Pros: The car had four wheels.

Cons: Customer service, lack of transparency in pricing, laughed in my face. Will never deal with Avis again.

Cons: I didn’t have the car I asked for and was guaranteed

Cons: Took an hour and a half to get our car. We missed our ferry because of this. Also we were required to purchase full insurance in order to rent the car.

Cons: The worked didn’t had service mind. My car didn’t had a cover to hide the trunk when it should, the worker didn’t care. I asked for a car where was possible to charge my phone, the worker don’t seem to care. I needed to work out and fight for a solution. The car didn’t seem to be in shape.

Pros: Insurance was sold as mandatory. Car do didn’t had rear camera and car play options

Cons: Insurance was sold as mandatory. Car do didn’t had rear camera and car play options

Cons: Scam with mandatory insurance costing twice the rental amount.

Pros: Nothing.

Cons: They do not accept debit cards and yet every other agency or hotel does. They would not allow payment with an overseas credit card via telephone either.

Pros: not good

Cons: not good

Cons: I had check before I went about insurance . I got the pamphlet from my credit card company saying that I am insured from them . Avis would not except that and told me I had to get Com pension insurance through them or they would not rent to me . Discover card told me it was at the terminal it is not . Discover cars said this was and all wheel car I was getting and avis said I needed to pay an additional 20 per day.

Pros: Nice clean car. Agents were friendly.

Cons: Not an efficient pickup process as Avis didn't have a rental desk at airport, only a guy holding an Avis sign out in the taxi area.

Pros: Great advice, great service

Cons: Nothing was bad with Avis - I am not happy with Discovery Cars

Pros: nothing

Cons: There gas tank showed full when I picked it up but it was not. It showed I had 450km before filling up, yet it had all the bar indicators like it was full. When I went to fill it up it then reset and said I had 680km before fill up.

Cons: Paiement d’assurance élevé lors de la possession du véhicule (non mentionné lors de la réservation)

Pros: Employees friendly, easy to find shuttle, A.C., water and coffee while waiting for the car

Cons: I thought onsite would mean actually at airport rather than a shuttle drive away. Good to know for next time. Also, always good to calculate the additional $20-30/day mandatory insurance which is stated in the contract ( just not the amount)

Pros: Absolutely nothing. I would never rent a car from Avis ever again.

Cons: The service provided by Avis at this location was absolutely abhorrent. I would never recommend anyone traveling to this location rent a car from Avis ever.

Pros: The agents did everything they could to resolve the problems we faced as apparently there were no cars available due to bad weather conditions during the previous days and weeks.

Cons: Avis pick-up location is the only one that is not in the airport which is very inconvenient.

Pros: They tried to work with us when we had issue with the rental car.

Cons: The agents were not friendly. This might have been because we picked up the car late night.

Pros: nothing,

Cons: after charging for additional insurance, they said car would be ready in 10 minutes - took over 45 minutes

Cons: Avis did not credit me for the amount I pre-paid. The amount I was charged was far in excess of the quoted amount. Avis did not allow me to modify my original booking when my flight was delayed; they kept the prepayment and did not apply it to my new rental.

Pros: the car was great.

Cons: they stole my credit card (did not return it to me and then used it) Also they charged $1000 hold and then charged me DOUBLE for insurance.

Pros: Clean car, great dropoff

Cons: Overselling, location

Pros: The car worked - but everything about the experience was negative.

Cons: The process to pick up the car slow and the agent said our insurance we purchased was worthless. We wasted a lot of money. The agent was not helpful.

Pros: Nothing

Cons: Hidden fees

Cons: Carro ruim é velho. Com pneus carecas.

Pros: It was hard to find Avis desk at the airport because it was not there. It was hard to get to. We rented GPS but it wouldn’t charge. We got stranded because of that.

Cons: Desk clerk was nice and quick and resourceful.

Pros: Car was in good condition.

Cons: Vague about Costa Rican insurance fees, even when I emailed back and forth about it beforehand.

Pros: Nothing

Cons: They were the only rental agency not actually in the terminal - we had to take a shuttel to get there, It took us an hour once we got to their shop to actually get the car; We were charged double what we had already paid in extra coverage they told us was required, They put a $2,000 hold on our credit card. Everyone in there at that time was extremely upset about these same items - none of us knew about these things ahead of time and none of us would have rented from this Avis had we known.

Pros: Employees were kind

Cons: Car needed an oil change and washer fluid when I arrived. Car did not have 4 wheel drive, but was $30USD / day more expensive than the 4-wheel drive I originally requested. Our flight was delayed 30 minutes so we got there after AVIS closed and they cancelled our appointment

Pros: Easy and effiicient

Cons: High pressure insurance sales tactics. Give me all the information and let me pick the best choice. Ahead of time. Not at the counter.

Cons: I was pushed an insurance which had confused me because I had already paid for one over the internet. The insurance they sold me was almost three times more than what it cost me initially to rent the car. The process to rent a car over the internet and what the dealer tells you trying to make you spend more money is confusing and I feel they take advantage of that. I will never be using Avis for renting a car, this was the worst experience I’ve had with a car rental company

Cons: preferably send enough info of the insurance cost before arriving the office to pick up.

Pros: That he pointed out that the full coverage offer by Discovery was a total waste of money

Cons: poor explanation on how the charges were calculated. Everything was based on what he called a 425 US deposit from Discovery. That rental cost was paid in full to you up front. Will rent again but not through Discovery

Pros: Good and reliable car. Base price is pretty good.

Cons: Lack of transparency, many additional fees.

Pros: The attendants were apologetic for something they claim to be out of their control. and seemed to be a common theme that there were not enough cars to rent .

Cons: Not enough vehicles for the amount of reservations. There were 20 couples all with reservations and only excuse was no cars sorry. We were understanding and asked for a avis credit so we could take a taxi to hotel and come back in a few days. Not an option, no credits ,3rd party, even with no cars available. After 2 hours , they waved us over and gave us a 2016 toyota 4x4 diesel that need brakes and some maintenance. We had ordered a brand new Nissan xtrail 2021 . We accepted the Toyota.

Pros: NOTHING - For discovercars specifically.

Cons: my initial reservation was void because I went beyond the 2 hour grace period. My flight was delayed and baggage was delayed. I had informed discoverycars 3-4 hours in advance of my delay where they told they would notify Avis. However, regardless of this, I still had to do a brand new reservation.

Cons: "Mandatory" insurance was a terrible racket and not mandatory if you have a letter from your credit card company.

Pros: They were able to answer all my questions

Cons: The dashboard and gauges could of used a cleaning.

Pros: Prompt, courteous service. Allowed car to be left at terminal parking at drop off for a small fee. I’d ask specifically where to park when using this service.

Pros: They had good hours of being open

Cons: They charged me for personal liability insurance that was over twice the cost of what Discover charged me as what I was led to believe was the full cost of my rental. Either Discover communicated poorly or Avis did.

Pros: The AVIS agent we dealt with was spectacular! Extremely helpful and patient!

Pros: It was a very fast check-in and return process.

Cons: The lack of signage at the airport for where to wait for the shuttle or the 15-20 min wait for the shuttle to show up. Also that the car had no electronic (phone) hookups to charge it or stream music through speakers.

Pros: they have cars in very good condition and new

Cons: fast

Cons: Long wait lines with 1 person working the counter.

Pros: I was able to drop the car at the airport

Cons: Pick up took way, way too long. Agent was rude.

Pros: I liked nothing about the experience. The Avis rep. would not rent me the vehicle unless I “accepted” Avis full coverage at $32 or $40 per day…$400! He stated 3rd party full coverage isn’t enough and I should have rented through Avis. This is a scam that both Avis and 3rd party renters are complicit in! I am not happy with this tourist shakedown in Costa Rica. I was able to stop another couple from renting and will continue to bring light to Avis and this scam.

Cons: I liked nothing about the experience. The Avis rep. would not rent me the vehicle unless I “accepted” Avis full coverage at $32 or $40 per day…$400! He stated 3rd party full coverage isn’t enough and I should have rented through Avis. This is a scam that both Avis and 3rd party renters are complicit in! I am not happy with this tourist shakedown in Costa Rica. I was able to stop another couple from renting and will continue to bring light to Avis and this scam.

Pros: Car was fine.

Cons: Very slow service. Additional fees.

Pros: Nothing. Never again.

Cons: Very rude representatives. They treated us like we were stupid. They said DiscoverCars.com scammed us into buying insurance through them, but they wouldn't accept it. We ended up paying $400 more dollars at the desk, after paying DiscoverCars.com $115 for rental plus insurance, and thinking we were covered. When we were at the desk trying to sort through our situation, another lady was there and they were yelling at her because she couldn't find the gas station to fill her tank.

Pros: The agents were knowledgeable and courteous.

Cons: Avis was great, I just regret not booking directly through them.

Cons: I purchased Insurance through DiscoverCars for ~$70 USD. Upon arrival in Costa Rica, I was told by Avis that since I had purchased the insurance through a third party provider, it did not apply to my rental. I was also told that I needed mandatory Costa Rican insurance, which amounted to ~$45 per day, tacking on a few hundred dollars in additional costs to my original quote from DiscoverCars. I'll be pursuing claims against one or both of these insurance charges that I had to make.

Pros: Close to the airport. Good service

Cons: My car got a flat tire 30 meters after leaving the agency. Initially, they didn't even want to change the tire and I don't know if they charged me for a new one.

Pros: Nothing worst company ever

Cons: They didn't have a car for us, told nothing we can do for you.

Pros: They provided an excellent car.

Cons: They did not care that we had already paid a rental fee on Discovercars. They ignored that and charged us full price.

Pros: Drop off went without trouble.

Cons: Refused to acknowledge that I had called to inform them of our flight delay (had to call 5 times before anyone answered the phone, and apparently whoever answered did not log in the info), made us come back the next day to pick up car, did not provide transportation to and from hotel which was 10 minutes away, did not provide taxi charges (USD$20) all of which was due to their mistake.

Cons: Long waiting time hinden fees

Pros: Nothing

Cons: Everything

Pros: Overall Great service, good car. Staff was very attentive and professional.

Cons: The insurance rate from the car rental, might become discouraging . The cost of insurance blows exponentially the bottom line .

Cons: There is a mandatory Insurance fee. They don’t accept any credit card or any other insurance provided by the customer. The result is 3X the pricing of the booking. Unacceptable

Pros: I did not pick up the car due to Discover cars

Cons: Discover cars is a scam

Cons: The extra $26 per day for mandatory insurance. If its mandatory, shouldn't you add a disclaimer that you will be asked for $26+/day extra at the time of booking?

Pros: Air Conditioned office

Cons: Forced car insurance on top of what discovercars sold me

Pros: Never had any issue with Avis in the US. But, in Costa Rica be aware of their malicious tactic to charge more money.

Cons: They need the let the 3rd parties know that the "opt out insurance waiver" needs to be removed from their website. It is malicious to give the option to opt out then when you get there they make it mandatory.

Pros: Paid in advance and I did not get a car. They ran out of cars but you still took my money

Cons: You sold out of cars but you took my money

Cons: I paid in advance, and had paperwork showing a $0 balance at pickup but was forced into paying $386 additional

Pros: Nada

Cons: Not friendly or helpful

Pros: Nothing.

Cons: The service person was the worst customer service agent I've ever dealt with. He was rude and shady. He told us we were required to purchase an insurance policy that it was unclear if was required; he otherwise would not rent us the car (he literally told us they would take us back to the airport - note that we were in another country and we had no option - clearly hustling us into paying more). The result was paying TRIPLE what we booked the car for.

Cons: The San Jose Airport Avis location in Costa Rica was a nightmare. They charged me over $400 for liability insurance IN ADDITION to the fee I had already paid Discover Cars. I now understand this is a local issue in Costa Rica, but there was no mention of it on Discover Cars.

Pros: Not much

Cons: They didnt have what I had booked and then charged me more of what they did have.

Pros: Quick and efficient.

Cons: I have a question about the bill and customer service keeps sending me back to the original menu. I spent over two hours on the phone and got no help. I plant to never use Avis again.

Pros: My flight was delayed. they gave my car away and I was left with no car for my entire trip, and was not refunded my 200$ deposit.

Cons: What is the point of putting a fucking deposit down and making a reservation if your just going to give my car away? Obviously my flight was delayed. Obviously if i wanted to cancel my reservation i would've called. Im actually done renting cars at all. You are all fucking scammers.

Pros: The car was nice

Cons: They tried to swindle me with extra fees, under the guise of it being a charge for incidentals. Now I have to file a claim to get my money back. Almost double the amount that I initially paid for the rental. Meaning my total right now is 3 times what it should be.

Pros: I was never told I could contact Avis. I was looking for Discover Cars

Cons: that I didn't know you were Avis.

Pros: Clean car and easy drop-off

Cons: Slow annoying pickup experience

Pros: Nothing

Cons: The car wasn’t there

Pros: The agents were so friendly and helpful.

Cons: The car was exceptionally dirty.

Pros: Great customer service. Everything was explained well.

Cons: Being surprised with extra, necessary insurance fees. Would have been better if y’all were upfront about them.

Pros: Free coffee and WiFi in office

Cons: Deceptive pricing, last minute bait and switch, no airport location, hardball pressure to buy insurance and gas, high security deposit, crappy, dirty car.

Pros: The people were super efficient, nice and helpful.

Cons: The cost if local insurance was unexpected. We only needed a liability coverage as the rest was covered by our credit card. It was several hundred $$ for two weeks. Wish it would be disclosed upfront.

Pros: Horrible service, you get there and they’ll tell you the rate you booked is not available so you’d have to pay the difference. Discover cars also can’t reply to emails about issues with your trip.

Pros: Didn’t know I had to go off airport property… website said Avis was “at terminal”

Pros: Efficient drop off

Cons: Very high mandatory insurance

Cons: Additional fees that weren't mentioned on the site or when I called to speak with a representative there before my trip.

Cons: The rental agent lied to us about how much the tolls were to get us to buy a fast past, lied to us about the cost per litre of gas to have us pay for full to full, then Avis charged not one but two of my cards a total of 3 times for a $506 charge making effectively cutting off my cash flow while traveling. I had to file fraudulent card use and now am waiting an additional 10 days after my trip to be able to use my cards!!!

Pros: Quick drop off

Cons: Damaged car, paid more than twice what I had reserved my car for.

Pros: Avis was fine, good service.

Cons: released my car and I had to wait until next day to pick one up.

Pros: Nothing, it was a pain. Waited for the car, and waited again to drop it off.

Cons: Provide upfront information about liability insurance in Costa Rica

Pros: Avis took a long time helping us pick up car

Pros: Friendly agents and shuttle drivers (both pickup and dropoff at SJ/Liberia) -- really good local costa rican customer support (via phone and email) once I was able to find a way to contact them -- it was difficult.

Cons: There were no signs and no indicators of where to go or how to find Avis when exiting San Jose airport. I needed to depend on someone's help who was summoning taxis in order to get to the rental. Insufficient information about how to find car rental prior to arrival. Difficult to find accurate information on how to contact the local avis support in Costa Rica -- all the numbers were outdated.

Pros: Everything but for the first rep who was completely rude.

Cons: The first rep.

Pros: easy drop-off

Cons: The representative was rude. The company was not able to provide the reserved car. They gave me a cheaper car that I didn't want.

Pros: The services was not great at all

Cons: Nothing was worth liking

Pros: Returning the car was very easy! They also let us return the car a few hours late which let us do a couple extra activities.

Cons: The warm air didn't work in the car. Not sure why.