Mexico and Car Rental Madness

Puerto Morelos, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Thursday 15 December 2011

“You did get a good rate,” said the Dollar (Thrifty) Car Rental agent at the Cancun Airport, “would you like to purchase additional car insurance?”

“No,” replied Ray, “it is covered under our Visa credit card.”

“Let me explain the PLI, Personal Liability Insurance,” said the agent, “the Mexican government now requires that you purchase this insurance as there are no local representatives in Mexico for American or Canadian credit cards. The cost is $20 USD per day.”

“But that is more than twice the daily rate of the car!” exclaimed Ray.

Ray and I had just arrived from Ottawa that morning. We the extreme kindness of our friend Al Robinson, we had been driven to the airport at 3:30 AM to catch our 6:00 AM flight to Cancun. We were tired and didn't need any agrevation. We had reserved a car through the Westjet website for the 18 days we would be in Mexico. We had flown to Cancun with Westjet and used the same car rental company in Wales. What started out being an economical way to explore more parts of the Yucatan Peninsula was suddenly ballooning to unacceptable limits.

Another man in the car rental office, at a separate desk, beckoned me over. “If you agree to attend a session explaining our hotel, the Mayan Palace, I can give you discount coupons to cover the extra insurance,” he told me.

The Mayan Palace was where we had arranged a timeshare condo for one week starting next Saturday. It sounded like a good compromise and we told the car rental agent to add in the extra PLI insurance. He figured out the cost on a hand calculator and showed us the total. We couldn’t believe our eyes! It was more than four times what our original arrangement had been!

“Can you please explain how that total was calculated?” we asked the agent.

“Certainly,” he answered, “there is an 11% tax on the PLI and an extra 15% airport tax on top of that.”

That was just too much for us. Even with the discount coupons the cost was more than our budget could take. The public bus system, our usual mode of transportation, was looking better and better. We left the Discount Car Rental office with no car and headed to the airport bus depot across the road.

A short time later we were on a comfortable bus heading for Puerto Morelos, just 20 km south of the airport. It cost less than $5 CAD per person. We took an $2 CAD taxi from the bus stop on the highway into Puerto Morelos and arrived in time to have a relaxing lunch before finding our condo rental. We booked into a pleasant studio apartment, complete with kitchen, a block from the town square and three minutes from the white sand beach. The town is so small we don’t have to drive anywhere. Besides, walking is good for our health.

We are staying in Puerto Morelos for two nights before heading to the Mayan Palace on Saturday for the next week. Then it is back to our studio apartment in Puerto Morelos until after New Years. Once again, it will be public transport with the occasional taxi ride for us, no expensive rental car this trip.