Review Detail

I completed a minivan reservation in advance for our 9 day stay at Panama. The price quoted was $297.19. I planned on using my credit card and take full advantage of the car rental insurance it provides. I did my research and understood that the liability insurance in Panama is mandatory and the credit card travel insurance is ok with that as long as I decline the collision and theft insurance. The guy at the counter told me a whole bunch of made up policies. Thrifty needs a letter from the credit card company and that I could not decline the collision and theft due to the size of the vehicle I was renting (seriously?). So he quoted me 3 other amounts of $718.64 for basic, 759.58 for standard, and 891.79 for full, all hand written on a scrap piece of paper (huge red flag). Because this trip was outside of the US, I also had a second reservation with Alamo for $327.57, same vehicle class (just in case). Boy, was I relieved I did that. The person at Alamo did not give me any grief, and gave me the straight up scoop and I just had to pay the liability portion of about $117 (which I expected) - total $444.
Bottom line: DO NOT RENT FROM THRIFTY at TOCUMEN AIRPORT IN PANAMA. THIEVES