Avis Car Rental Panama City Airport Tocumen AVIS Insurance Ripoffc- AVIS Panama City Airport Tocumen Panama City Airport Panama City

I booked an AVIS vehicle for my trip to Panama City on the AA.com website. During the booking process I was offered an insurance policy from ALLIANZ. I paid for this policy and went on my merry way to Panama. On my arrival at the AVIS counter in Tocumen Airport, the agent at the AVIS counter totally ignored the insurance policy that I showed from ALLIANZ and insisted that no car rental firms in Panama accept insurance Policies from Allianz. For me to get a car, I had to pay 31USD per day and a 300 USD deposit. So here I am thinking that all I had to do was pick up my car and pay the 90USD for the week, I ended up having to put out over 700USD extra. The 300USD deposit is supposed to be refundable.

Todate I am still waiting for it. The 31USD per day was totally unexpected and I am trying now to alert all travelers that they should be careful when booking AVIS from a third party website. I called Allianz and they refunded me my money and told me that it was unethical for AVIS to deny coverage because they are a globally accepted company. Anyway, I got caught in this deceptive trade practice so I am warning all travelers to please find out if the insurance they bought in the US is valid or be prepared for huge rates for insurance on arrival in Panama,

I sent a complaint to AVIS and no one had the courtesy to respond. I also copied AA.com customer service and have not gotten a response. So looks like this is a learning experience. Will try another car company when next I visit but I am sure to call before to make sure I don't get trapped into this type of mess.