Question: I paid $15 for an International Driving Permit from AAA for a recent trip to Grenada. According to the travel agency, it should have been recognized as a valid document for driving. Unfortunately, when I arrived in Grenada, I was required to purchase a Grenadian driving permit because they wouldn’t honor the AAA document.
I asked AAA why the document wasn’t honored and why I was required to shell out extra money. I just want to know why the document wasn’t sufficient, an explanation about why its records wouldn’t reflect changes in Grenadian driving requirements and an assurance that other travelers wouldn’t encounter the same problem.
It’s been a symphony of delays and buck-passing from AAA for more than two months. Can you help? — Michael Elliott, Cleveland, Tenn.
Answer: AAA should have sold you a permit that worked. If Grenada didn’t accept your paperwork, you should have received a quick refund and apology.
The International Driving Permit is basically a translation of your American driver’s license. But it isn’t a substitute. The countries that accept the document require you to carry it with your license. According to the U.K.’s Automobile Association, the permits are accepted by Grenada.
But while that may be true, it’s also true that Grenada requires you to buy what it calls a “local driving permit” for EC $30, according to the country’s official tourism Web site. So in a sense, AAA was correct when it told you the permit was accepted in Grenada. It should have also informed you that the paperwork was unnecessary and that you would have to buy another permit.
Incidentally, I’m as dubious of this “local driving permit” as I am of the so-called “airport departure fee” that’s commonly charged to visitors in the Caribbean. I think these fees should be included in the price of your ticket or car rental, and if they can’t be, they should be dropped.
The next time you rent a car overseas, you might want to do a little more research. A quick online search would have revealed Grenada’s permit requirements. Also, contact your car rental company. It can let you know if you need any additional permits. I’ve never been asked for and International Drivers Permit, so I don’t have one.
I contacted AAA on your behalf. It agreed that Grenada recognizes a U.S. license with or without an official permit translation, and noted that the information was available for reference by all AAA club associates on the organization’s intranet. If the AAA office through which you bought the permit had referred to the list, “you might have decided against purchasing the permit,” the company admitted.
AAA refunded the $15 you spent on the permit.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Having traveled extensively, my recommendation would be to get the International Driver’s Permit anyway, just in case. Chris’s suggestion to do the research first is a good one, however you never know what you are going to run into when you are traveling and the people you are dealing with may not have done their research, and/or not agree with your conclusions.
For example, some friends from Germany, with valid licenses, were refused a car rental here because the clerk said that he didn’t read German and couldn’t be sure that their licenses were real ; the official translation on an International Permit would have avoided the problem. (Abysmal service, but that is another issue!)
It aslo very useful when renting cars in countries which use different alphabets from ours, making it easier for the counter personnel who may not read English well to copy down your information into their form.
So I’d say that for $15, treat it like insurance, you may never need it, but if you do you’ll be glad to have it.
Well, the Grenada driving permit is just another money-maker for that country. I was in St. Vincent (one major island north of Grenada) 2 years ago and they also require the purchase of a “local” driving permit …
Why a US driver’s license needs to be “translated” for St. Vincent or Grenada is unknown, as they are all English-speaking countries ….
I’ve rented cars in Germany, Switzerland and England and have never been required to have the “international driving permit” from AAA; while I could see that it might be useful in countries that aren’t English-speaking.
I was in Germany in October 2008 for two weeks. During that time I was stopped twice at random roadside police checkpoints. ON both occasions I was asked for my US driver’s license and my International Driving Permit. I speak good German, and it was clear I would have had difficulty had I not had the Permit.
Grenada (the island with a long ‘a’) has long made money by requiring a local driving permit. You would have had to purchase this regardless of any other licenses or permits. AAA did nothing wrong and, imo, was not obligated to refund the fee to you. Granada iss the “bad guy.”