Comments on: Paid for a driving permit that’s no good

By: Bo Young

Bo Young — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:34:21 +0000

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.”

By: Don J

Don J — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:22:11 +0000

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.

By: Peter Elias

Peter Elias — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:49:51 +0000

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.

By: David Adler

David Adler — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:33:20 +0000

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.