I will be picking up an Avis Car Rental at Heathrow airport in June 2024, then driving to Holyhead Whales and taking the Ferry to Dublin Ireland, At this point I will be driving to Belfast Northern Ireland. I will then drive to Lame Northern Ireland and take the Ferry to Cairnryan Scotland and return this rental Car a week later to Edinburg Airport. Is this usage of an UK Rental Car legal & what extra Documentation or Licenses are needed to accomplish this task Please?
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5331 posts
As documented on the Avis website, you will need to pay for "Continental Cover".
https://www.avis.co.uk/drive-avis/car-hire-services/continental-cover
(The inappropriate name comes from the days when you could buy this for many more countries not just Ireland.)
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Continental Cover
Updated 11 September, 2023:
With effect from, 19th June 2022, we do not permit any of our vehicles to be taken outside of the UK to countries such as France, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland the Netherlands or Germany. The only country we allow our vehicles to go to is Ireland. If you wish to purchase Continental Cover to travel to Ireland, please see information below:
Cover cost to take a vehicle to Ireland
You pay for Continental Cover when you collect your hire vehicle. Indicative prices (including VAT) are shown below and are dependent on the selected rental location and estimated rental period. Cash is not accepted as a payment method.
1 – 7 days = £104.40
8 – 14 days = £146.16
15 – 21 days = £180.95
22 – 28 days = £250.56
Pick up locations -- You can purchase Continental Cover at the following locations.
Aberdeen Airport
Cardiff Airport
Gatwick Airport
Leeds Bradford Airport
London City Airport
London Heathrow Airport
Luton Airport
Newcastle Airport
Birmingham Airport
Edinburgh Airport
Glasgow Airport
London Battersea
London Euston
London Victoria
Manchester Airport
Southampton Airport
Having made your AVIS reservation online, please email Avisbudget.Ukoperations@abg.com to arrange cover ahead of collection. When you talk to us, we'll need the following information:
Number of people travelling in the vehicle
Countries to be visited
Names of all drivers
When travelling outside of the UK it’s your responsibility to check if the country you are visiting have any driving restrictions in place.
When leaving the UK on a cross-border rental, the maximum rental period is 28 days and we require a minimum of 5 working days' notice. Please note:
Crossing the border from UK Mainland to Northern Ireland - Continental Cover is not required.
Crossing the border from UK Mainland to Republic of Ireland - Continental Cover must be purchased (even when travelling through Northern Ireland first)
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32815 posts
one other thing to bear in mind is that your English car will have the speedometer in miles per hour. They don't use that in Ireland. For driving in Ireland you need to be able to convert the speedo to kilometres per hour, or understand how to use the little marks on an analogue speedo, or have a cheat sheet to refer to as you drive.
When you go through Northern Ireland and back to Scotland you need to set it back to miles per hour.
All the road signs in Ireland will be in kilometres and kph.
With all the hassle wouldn't it be easier to fly back and forth and have a different car at each end, and probably cheaper - have you checked prices at Irish Ferries with a car?
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
6391 posts
I'm with Nigel on this one. With all the driving and ferry riding, I would really look into renting a car once you get to Ireland, dropping it off before you leave and then renting another car once you get to Scotland. It will save you a lot of time, aggravation and probably money.