Car Rental prices

Yes, car rentals in Iceland are expensive. We rented a Land Cruiser for 12 days for 3K, a RAV4 for one day for $295, and again a RAV4 for 5 days foreground $1200. I share this to give you an idea. We took full insurance on all of these, and rented through Blue Car Rental each time.

Personally, I will only rent from companies there that have excellent reviews. I highly recommend taking all of the insurances including the zero deductible. You definitely want sand and ash, not just partial insurance.

We had good luck with Blue and they are highly regarded, but I have also heard very good things about Lotus although no personal interaction.

What companies are you looking at?

Don't forget an International Driver Permit (available at AAA offices - membership not required).

That is not needed for Iceland.

It is needed if one is detained by local authorities while driving.

We asked this exact question to the car rental company and they said that it is not required in Iceland. Directly from www.iceandtravel.is it states "The driver must present a valid driver's license held for a minimum of one year at the time of rental. An IDP is also required if the national driver's license is not in Roman Script."

So, no, it is legal to not have an IDP as long as your regular license fits the requirement.

Thanks! I was under the impression an International Drivers License is not needed. But, it's fairly easy to get, so it wouldn't hurt, I guess.

The two companies are Blue and Hertz..

I added zero liability to the one with Blue, but I can't find the price anywhere on my booking. I'm just doing rough math, but with the zero liability, that could bring the price to rent the vehicle up to $3000. Personally, I feel that Hertz would come not that much less, after adding insurance, so I feel it's better to go with Blue. It's just so much money!

We have legally rented cars three times in Iceland, and I can tell you that an International Drivers License is not needed.

Some rules:
1. Before travelling to Iceland, ensure you have a valid driving license. You need to have had the license for a minimum of one year to drive on Iceland’s roads. 2. If you have a valid driving license with a license number, a photograph, a valid date and in Latin letters, then you won’t need an international license.

Here's another question. Do you ever just use your credit card insurance or find your own policy? Or, do you just get what the car company offers?

You can certainly get one, but why? It’s time, effort and cost that is not needed.

In Iceland we don’t even think about using our credit card car insurance. Stateside we do, via Amex platinum card, but Iceland is a whole other ballgame IMO and we are not willing to chance anything.

I doubt that the car rental insurance on our credit card would cover the types of damage that can occur in Iceland, including sand blasting and other damage from high winds.

We rented from Blue and took their insurance. Better safe than sorry.

We rented from Blue for 19 days and had no complaints - we have another reservation with them for a return trip in May. Their location is a short walk across the parking lot from the terminal which can be a little uncomfortable on a cool/cold/rainy/windy day. An advantage with Blue was picking it up at the airport and being able to drop it off at the city location for no additional charge. After checking into our hotel, Reykjavik Centrum, we returned the car, walked back to the hotel and then took a limo to the airport the morning of our return. The limo was a worthwhile perk ($120 +/- as I recall) for two of us but I'm not sure what a party of 6 would cost.

If renting from Blue Car try using coupon code #exp19

Thank you so much for the code!