CAR RENTALS!

Nope.

The car isn't that much, it's the stinking cdw you have to choke since the credit card won't cover it.

What are you looking at -- something like fifteen bucks per day for the car for a week and another thirty per for the insurance package?

Yeah, sorry, not the actual rental but last time we went the coverage is what got us big time. So I wasn't sure if there is anything else that could cut that cost or it just is what it is. We paid around $900 last time for our rental

It is wut it are.

About forty per for a week or longer with the smallest manual and no equipment is about as good as it gets.

Kind of figured! Just making sure we weren't missing anything :)

You are not missing anything. Ireland is one of the few countries that doesn't allow you to use a Credit card or travel insurance to cover your CDW or 3rd person liability. One must go directly through the car rental company. Dan Dooley is a great company to look at. Ireland has a very high rate of accidents so they have learned to just collect upfront.

I used Travel Guard, $9 per day for cdw, last time in Ireland. Contact them for rate and coverage specifics. Also check if Amex $25 per rental coverage is good in Ireland.

I used Travel Guard, $9 per day for cdw, last time in Ireland. Contact them for rate and coverage specifics. Also check if Amex $25 per rental coverage is good in Ireland.

I don't think it's exactly accurate to say that Ireland "does not allow" you to use credit card insurance. It is the credit cards themselves who do not want to insure rental cars in Ireland, due to the high number of claims they encountered. And as Brian pointed out, you can also get third party insurance to cover you in Ireland. There is no government regulation saying that it isn't possible.

It's not the accident rate either, not by a long shot. It's some quirk in insurance law.

The RoI accident rate is about half the US rate. Australia and New Zealand are even lower, and Israel's almost negligible.

On the other side of the coin, Tanzania's vehicular death rate is about ten times that of the US -- but your credit canard has you covered.

Going to rent a car at Dublin Airport next week. I having been investigating insurance. World MasterCard is valid in Ireland for collision and theft (sent me letter, to present at rental counter), if you decline collision insurance from rental company. Car rental comes with third party liability. Looks like I still need Driver's Liability. And still would have to pay for cracked windshield or blown tire. Does anyone know of Rental company that offers insurance for tires and the like?

Yeah, good luck with that! I had "coverage" with Mastercard, too, and had it in writing. Had a small accident, and Mastercard found a way to deny the claim. And who is going to sue them over a $500 claim? Don't trust it.

That's all I needed to hear. I think full coverage from Dan Dooley looks like the way to go.
FYI: AMEX does not offer insurance for car rental in Ireland.

We used Dan Dooley - picked up and return the car 1 week later at Dublin Airport.
Yes, unfortunately we had to pay the "expensive" fees for the CDW insurance on the car,
and we also paid extra for an automatic transmission, and found gas to be more expensive
than we planned...............BUT, we really had a great trip and got to see a lot of Ireland.
Hope you have a great trip.

We are paying $605 next week for 12 days rental from Dan Dooley -- group A manual, including all coverage including tires and glass. I thought it was a pretty good deal for peace of mind; won't have to worry so much about bumps and scrapes.

See IRELAND car rental insurance that I just posted

CDW is a big rip-off; even with it, many companies do NOT cover windshields, tires, wheels, the underside of your car, re-scheduling a car if you get in an accident, etc. (don't rent unless you read the policy; i.e. rent here and read here!)

Gemut has a great primer about renting in the EU: http://www.gemut.com/images/stories/report/carrentalspecialreport.pdf

When we were in Ireland a year ago, my VISA card would not cover CDW for my rental. Now they do. I would not hesitate to use the insurance coverage provided by my VISA; since it is thru my credit union, and they really stand by me.

An option that we used last year, quite successfully, was to buy a supplemental CDW insurance policy thru a EU broker. Our nine day car rental cost us $276 US. We needed CDW coverage for around $1400EU=our deductible. The supplemental policy I bought only cost $35 US for our two weeks. So for less than $315 we had a fully covered rental car. It covered EVERYTHING you could think of....and more! I put the wrong fuel in our Irish rental and they re-reimbursed me when I got home and sent them my claim. Can't beat coverage/service like that!

If there is, I couldn't find it despite a lot of shopping around. Third party insurance like that from credit cards isn't valid in Ireland, and you are going to have to take some level of CDW insurance. The basic coverage has a huge deductible ($1,000 or more), and is still expensive. A lower deductible is exorbitant.

Rates for a car with an automatic are outrageously expensive. I suspect it's partly from what the market will bear, the rates for an automatic are nearly double what they are for a comparable car in Ireland with a manual transmission. But, considering the narrow Irish roads, shifting with my left hand would be like adding more shrapnel to a hand grenade, so I was still happy I went for the tiny car with an automatic transmission.

Final advice, avoid Sixt. Their rates were the best I found, but we waited over an hour in line at Dublin airport to get the car, and anothe half hour before we were on our way from the off site location where the cars are. Being a little slow to learn and/or optimistic that this was a one-time thing, I rented again this year and had the same results. Their rates were good, but not worth the wait.

I had wonderful service and,what I thought fair pricing,through EasytourIreland. EVERYTHING is included upfront .

I'm not sure any rental company is immune to long lines from time to time at the airport desk. I have rented at both Dublin and Shannon several times and never had to wait behind more than one other person. I usually travel during shoulder season, however, and during the high tourist season things could be different.