Car rental

In 25 years of renting in Europe, we’ve used AutoEurope only once, and have generally booked directly with a rental company, for better rates than what AutoEurope quotes for the same company. On our Ireland trip in 2024, we used Dollar car rental, and in 2018 (the same year we flew to Inishmore), we rented from Enterprise. It means doing some extra price searching from company to company, but that has resulted in lower rates.

We always use our Chase card, which provides damage insurance coverage. The only time we’ve ever needed to file a claim was for some scratches in the bumper paint in Norway with Hertz, and the Chase coverage saved us over $800. It did require follow-up with the Hertz office, and sending photos and documentation electronically to Chase, but we didn’t have to pay extra for insurance premiums to the rental company.

Chase’s insurance people used to mail us out a letter confirming that they provided their cardholders with damage insurance, which we had to show to the clerk at the Dollar desk in the airport terminal to prove we were covered. Otherwise, he was going to force us on the spot to buy his extra coverage, not just taking our word for it. Chase now seems to be doing an electronic document, e-mailed. If you didn’t already do this when you double-checked with Chase, call them again and verify exactly what confirmation they provide you that you can show to rental staff, and what procedures you’ll need to follow in case you have a claim. Know all that up front, to avoid surprises or complications, and you’ll drive confidently and save money in the process.

You're right that Costco doesn't have a filter for transmission, but it does show you the car's transmission. You just have to click through. Annoying, but maybe worth the effort if they can beat the price from Delta.

@G3RRY, that's just it, they don't come close to the Delta quote, which given the pricing of their hotel rooms is shocking. When the lowest price was much more than Delta's and was for a manual, I didn't go further. The Costco chat person did say they were going to add a filter for transmission soon.

@Cyn, I have checked in the past with individual companies, and on their own the company quotes haven't been as low as Autoeurope. I will price out a few individual companies and double check. The company from Delta is Hertz. I also checked with two local companies, one was, My Irish Cousin, and they were a lot more. I do like to look at local companies. We rented from Arnold Clark in England and they were excellent. I guess the main point of my post was, don't sleep on Delta Travel for car rental.

EDITED TO ADD: Just checked renting directly from Hertz and it was about $75 more that the Delta quote, which compared to the other quotes, isn't bad. It's better than any of the quotes from Autocurope

Jules, that's interesting that you mention this. I just booked a rental car through Delta last week, and I was surprised at how low the price was. It's in the states, and I booked it in conjunction with the flight I took, but still I was pretty surprised. Plus I get extra points for it, which will help me possibly reach status this year. At any rate, I'm happy to have found that and will keep it in mind for the future. I usually book through AutoEurope unless I'm in the UK, and then I book directly with Arnold Clark or Celtic Legend.

For some reason, I have never had luck booking anything overseas through Costco. I think I've tried three different times in three different countries, and every time it tells me they don't have anything there. I don't know what's up with that.

Responses 1 and 2 above reported to Webmaster.

Mardee, the skymiles wasn't the main objective, but I get more from the rental car than I do from the flight! I don't even try to figure out Delta anymore.