Car rental advice

You can get advice and answers to most of these questions from the "Travel Tips" section of the RS website under Transportation - Driving.

I always use AutoEurope, generally cheaper and easier than booking direct. Definitely get the super CDW. We had scratches on the underside of the bumper that may or may not have occurred on our watch when returning to Dublin airport. The photos that they had from before the rental were predictably poorly lit and low resolution. It looked like something was there, but not sure. The agent at drop off said if we had not had the super CDW they could charge us "anything we want." I know I did not hit anything. Get the super CDW in Ireland, for sure. I am rethinking this for other countries too, in the past I have mostly relied on AMEX premium rental coverage.

I always use Dan Dooley Car Rental. They give you a fair price which includes all insurance if you ask for that in your price; I always get full insurance. If you can handle it, get a manual shift car. It's much cheaper than an automatic. Have a wonderful time and start planning your second trip soon!

Are you staying in Dublin for a few days, or what is the general itinerary? You don't need and won't want a car in Dublin-there is excellent public transport-and it may be best in terms of jet lag as well to not jump into a car to drive in a new place on the left side of the road right after a long flight. I have heard good things about Dan Dooley as mentioned above, and definitely getting full insurance is the way to go. I would not recommend reliance on a credit card, no matter what your card carrier or anyone else says.

It may be too late, but definitely get the insurance. Many of the country roads are narrow with hedges along them, you will have the car scratched up in no time.

Not sure where you're from, but if you're a Costco member, they have cheap car rentals outside of the US. I haven't used them outside the US yet.

Reserve your car in the states ensuring you specify an automatic unless you're used to shifting on the left. We rented through Avis. We buy car rental insurance through Allianz for $9 a day. Many credit cards also offer car rental insurance, so check your card, but usually it's secondary insurance.

Get the full CDW -- it is almost certain you will scrape a fence post or stone wall along the way. Even though it is very expensive, you can turn in the keys and walk away. Worth every penny.

We rented from SixT in 2015 and didn't take the full/high coverage. We had one of those 'scrapes' that we hadn't noticed (brush along the roadway)? IAC, SixT charged us €599 for the 'scrape'. Before SixT we'd always used Hertz, pickup/return at the airport. No issues with Hertz in over a couple dozen trips. (Why did I try SixT? -- don't ask. Never again.) But, yes, if you read up on rental car insurance you'll have found that Ireland is one of the "nasty 6" when it comes to rental car insurance. There's just no way (we've found) to beat the need to get their insurance.

When we are spending any days in Dublin at the start or end of an Ireland trip, we do NOT take the rental car for those days. We use the bus to get between Dublin & the airport.

On automatics. Yes, you'll pay more but if you're not used to a stick shift, it MAY be worth it given the narrow roads and the "other side" driving. We've finally worked our way to feeling ok with a stick shift but in the early trips always opted for automatic. It's really important to specify it (and check that you have it reserved). On one of our early trips we waited 4 hours for them to drive "THE automatic" up from Cork to Dublin. We waited. We watched as the rental desk offered the same "upgrade" to person after person to take a standard transmission. We were the only stubborn ones to wait it out. Not ideal to waste 4 precious travel hours sitting at the rental desk.