Car rental and credit cards

Many here prefer the Capital One cards which have no foreign transaction fees. USAA, Costco, etc. have a few as well if you're a member, as do many credit unions - it pays to shop around since it will likely save you a lot of money.
The unspoken question (I think) is whether most credit cards provide insurance coverage for the vehicle while driving in Ireland. Most don't - in fact Ireland (along with a few other countries) is specifically excluded once you drill down into the fine print.
I personally prefer to book thru AutoEurope, which offers partial and full (zero deductible) coverage as part of its package. Trying to determine what's covered and what isn't can sometimes be an adventure on many of the booking websites. AutoEurope removes the uncertainty and provides me with the peace of mind I'm looking for when renting overseas. Just used them in Italy a few months ago and can recommend them.

Thank you Robert - that's all very helpful info. I'll plan to use AutoEurope.
Take care, Kristin

Keep in mind that the default rental in Ireland is one with manual transmission. If you're unfamiliar with manual shifters, or are just uncomfortable with the thought of having to shift with your left hand, I'd suggest specifying an automatic - especially if this will be your first adventure driving on the left. Will be more expensive but it'll also be worth it for the peace of mind.

Thank you for the additional tips about car rentals there.
I have another question for the forum...
Our return flight departs at 11am on a Saturday.
Im wondering if we ought to stay at a hotel in Dublin the night before?
We’re staying near Lismore, and I don’t know if it might be too stressful driving from Lismore to the Dublin airport early on Saturday, returning the rental car & catching our flight?
Any advice would be appreciated.

I would stay in Dublin. Gives you the opportunity to return the car the evening before, if you stay close enough to the airport, to eliminate one source of possible delay the morning of your departure.

Thank you for the recommendation about staying in Dublin the night before our flight out.

We used the Costco Citicard, which covered the car rental CDW, a significant savings. Most credit cards exclude coverage for CDW in Ireland. The Costco card has no international transaction fee. Citicard sent us a PDF letter that I showed to the Enterprise agent at the Dublin airport to assure him that CDW was covered. Costco Travel is also useful to find a competitive car rental rate, but after reserving online check back regularly as you might find an even cheaper price just a day or two later. Splurging for the GPS was worth it, but if your cellphone plan includes international data coverage, you might be able to use GPS on your phone, supplementing with the Ordnance Survey Official Road Atlas of Ireland (obtainable in most any Dublin book store). Even though I have done it before, shifting with my left hand was once again a challenge, but eventually I really got the hang of it. While there may not be enough room, try driving around the rental car lot to make sure you have a good feel for 1st and 2nd gear and reverse before taking the car out of the road. Pay attention to round about signalling etiquette, which most Americans do not due stateside.

I just got back from a trip. We rented a car, and used the insurance coverage provided by my Chase Sapphire Preferred card, rather than take the Hertz CDW coverage. The woman checking us in mentioned that that card was one of the only ones they would take in place of their coverage, and that card benefits are changing all the time. She said several cards had just removed their coverage in Ireland.

Best to double check on this, both with your credit card company and the rental car company before your arrival, so there are no surprises.

My AmEx is, and has always been, my preferred travel card for many reasons including no foreign fees, but it was not accepted at most places in Ireland and in Northern Ireland (UK). The Chase card is a VISA and has no foreign transaction fees, so I am glad that I had both available to me.

We stayed near the Dublin airport (and returned the rental car) on the night before our return home. Plenty of choices. We used a Holiday Inn Express; its more upscale sister, Crown Plaza, is next door. They share a reliable shuttle to/from the airport. There's a nice little Italian restaurant around the corner. Finally -- apologies for posting this several times in the past -- get a feel for the rental car return location; it's an exit off the highway just outside airport property. Easy to miss if you aren't looking.

Another reason to stay at a Dublin airport hotel: You really need to be at the airport 3 hours in advance. You clear US immigration in Dublin, not stateside. This means you not only go through Irish "TSA" but also US TSA and US passport control. The lines can be very long and it is recommended that you not dawdle in the duty free shops. There is one last chance for duty free shopping (mostly liquor) after US passport control.

We just got back from Ireland. Used our Costco CitiCard and Chase Sapphire preferred reserve card for most all our expenses as no FTE and both had CDW coverage. Chase had higher limits just in case something did happen.

We booked through Costco and were able to get an automatic Toyota Corolla (a must if you aren't an experienced left side driver) for $530 for 2 weeks including the extra $10 a day for GPS. That gave us a second driver free (we were two couples traveling together). Definitely get a GPS if you are heading to the west coast of Ireland. We found our cell phones often had no or little service on that side of the country.
BEFORE you get go get a letter from your credit card company that outlines your benefits and coverages. This wasted nearly an hour in the check out process getting that information from the US. We traveled in and out of Dublin which means a shuttle to the rental car location so allow extra time to do that and checking back in took longer than rentals I usually do in the states.