Costco car rental?

I have no information on renting via Costco. I usually rent cars through my Capital One card, and they did share that the insurance they provide will not apply to Ireland. I just got zero deductible option (cheaper if you do it ahead of time). It added a considerable amount to the rental. Call Costco and ask. Ultimately, they are the ones who can give you a definitive answer.

Hello fellow Oregonian. When we went to Ireland, Sixt was the cheapest car rental, and they were amazing. So helpful, even went out to show us the car first.

We always use our Citi card and deny any extra coverage thru the car rental. We had to file a claim once in Germany and Citi Card made it very easy, and quickly credited the amount we paid, back to our credit card. Call Citi card and request a Letter of Coverage. They immediately email it to you while you are on the phone with them. I just did this yesterday for our upcoming trip, and the letter states, “coverage applies worldwide, including the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.”

You will love Ireland!

I’ve rented cars through Costco in England, Scotland, Germany and Spain and haven’t had any issues. The price is straightforward and you do get a free 2nd driver. You purchase insurance at the rental counter. You need to check with Citi, not Costco, if the Costco card has CDW as a benefit. If it is a benefit and you choose to use it, have it in writing as the previous responder mentioned.

If it is a benefit and you choose to use it, you may not be able to get some additional coverages from the rental company, e.g., zero deductible, theft, windshield, tire damage. The rental company will let you know when you pick up the car. Driving on the left, it’s not uncommon to scrape a curb from time to time, so tire damage coverage is nice to have.

Most rental cars offered through Costco, especially the smaller vehicles, are manual transmission although occasionally it does have automatics. When selecting a vehicle on the Costco site it will say manual or automatic in the vehicle description. Costco seems to use Enterprise and Alamo in Ireland.

I think the issue here isn't the benefits that you have with renting through Costco/Citi, but rather whether these benefits will apply to Ireland as it is one of the few countries where car insurance rules are different. Do call whoever you will need to as my credit card (with same great benefits elsewhere throughout Europe) explicitly stated that we will not have the same type of coverage in Ireland. I believe Italy is the other country where this issue with car rental insurance applies.

I always rent through Costco in the US, but haven't figured out how to designate that I want an automatic car in Europe through the website; so we go through Enterprise website or use the Auto Europe website when renting in Europe, because their websites allow for that. I've always meant to ask Costco renters how they manage a confirmed automatic in Europe through the website.

Of course this doesn't answer your questions, but sine you've never traveled to Europe it's something to think about; among the many differences there are in driving in a country which drives on the left side of the road; you need to get an International Driver's Permit before departure.... different insurance rules for different countries...etc.

An IDP is not needed for Ireland if your valid drivers license is in English.

You need to call Citi within 30 days of your trip and they will email you a confirmation of insurance coverage. I'm a Executive Costco member, so maybe your card is different. We're renting thru Costco in two weeks and I expect their subcontractor Alamo to insist we pay $7/day to allow us to use the card insurance (we rented from Alamo a few years ago). Hopefully, the Costco channel waives that absurd fee. I'll post the outcome when I get thru the process.

Thanks everyone! Lots of very useful info on here.

I went back to check my car reservations (I have three for three different legs/locations of our trip) and they were all for manuals. Eek! I was able to pay 50 pounds more for an automatic for the England portion of the trip, but was not given that option for the cars in Ireland. I may have to rent from someone else just for that reason. We haven’t driven a stick in 20 years, and would be fine to do it in America, but with it on the left side and trying to drive on the left as well, it would be too much to deal with at the same time.

we rented a few days ago from Alamo bia Costco and there were no extra charges and no high pressure sales.