Need a 9 passenger van rental _Ireland

Could be that this far out the rates are that high. The rates I found for Dec 2023 are about half the Sept 2024 rates; also could be that seasonal demand makes Sept much higher than Dec.

Any way you could do 2 smaller vehicles?

Is it 6-7 of them plus you , for a total of 7-8 total occupants? ( plus all the bags)

Any kids that need car seats would reduce total capacity, or at the very least make for a miserable situation, if it is even possible to put a car seat and have 2 others in the same row.

Is it possible to cut a deal with an established tour company to do a custom trip? You could save costs on such things as insurance, etc. You can split the costs by person. I also think that two vehicles might be the best option. That way some could go out to dinner, while others could stay in without being stranded without a car.

Try gemut.com. They're an agency, and will shop the major brands and do the comparison-shopping for you. Call them Monday during business hours (they're based in Oregon) or shoot them an email (see their website). Be specific about your needs (so you need to ask specific questions giving specific times and locations for pickup/dropoff), give them a day or so to plow through the options and they will get back to you with the best deal they could fine (if you find anything better, they will match price). They handle all the details up to when you go pick up the car, and if anything goes sideways they can try to help set things right. I've always found them helpful and responsive, and am a longtime satisfied customer.

gemut.com

Thanks Joe, Kathleen and David for the thoughtful responses. I am hoping that we might see a drop in rates as the time comes closer - I shall probably have to call to sort through the rates as $6000 for two weeks really blows the budget.

Gemut.com is also a great suggestion that I plan to pursue. I see some comments warning about the narrow roads so that is also a bit of a concern.

I had also considered doing a self-drive custom tour so I'll be looking at what they can offer in a larger vehicle.

Thanks again, Ray

One trip there were nine of us so we rented two SUVs and it worked out well for all of us. As someone suggested, and we did that, a couple of times we just split up and went different ways during the day and connected at night. It was.easy to.park them and negotiate rather than a van I think. We were able to.rent houses large enough for our group too. Enjoy.

Thanks Gail - Unnfortunately I am the only driver so we need the larger vehicle. Including me there will be 7 people traveling together.

Best of luck and am sure you can find something much more reasonable than the 6000 you were quoted.

By using Google Maps street view you can zoom in to see the roads you’ll be traveling on.

Its how I plot my routes when I travel.

Hedges sometimes curtail peripheral vision especially on rural roads. That and you’ll experience roundabouts, traps, lorries, sheep, bicyclists, dog walkers, and runners. Simply slow down. Don’t rush.

I’ve driven the entire island twice. Clutch. Small 2 door. Larger mid size 4 door. Solo. Female. Born when Truman was in office.

As I said I use Google Maps street view to visualize the route. I note where petrol stations are.

Its a beautiful island. Great people, great food, great music. Enjoy.

Thanks Gail

If you use Auto Europe, try their Irish website autoeurope.ie instead of the dot com site. I save about 25% on a 30 day rental. The quote will be in euros.

You may be running into a supply side issue. The number of large vans are going to be few, and that usually means they can charge what the market will bear.

You may want to compare with getting two mid-size cars (meaning two drivers), the total may be much cheaper. The other bonus is that those cars will be easier to get around in and park.

Insurance is other wild card, you usually wind up having to buy through them, since your credit card coverage likely does not cover Ireland. It can easily double the base cost compared to what you might be used to.

OP said upthread that they are the only driver, so it needs to be a single vehicle.

Plenty of common credit cards do provide insurance coverage that’s valid in Ireland (mine do - I’ve checked, and have used that). It’s definitely worth checking that detail (always, before any trip where you hope to use that benefit, even when not in Ireland).

Thanks all for the advice. i found an independent agent renting vans at a better price but still 295 a day with insurance. If anyone is interested they are at www.valuevanrental.ie Still not great but better!

You'll need to sort out the matter of the insurance before you commit to anything.
While most credit cards specifically exclude coverage in Ireland, other posters here have recommended the Chase Sapphire cards (both the Preferred and Reserve cards) which do provide insurance cover in the country and which others here have reported work very well for them. Either of the cards is worth researching - might save you a lot of money versus taking the coverage from the rental car company ... even after you account for the enrollment fees for the card itself.
I believe that some of the premium cards from American Express also provide coverage, though in our experience those are much less widely accepted overseas for routine purchases. Still might be worth checking them out to see if one of them might be worth it just for the rental car cover, however.

We are all good now. My cc covers our vehicle in Ireland so we are now at 250 euros a day - much better than the majors.

My cc covers our vehicle in Ireland

Did you confirm it covers a van as large as you intend to rent? I have seen size limits and other exclusions, in the fine print, on what type vehicles the credit card will cover.

Joe, yes covers up to and including 9 pass vans