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Recommended car rental in Ireland

Should I start with the American companies like Enterprise and Hertz or is there an Irish company that would be better?

Posted by
8570 posts

For my 3 car rentals in Eire and Northern Ireland I went with Hertz and got as much coverage that was available.

Been renting from Hertz since the 70’s.

Posted by
2791 posts

Many here (us too) rely on AutoEurope for car rentals in Ireland - their prices are competitive and their explanation of the various insurance options are pretty straightforward, an important consideration since most credit cards specifically exclude coverage in Ireland. Am advised that their customer service is top notch (we've never had to use it) and their cancellation policy is pretty liberal.
The last few times we've rented thru them at Dublin airport the company has been Hertz, fyi.
https://www.autoeurope.com/

Posted by
10178 posts

I’ve always used Auto Europe for rentals everywhere in Europe, including Ireland. A few weeks ago I was in Montpellier, France and wanted to rent a car for the day. If you’ve been looking, rental prices are astronomical this year. Auto Europe was really expensive, but then I checked https://www.autoeurope.eu/ and it saved a lot of money. We fly home from Amsterdam today and then I need to get busy getting rental cars for a 10 week trip starting mid-August with rentals in Ireland, Scotland, England and France. I’ll be sure to compare the U.S. site to the EU site.

EDITED TO ADD: I booked the car in Montpellier while I was in France. I’m now home and looking at cars for another trip in a few months. It appears that www.autoeurope.eu doesn’t allow bookings from the U.S.

Posted by
553 posts

Another vote for Auto Europe. Try autoeurope.ie as well. One advantage I discovered with AutoEurope, if you have a second driver they cap the daily surcharge at 10days. If you have the car longer than 10 days that can save you some money. Also check if you will be going into Northern Ireland check to see if there is a surcharge for that. Some companies charge as much as $150 for the privilege of crossing the border.

Posted by
575 posts

I usually start my search with a consolidator such as Orbitz or Kayak. I'd recommend you deal directly once you find the deal you want, as having a third party involved can sometimes be an impediment to changes, etc. Sometimes they can pass on an additional discount which might be enough to justify the risk.

Posted by
2020 posts

If you choose Autoeurope be sure to watch prices after you’ve made reservations. If the price goes down you can call them to have the newer, current price applied. This has happened several times and they have always graciously and quickly made the adjustment. I have had consistently good experiences with Autoeurope and their helpful staff.

Posted by
6386 posts

We used Avis for our trip around Ireland. That was a number of years ago. As an FYI, even if the company is the same name as the U.S. company, it’s probably wholly registered in the country where it’s located. The point being, if there’s an issue you’ll deal with the Irish company rather than the U.S. one. Years ago I had an issue with an extra fuel charge on my UK Avis rental and when I called the U.S. Avis, I was told I needed to resolve it with the UK Avis.

Posted by
1 posts

I used CarFlexi and got the best prices. I have 2 rentals I made through them; Europcar for 10 days and Enterprise for 40 days. Super easy and secure. Highly recommend.