Rental car agencies in Ireland

I’ve always gone with Hertz. Gold club member in the states.

Be forewarned you need to be specific and reserve an automatic as most rental cars in Eire have clutches.

Recommend you use the broker AutoEurope to find you the best options. My rental through them was with Alamo/Enterprise and it was great. In addition to Claudia’s advice some other things to know:
1. Some rental companies charge a fee if you cross the border into Northern Ireland.
2. The fee for a second driver can be hefty, 15-20€ per day. AutoEurope capped this at a 10 day max, which was helpful on a 28 day rental.

Another vote for AutoEurope.
We've rented vehicles a number of times in Ireland. It used to be a frustrating experience trying to sort out the various insurance options on individual company websites - a major consideration in Ireland since standard credit card coverage isn't accepted there - but AutoEurope shows the various covers up front in their pricing, making it pretty easy to get an apples-to-apples comparison of the rates between companies. .
On our most recent visits to Ireland our vehicles have been thru Hertz, though as you'll see there are a number of other companies to choose from. We've always found the quoted rate on AutoEurope to be cheaper than that quoted thru a particular company's website.

One note: others here have reported that their premium credit cards do provide coverage in Ireland, so you may want to research that option if you have one - will save you some money if you can decline the local coverage and rely on your own to see you thru. You'll want to carefully research that option in order to avoid an unpleasant (and potentially expensive) surprise at the rental car desk at the airport however.

Also, if your credit card covers collision damage in Ireland, you'll need to have a letter from the company (Hertz's website mentions this with a phone number) to show at the counter, and even with that, you'll face a hard sales pitch to pay the exorbitant daily CDW.

Much to Hertz's credit, they were the first company to lower prices from the astronomical highs we were seeing just a few months ago. I happen to have a Hertz reservation for May of 2023, my first time using them. I've had good service from Enterprise and Alamo for previous trips. I had a SixT reservation a few years ago, and I discovered they didn't allow cancellations and wanted far more than the value of the reservation to change one date by one day. I ended up walking away from the deal, losing the entire amount - it was cheaper to go elsewhere. They may have changed that policy.

A tactic I usually use is to use Orbitz for Kayak to search price, then go directly to the site. Working through a third party can be difficult if you need to make changes, or some other glitch comes up.

And yet another vote for AutoEurope. I have used them many times, including Ireland and France in the last few months. They are easy to work with, based in Maine and very supportive if you need help with something. As a consolidator you select the car you want. In Ireland this year my rentals were with Sixt and in France it was Europcar. If you want an automatic you should reserve as far in advance as possible.

I've rented twice from Conn's Ireland, a Hertz franchise. On both occasions I got the car I wanted (compact automatic) and a free GPS. I found their pricing to be much more transparent than other rental agencies in Ireland. They have multiple locations and at least with respect to Dublin, allow you to pick up and drop off at the other Dublin locations (including the airport) for no additional charge. They have a Kansas phone number so if you want to talk to a live person you can with minimal trouble. I left a phone message and my call was returned within 30 minutes.

We used Avis, but on recent trips we’ve been using Enterprise.

I used AutoEurope for renting in France this past June and they were fantastic (even changed my days twice before I left the states with no issues). I will also say if you have a travel Amex (mine is Delta), they seem to have a lot lower rates. I'm currently looking for our trip next Sept/Oct 2023 for our daughter's wedding on the Cliffs.

We're planning a spring trip to Ireland, renting a car for a week to visit the west country. It looks as though Hertz will be most economical but I am concerned that I might need added documentation from my credit card company for CDW insurance purposes. I'v e scoured the Hertz website and have not found and reference to requiring " a letter from the company (Hertz's website mentions this with a phone number) to show at the counter, and even with that, you'll face a hard sales pitch to pay the exorbitant daily CDW."

Also, I will be 71 - are there issues with this age?>. I've found notes about being young but not being old!).

Thank you!!

I think you should have a personalized letter or email from your CC company explaining their coverage in Ireland. I thought my Hertz reservation did mention it in the fine print, and my CC website has a link to request the letter. I've never had a letter in the past, but the argument at the counter is always unpleasant, although I've always won the debate. I've had to walk away from the counter in one case (and the agent caught me in the parking lot saying he was mistaken). They're on a commission for CDW sales.

It's not fun to have unpleasant encounters while on vacation - ruins the mood and leaves you shaking your head for days. So, based on all the RS comments, we've decided to go with Auto Europe, all inclusive. The deductible for inclusive with deductible was 2000 Euros and we think that the slight increase will give us peace of mind.

Many thanks for your help!!