Driving out of Dublin Airport /Dan Dooley Car Rental

Mixed reviews (descending) seems to be the trend on Dooley. Galway is freeway the whole way. The M50 beltway might be an issue. It's a toll road with no toll stations. Use it, but by the next evening you have to pay the toll (not much). By the second evening it doubles, but still not much. After that it goes through the roof. Look at this: http://www.payzone.ie/pages/about-us/contact-us.php Note the logo in the top left corner. Some gas stations, most newstands, some grocery stores, bars, etc, will have one of these gizmos on the window or door (like a visa/mc logo size next to door handles at home) or maybe a big one sticking off the front of the building. Look for the color and you'll spot it. March in, give you license plate number and fork over the couple of euro and you're done. You can also pay in advance if you'll use the road coming back. Somebody posted there's a place in the airport to do it, but I don't know where that would be. Also check - - some rental outfits take care of it for you.

The car rental is on a VERY busy street, but there is a kind of back road shortcut to the motorway that they showed me. I was headed to the Navan area, but it would be the same stretch of road. Once you get out away from the airport it will be easy. It's just that the traffic is a little scary getting there, particularly since it is a multi-lane road and you have to remember you need to stay to the correct side. That's why I always suggest that people fly into Shannon instead, if possible, because it is easier to adjust to the driving. As for Dan Dooley, they have always been more expensive than others when I have been pricing rentals.

It's amazing how experiences differ. Nancy was on a busy street (and she's done it a bunch of times) mine (not Dooley) was a shuttle ride into an industrial park. Had I not punched a gps fix as I fired up, I'd never have found it to take the car back.

Dan Dooley and Irish Car Rentals are both on the main road to the airport. You take a shuttle to get there, then you are on your own. I guess it depends on where the company you use keeps their cars.

I just made a reservation with Dan Dooley and he was the cheapest. It isn't until September, so I don't have any experience with him yet but again, he was the cheapest!

I think she means "40 minutes later".

DON'T rent from Dooley! Absolutely do not! After 5 weeks of e-mails with them, and after sending in our credit card data (twice!), we find out at the airport that there's no record of our reservation in the computer. Since it was Sunday the home office was clos ed d & the guy at the counter cldn't reach ANYONE who could confirm our arrangements. Hence he treated us like a walk-up customer & told us that IF the car we had reserved was available, it wld cost €400 ($600) more than our quoted price. And he wasn't certain that they had our specific car available. We were the 3rd person in line & it was abt 90 mins before the first ywo customers were done. We went around to the National Car Rental desk. She couldn't provide a large enuf car, but she escorted us two desks over to the Budget Rental desk whete all 3 ppl jumped into solving our problem. 40 nm ins latet we had an acceptable car with automatic transmission & a GPS & FULL insurance for €200 less than Dooley's lowest pfice. We'll never consider Dooley again. Zero customer service. Joan

Aubrey - make sure you receive a " confirmed booking" from Dooley, not just a reservation. We were told that our resetvation was just to reserve the price, it wasn't actually a reservation for a car. AND clearly it didn't reserve the price either. Nevermind that we never got a Confirmed Booking e-mail ( or any other reply) after we sent our payment. Their guy either had no sense of customer service or he was not authorized to do anything "outside the box" to help us. He was content to leave us stranded in the airport. Expect a problem & have a back-up plan. Joan

Joan's story is a lesson in why you should always take printed copies of your confirmations with you, and be aware of the fine print of the reservation policy. I haven't heard of anything like this happening with Dan Dooley before - they are one of the major car rental operations in Ireland - but it's always good to have a backup plan. I had no problem with them the one time I rented from them, but if I had five weeks of problems with them in advance of my trip, I would have ditched them long before! Glad it worked out OK.

Joan I'm not good at phone text type sentences. What does problem. 40 nm ins latet we had mean, please?

The busy roads are easier to drive on than the narrow, twisty back roads. On a busy road you pretty much follow someone and there isn't the temptation to drift into the right lane. You can "beat" the ring road by spending your first day exploring Newgrange/Knowth and/or Trim Castle (among other sites). Trim has an easy connection to the M4 with no tolls. Otherwise, going the back roads isn't worth the little bit of toll. If you do get on the ring road. I suggest you pay at a gas station right away. Keep the receipt. You can pay on line but where you are staying may not have a secure internet connection plus you get a transaction fee from your CC company. I don't recall seeing gas stations in the west with the toll logos. They might be there. Off the M4 on the River Shannon is Clonmacnoise. It's worth a stop if you have time. I've paid at the little snack bar in between the Dublin airport terminal and the rental car lots. The car lots may have moved but it was just past where the bus stop was outside the terminal.

Clearly I'm not good at phone texting either.
It's hard to actually see what's been typed in. Nancy's interpretation is accurate. But let me clear something up: We did NOT have 5 weeks of problems with them. We worked with them (and the other ppl in our group) for 5 weeks to determine which vehicle we liked best, if we cld get it with automatic transmission, and what the cost was. We had plenty of e-mails btwn us all about this. We did send them the credit card details for payment. And we did have printouts, but that folder was lost earlier in the trip. What we didn't have was a "Confirmed Booking" from Dooley's. Since we never received one, we wouldn't have had a printout of it. BUT we did have the reservation on our cell phone which we showed the man at the counter. That's what he kept calling a "reserved quote". He actually said that since he wasn't one of the parties involved in the e-mails, he really didn't know what had happened. He also asked us to step aside so he could finish waiting on their "actual customers", meaning the one poor guy waiting behind us. (Customer #4 out of 4). For a short period of time sounded like his reservation was lost also, but eventually it was located. Granted computers cause these kinds of problems, but there should have been a long paper trail for him to see. I don't know what the problem was on their end, but it isn't my job to resolve it either. Their employees should be trained in how to handle this situation. And authorized to make some sort of decision, other than to just say "You can check at the other rentals in the airport. I doubt they'll have anything cheaper." Joan

Just returned from Ireland and rented through Dan Dooley. I had watched prices from various sources online for a few months before booking and Dooley was the cheapest. I booked about 3 months prior to our trip. Phone calls and payment was made to their US office in NJ. I researched and purchased Super CDW coverage. Also checked on GPS rental and ended up downloading Ireland/UK to my existing GPS. I took a copy of my Car Rental Confirmation with me. You are shuttled to the Dooley location away from the airport. The Dooley clerk was great. I guess the street was busy, but it was very simple to get on the M50. Absolutely no problems whatsoever with the car or with Dooley. I would caution you to go over the car with the rental rep (whether Dooley or anyone else). Have them mark the rental agreement with any existing damage. It will save you when you return the car. Also many cars have the hubcaps zip-tied to the wheels. I'd recommend this or remove the hubs entirely. You just may hit a curb or two or risk them being stolen. Bottom line: do your homework and remember to stay on the left!! :)

Do Not rent from this company. Be wary. They also trade as "Payless Car Rental". Here's what you can expect- They will try to give you a smaller/lesser car than promised. If your credit card provides overseas rental insurance and you try to decline the insurance that they push on you, they will put a 4,000 Euro hold on your credit card. That's $5,900!
Be sure to notate ANY dents, scratches, windshield/mirror cracks, tire damage etc. before you take out their car as they have made a very lucrative side industry out of billing people for damage that was already on the car. Their car depot/car return is not located at the airport. It is difficult to find, especially if you are rushing to catch your flight. When you do find the place, you must then wait for a shuttle bus, load all your stuff into it, then out of it again. There are better companies than this outfit, most located right in the airport.

First of all, driving out of the Dublin Airport from the Dan Dooley car rental site could not be easier - the staff provides you with a very easy-to-follow outline/map, which will get you on your way... In mid-September, I had an absolutely outstanding experience with Dan Dooley (DD) car rental, from both Jim in the New Jersey office, who helped me locate my son after he had been involved in a horrific auto accident near Kilkenny, and from the Dublin staff from whom I rented my car. Jim exemplifies the term "exceptional customer service" and went above and beyond to help me locate the area when my son's accident occurred and the name and location of the hospital into which he had been admitted. Stressed after flying into Dublin at the last minute from California for the family emergency, I realized that I had not reserved a rental car. Not only was the DD rental experience perfect – great four-door Nissan that was in perfect condition and very easy to drive – but the people with whom I dealt could not have been more kind, compassionate, or lovely. From completing the paperwork at the airport, to taking the shuttle to pick up the car, to returning the car, everyone I encountered bent over backwards to assist me. I look forward to returning to Ireland, where I will surely rent my car from DD. I can't thank their staff enough for all that they did for me.
s...