Rental Cars in Ireland

The rental car situation in Ireland has become a nightmare. From what I can determine lately, many rental car companies add on extra charges after you get there, and sometimes, as happened to me, didn't know about it until I got back to the states and looked at my credit card statement. Two companies that are reported to give a "firm bid" on the price are: Dooley, and Journey Through Ireland/Hertz. You can prepay both of them and get a nice discount, and pay with CC in US dollars, hence no 3% conversion fee. Both of these companies are inclusive for everything except the Super CDW....which is only available at the rental counter in Ireland. Super CDW is highly advisable in Ireland due to the narrow winding roads, and some companies don't put SCDL in as part of their quote. Be sure to read the fine print....and then with a lot of them, you can't be sure. Will post a report on our experience with "Journey Through Ireland" when we get back after April 10, 2011. Dan

I have always found Irish Car Rentals to have the best deals when I have been looking. Their website is www.irishcarrentals.com. They have a US office with an 800 number you can call with questions, too. One thing different about renting in Ireland as opposed to here is that the second driver is NOT free. You'll save money if you only plan on one of you driving. A manual transmission is cheaper than an automatic. And take the smallest car you can get that will hold you and your luggage. If you are headed south and west, you might consider flying into Shannon rather than Dublin. It's easier to get used to driving on the other side of the road there, rather than in Dublin, and you'll be closer to your destination. End up in Dublin (drop your car at the airport and take public transport into town - you won't want a car in the city), and fly out from there. I checked a two week rental with Irish Car Rentals, using Apr 25 to May 9 as dates, picking up in Shannon and dropping in Dublin. For a compact car, a manual ran 582.00. The same car as an automatic was 865.00. I have always found my quotes from them to be firm - I've never had extra charges of any kind added.

We saved a bit on insurance by going through dailyexcess.com for the super CDW. The regular CDW comes with a high deductible, around 1100-1500 euro depending on the size of the car. Buying excess insurance covers the rest. Ours cost around $65. When you do confirm on a rental, save the quote and read all of the fine print. It should say something on the bottom about what the quote includes and doesn't include. If anything is different when you go to pick it up, you'll have something to back you up on the price. Ours was through Thrifty, and some strange credit card fee was tacked on. A quick email to the company took that off. We rented a small manual in summer 2009 for 150 euro/week.

Hey, I am happy to hear you are thinking of a trip to Ireland. Car Rental is the best way to get around. With regard some of your worries, for accurate quotes it is best going to the car rental companies website in the country in question. This will stop you getting a shock when you get to the desk in Ireland. Secondly, many include basic insurance with all quotes so again its better to check out the car rental companies Irish websites. With basic insurance an excess is taken but this is reduced if the renter upgrades their insurance which by the looks of things you are looking to do anyway. As per cost by location all prices should be about the same whichever airport you land in. Smaller airports have smaller fleets so that should be considered if you need something particular. I am not trying to sway you, I just know that if you book locally you have a much better knowledge of what the end price will be, Will

Lindsey, I can not agree with Nancy about Irish Car Rentals. They were affiliated with National Car Rentals, and in 2008 I had 3 extra charges on my credit card when I got back to the US. National wouldn't do anything when I disputed the charges, and I appealed to Irish Car Rentals, and they took off one of the dubious credit card transaction fees,(there were two) but would do nothing about the "crossing into Northern Ireland fee" (We never went there) and another "peace of mind insurance fee" after I had declined ALL insurance due to having insurance coverage through my World Master Card. I will never again use either National or Irish Car Rentals! Be carefull.........save a duplicate copy of ALL emails/rental car contract documents. Dan

Dan, I said nothing to disagree with. I merely said that they have always had the best prices when I was shopping for rentals, and that I have never had any extra charges of any kind added to my bill. Those are facts, not opinions. Apparently your experience was different, though I'm not sure if "being affiliated with National" is the same as renting directly from Irish Car Rentals. In any event, I have never (in four trips) had any kind of problem with the charges.

Try http://www.carrentals.co.uk/ for a quote