veggievirgo

Hello, I have read many of the posts here regarding renting a car in Ireland, and the option of using your MC rather than paying the CDW.

I called MC and verified that they DO cover damage to the vehicle and theft up to 50K, and they are sending me a letter as proof.

However, as I booked a car online through AutoEurope... the Ts & Cs state that ...

* Ireland no longer accepts credit cards to cover CDW/TP. If CDW/TP is declined the full value of the vehicle will be blocked on the CC.

So I called AutoEurope and they said that they will block $1050 regardless of which way we decide to go (either CDW or MC) ... for the deductible....and the Ts and Cs really do not mean anything.???

Does anyone know for sure what is correct?

Should I just take the "Super CDW"???

wojazz3

Well, it's up to you. I've used MC to cover my rental and have had no problem, but have not had an accident in Ireland either. I did have a scrape in England using Visa and though there was a lot of paperwork, it all worked out fine in the end. You could pay the extra $300 for the basic insurance which for a compact came with a $1650 deductible and then pay to buy that down to $0 which I couldn't find a price for but is probably at least another $300. It seems like a lot when MC covers it for free with $0 deductible. For some, I guess it's peace of mind.

Bill

Budman

I used my plat M/C to cover the CDW while I was in Ireland (last May). Also, they did put a hold on my M/C, not to be confused with a charge, and I believed it was somewhere around $1500. We rented thru autoeurope who booked us with Europcar.

I think it was because they wanted their money up front while you handle the insurance coverage directly with M/C in case you have an accident.

amyprib

Ok - we did a lot of research on this before we went in June.
Along with what Budman said, I used my Platinum M/C and had no problems. But I also went thru Hertz directly (cuz they gave me the best price at the time for 2wks).

Now, my M/C people said they cover you in Ireland, give you the letter, etc etc. Fine. I actually got two letters.. the second one actually stated they covered me in ireland, whereas the first letter didn't have that sentence.
Anyways, because I was getting the runaround and different answers every time, I called the Hertz airport counter in Shannon to ask them, since that's who i was getting a car from. They said, they know about the M/C coverage, they accept it, they just looked at my letter, and they said they do not put a 2000eu "hold" on my credit card. Now, looking at my contract, I don't think they did, so that was good, but I didn't have to find out for sure either, no accident.

I'm not sure about the TC that says "Ireland no longer accepts"... because it's up to the rental agency to accept or decline your M/C coverage. Ireland as a country doesn't decline it.

The SuperCDW, imo, is a crock. Some people take it for piece of mind, but it's their way of making your deductible zero. As Budman said, it's the agencies way of making sure they have the money up front in case you do damage. So, even if you take the rental agencies CDW, you pay for that, but you STILL have a deductible of so much $$. Then , if you want to have ZERO deductible (except tires, they're never covered), then you can pay EXTRA to bring that deductible to zero (known as SuperCDW).

So - how long are you going, where you going, and what type of car are you getting? I know accidents happen, but if you're careful and don't just run into anything, yo've got a good chance of not having an accident. All the cars at Hertz were already shrubbery scratched and ridiculous-condition hubcaps, so I wasn't too worried about adding to that.

Having used Hertz only, and having no issues, as well as others not having had issues, I'd say use the M/C coverage.... but see if you can use another agency that won't "freeze" that money on your card, but I think most do... if you're not worried about that "freeze", then you can still use your M/C, and not have to pay AutoEurope for CDW. Then if you did get in an accident, AutoEu would use that "frozen" amount on your card to pay for the damages.

If you're under 30, I don't think you can even get the additional SuperCDW (for zero deductible)... unless the agency has a special setup where it doesn't matter. Also, you can't JUST take the SuperCDW, you have to buy AutoEu's CDW first, and then on top get the SuperCDW.

Long explanation, but hopefully it helps clear things up a little. EIther you pay and arm and a leg to make sure you don't have to pay for major repairs, or, you just use you M/C, let them freeze that amount and assume you won't get in an accident. That frozen amount means you cannot use that amount for purchases on your credit card.. so take another cc with you. But they don't charge anything to your card up front, they just freeze it.

I didn't really find driving over there too hard, and it was first time driving left. Some people find it nerve-wracking, others find it easy. Use a slow pace of driving, and you just have to be alert on the narrower roads (as well as highways). We had an automatic and made things easy.
If you have more questions, I may be able to answer.

wojazz3

Another thing to remember is when you are working with auroeurope, you are using a consolidator and not the actual company. Charges will vary slightly depending on what you end up renting.

Bill

veggievirgo

Wow! You guys have been SO great with all of your help! ... I don't know how I would have planned all this without your advice!

Irish Car rental.com has given me a really good quote. Quotes have been pretty high so far for a economy or compact automatic!
Irish car rental has also stated via email that they DO accept the MC as coverage, and they will not freeze any funds. So, at this point I think I will go with them.

I guess I could deal with the freeze if I had too choose between that and paying the super CDW... but it is kind of irritating.

Thanks again for clearing this up!