Best Rental Car Agency in Ireland?
Apr 16th, 2008, 10:49 AM
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Best Rental Car Agency in Ireland?
Hi everyone! We need to rent a car in Ireland this summer, big enough for 3 adults. I have always used Auto Europe in other parts of Europe but I've been reading some mixed reviews on them.
Any recommendations and experiences (the good, bad & ugly) with rental car agencies in Ireland? Pick up to be anywhere around Dublin (we're staying a few nights without a car in Dublin to de-jetlag) and drop off at Shannon Airport. Thanks a million!
Any recommendations and experiences (the good, bad & ugly) with rental car agencies in Ireland? Pick up to be anywhere around Dublin (we're staying a few nights without a car in Dublin to de-jetlag) and drop off at Shannon Airport. Thanks a million!
Apr 16th, 2008, 11:36 AM
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You'll probably get several different responses on this. We used Irish Car Rentals last summer, because it was cheapest for what we needed and had a location at Kerry airport. They were fine - no problems.
Apr 16th, 2008, 11:53 AM
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Auto Europe is actually not a car rental agency. They are located here is the US and once you make your reservation, they will book you a car with one of the agencies available that they use.
That said, we booked our reservation with Auto Europe this past June. They made a reservation for us with Europecar. The car, and the people that we worked with were very nice and the agency was quite efficient. Our only problem was that we got a scratch on one side of the van on one of those famous protruding walls in Ireland (a truck passed us and we moved in close to the vine covered wall to escape being hit, but alas a rock was sticking out of the wall there under the vines). Anyway, I did have to work with Auto Europe when getting back to the states to get a copy of the paperwork outlining the repair costs - Europecar did not automatically send one to us.
Following the story above - my one recommendation is to make absolutely certain that you have the correct insurance to cover damages. My mother had been advised that her credit card was in fact one of the cards that did cover that insurance. Unfortuantely, she was given incorrect information by someone at her credit card company - that was a very expensive piece of bad information. If in doubt - get the coverage the rental agency offers.
That said, we booked our reservation with Auto Europe this past June. They made a reservation for us with Europecar. The car, and the people that we worked with were very nice and the agency was quite efficient. Our only problem was that we got a scratch on one side of the van on one of those famous protruding walls in Ireland (a truck passed us and we moved in close to the vine covered wall to escape being hit, but alas a rock was sticking out of the wall there under the vines). Anyway, I did have to work with Auto Europe when getting back to the states to get a copy of the paperwork outlining the repair costs - Europecar did not automatically send one to us.
Following the story above - my one recommendation is to make absolutely certain that you have the correct insurance to cover damages. My mother had been advised that her credit card was in fact one of the cards that did cover that insurance. Unfortuantely, she was given incorrect information by someone at her credit card company - that was a very expensive piece of bad information. If in doubt - get the coverage the rental agency offers.
Apr 16th, 2008, 12:07 PM
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Thank you! I did read in my Rick Steves book about getting the CDW insurance. I have a feeling we'll need it...
How was driving on the opposite side of the road? Did you have a manual or automatic? I read some posts that stick shifts are harder there - my husband prefers the stick shift but I'm wondering if it's easier to rent an automatic.
Thanks for all your help!
How was driving on the opposite side of the road? Did you have a manual or automatic? I read some posts that stick shifts are harder there - my husband prefers the stick shift but I'm wondering if it's easier to rent an automatic.
Thanks for all your help!
Apr 16th, 2008, 01:28 PM
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We just used Irish Car Rentals for 10 days without any issues. We didn't read the paperwork that told us to bring the car back empty so filled it up as usual before returning it. They said they would refund the billed amount for gas, and I was skeptical, but the credit showed up on my card today. We are very satisifed customers.
(We drove a Zafira which looks something like a small minivan. It was not great on gas.)
(We drove a Zafira which looks something like a small minivan. It was not great on gas.)
Apr 16th, 2008, 09:05 PM
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I believe MC is the only card that will insure in Ireland, and just recently they informed me that only the World MC will cover. We have Aadvantage World MC and have used it successfully in Ireland. To check if your credit card will cover insurance in Ireland, call 1-800 MC-ASSIST, not the 800 number on your card.
Apr 17th, 2008, 05:01 AM
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If you're used to driving stick, get a stick. It's lots cheaper and I can't imagine why anyone said it was harder. It's just the same except the shift, of course, is on your left. The pedals are the same. Once in a while I put it in fourth when I meant to put it in second because I was pulling the stick towards me for some reason, but that wasn't anything horrid and it only happened a few times till I got used to it. You'll save lots of $$ with a stick shift.
Apr 17th, 2008, 05:58 AM
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ummmm, I've been doing this for 10 years and I've never heard of AX covering CDW in Ireland. Please make sure you double check this if you decide. The only crads that I know of that cover in Ireland are MC World and business cards and Diners Club. I think that would be a new thing if AX was now covering.
Bill
Bill
Apr 17th, 2008, 06:25 AM
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I believe that Wojazz is right. My mom's card that said that they covered the CDW but actually did not cover it was her American Express Card. I would check very carefully. I'll probably get it in writing in the future after the misinformation that we were given for our trip to Ireland.
I think we rented an automatic transmission in Ireland. I don't think it would have bothered us if we'd gotten a manual transmission.
As far as driving on the other side of the road goes, it was really no problem.
I think we rented an automatic transmission in Ireland. I don't think it would have bothered us if we'd gotten a manual transmission.
As far as driving on the other side of the road goes, it was really no problem.
Apr 24th, 2008, 06:45 PM
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I rented a car in Shannon from Budget. It was not a new car. I felt better seeing a car with some scratches. The roads were indeed very narrow. I passed many mirrors that I bumped as I went by. I took all of the insurance they offered. I had no problems.It was an automatic. I was nervous enough with driving alone on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road. I didn't feel brave enough to shift with my left hand.
Apr 29th, 2008, 03:14 PM
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We used Avis for our car rental in Ireland. Had no problems and experienced very friendly customer service. We picked up in Shannon and returned at the Dublin Airport-- convenient to do so in both locations. We added extra CDW insurance when we picked up in Shannon. It's expensive, but worth the peace of mind. We didn't find driving or navigating in Ireland to be hard at all. You get used to driving on the left very quickly.
Apr 30th, 2008, 07:01 AM
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I've heard that the extra insurance can cost more than the actual rental of the car. Can somebody give me a rough estimate of how much the insurance costs? We're debating getting the MC World card before our trip. Just trying to figure out if its worth the hassle.
Apr 30th, 2008, 08:11 AM
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All my notes are at home but I seem to recall the extra insurance being around 15E per day. I think it varies from one company to another. Pick a company on-line and get your rate "inclusive." Then read the fine print to see what the extra insurance costs per day. We used our new World MC and declined it all.
However, the person we dealt with at the rental desk advised us that the MC insurance only covered the vehicle, not our liability for damage to any other car we might hit. I haven't had time to call MC to verify this, though, but will post again after I call.
However, the person we dealt with at the rental desk advised us that the MC insurance only covered the vehicle, not our liability for damage to any other car we might hit. I haven't had time to call MC to verify this, though, but will post again after I call.
