A friend and I are travelling to Ireland in September of this year. It's our first visit to Ireland and we plan to rent a car for 21 days and travel both in the Republic and Northern Ireland. I will not be driving at all - I'm away too old!! Trouble is that the CDW coverage provided by my friend's Gold Master Card will only cover 15 days. Any ideas as to how we can get around this? I suppose we could pay for the extra 6 days. I wonder what that would cost? We will be grateful for any and all responses. Thank you. calguy2006

Unfortunately, I believe they know that dodge. My MC rules say that 'if the total time of the rental is over 15 days' etc etc... I know some people recommend short-term leases of the car for that period, but I've never tried that myself.

You can turn in your car and pick up another rental with the same company. Often, it's just a renewal of the paperwork, and you may get to keep the original car.

Be careful about "back-to-back" rentals. I suggest your friend read the cardmember benefits statement closely. You might have to rent a different car with a different company, using YOUR credit card, in which case you would have to make sure to put your friend down as an additional driver. Finally, be sure that Ireland is covered. I am not sure that all credit card companies cover Ireland. Read carefully, or call them up.

I am not sure about this so don't panic -- But I <u>think</u> I read a thread a few days ago that as of this month MC no longer covers CDW in Ireland.

I only have visa's so didn't pay real close attention to the MC info. But definitely double check . . . . .

FYI we called Mastercard just yesterday, and they still cover rentals in Ireland. They told us that it wasn't that some Mastercard issuers weren't covering drivers in Ireland, it was that some rental companies wouldn't accept mastercard coverage in Ireland.

we were okay on both counts.

Have your friend apply for a USAA Plat M/C. Most Plat M/C cards only cover 15 days CDW insurance in Ireland, but USAA Plat M/C covers you for 30 days.

I beleive AMEX covers longer than 15 days.

calguy

We go to Ireland for about four weeks at a time. My rental car company(Dan Dooley) writes up two contracts, two weeks at a time. Most companies do the same thing.

Check the insuremytrip.com site for travel policies that include rental-car coverage. Much the safest.

I would also suggest you buy appropriate insurance (another card, check above, etc.) rather than trying to trick rental car companies and insurers.

I work for insurers, and they aren't always that dumb, and they have limits in sometimes because they don't want to be in the business of providing insurance to long-term leases or rentals, only short vacations. That is an actuarial decision for reasons based on empirical data, probably. If you had two contracts back-to-back, from the same card, they really could figure it out. If you ever had a claim, they could look into these things to see if you were violating their stipulations, and then deny payment.

So, I'd be interested if anyone who tried the Dan Dooley stuff had a claim filed and got payment when they were doing that.

My Citibank MC specifically outlaws back-to-back rentals for insurance purposes. So again I urge you to read your benefits material very closely.

If you own an insured vehicle at home, doesn't your insurance cover lease or rentals even when driving abroad?

bill_boy, My insurance will not cover me in a rental car abroad -- I asked them.

Many thanks to all of you who have responded to my inquiry re CDW coverage. My friend will apply for a USAA Plat M/C and inquire if they will cover the 21 day period. If not we will take the CDW coverage offered by the Insurance Company. I have just found out by checking with Dan Dooley's site that this coverage will amount to $79.20 for the whole of our rental period. Thanks again everyone. Jim

Hi calguy:

The cost of the Dan Dooley insurance probably has a deductible of at least E1000 (on a small car). Buying that down to $0 is E12 per day or roughly $320.

Most MC Business cards have 31 day coverage which is what I use. Mine is a gold card and works fine. MC no longer issues a letter of coverage so if they insist on that when you get there, have them call 1-800 MCASSIST.

When I was there in May, virtually everyone walked away from every counter near me pissed off about extra charges. There is a road tax of about 2.50 a day and airpost surcharge that is about E30.00 a day. They may try to sell you liability insurance. All Irish companies are required to provide third party liability which handles medical for everyone in the accident (if you are at fault) except you. Make sure your medical insurance covers you for this.

MC used to make it possible for back to back rentals IF you rented from two different locations and rented separate cars. That may no longer be the case. Their website now says to call your bank to ask if you are covered. I found that to be frustrating and I called the 800 number and chose the option that suggested that I had an accident. That way I got a real person.

Hope this helps.

Bill

I have a platinum Capital One MasterCard. Since it is a business card it covers insurance for 31 days. On my agreement it says that if I rent for longer than 31 days I can rent from the same agency but must rent a different car from a different city.

I used to have a personal MasterCard that only covered for 15 days. In that case I rented the car in Dublin, returned it in Shannon and then rented another car. Only problem is you then have to pay the airport fee again for the second rental.

Read the fine print as your card may have different terms.

Yes, do read the fine print. I just did on the AmEx card the other day and found that they don't cover Ireland. Not sure if that means Republic, Northern or both, but if we decide to go next May, I'll be sure to check it out. Can't recall the short handful of other countries they don't cover - did just cover us in Greece, surely some of the most insane drivers in Europe - and was surprised to find Ireland wasn't covered.

Most US auto policies don't cover outside the US, possessions &amp; territories, and Canada, I think. Think they must not cover Mexico because when I was in AZ near the border in March there were many little storefronts offering insurance for Mexico.