I just got a 31 day car rental (smallest manual) in Ireland for $306.53 US dollars from a broker. Additional charges paid directly to the car company are a location surcharge of $45 and $2.50 per day road tax. That brings my total to $429.03 for over a month's rental. I think that is a good deal.

My Platinum MasterCard still covers me for CDW in Ireland (31 days max) so I saved money on the insurance. There are benefits to traveling off-season (Sept/Oct) and shopping around. I can't wait to leave!!

If you are posting this as a help to others, please include the name and contact information for this broker.
Thanks, SteveK

awesome. good planning, super deal.

Good for you IrishEyes. If you are near a cyber cafe, tell us about your trip as we will miss you here on this site. Have a great time. Regards, Joan

Never mind the car deal (tho' great), it's the "31 Day" trip that's phenomenal! Can I go, too? : )

Lucky you, and enjoy for all of us...

Joan,

I will be checking in. The broker is Kemwel for anyone that wants to know. I booked with Kemwel through a small affiliate Ireland site (same price). I like to patronize sites that provide me with good info and plenty of help.

I plan on checking out lots of WiFi with my laptop and taking thousands of photos. I can't wait to get back to Ireland again to see my friends. It has been too long. 31 days in Ireland sounds like heaven.

P.S. I posted this last night only to have the Fodor's site go down. Will try again today.

Well, that's great. I have just looked into renting a car too but my Visa Gold card still requires me to buy CDW. Apparently there are about 5 countries in the world which won't recognize the CDW waiver. So I'm confused why Mastercard will allow for it.

We just returned from our 4th trip to Ireland this past week. A major concern this trip was all the talk about the CDW insurance. I too have a "World" Mastercard and was informed prior to going that I would be covered for the CDW and therefore could waive it. I prebooked and prepaid for a car with Dan Dooley. We arrived on 9/2. The girl at Dan Dooley told us we were very wise to have pre-paid because as of 9/1 no matter what credit card you had CDW would not be waived anymore. She said that they had a tremendous amount of confusion in Ireland as well with this issue. We have previously booked with Hertz and paid when we arrived in Ireland. We had planned on using Budget having booked with travelocity. For some reason 5 days prior to the trip I started playing around with all of the auto information again and called Dan Dooley. What attracted me to their company was the fact that if I picked the car up at lets say 8 a.m. I had a two hour flexiblity built in so I did not have to return until 10 a.m. on a given day. That worked out great. Good Luck.

It is up to each rental agency to decide whether or not they accept CDW from MC cards. My undertsnading is that WorldMC and Business MC still offer the coverage. According to kadurk49, it appears that Dan Dooley no longer accepts the MC CDW from any card which I would take as a strike against them. Most rental car companies offer a 1-2 window on rental returns. Dan Dooley has always been more expensive for the type of car that I want so I have never used them. I would call them and ask if indeed, they do not accept the CDW.

By the way, that is an extrodinary deal IrishEyes. Have fun!

Bill

Thanks Bill. I am planning on having tons of fun and banoffee wherever I find it!

suelh, If the car was bigger you could come along.

IrishEyes,

That is great news about the car rental. I am assuming you talked directly with your Platinum MasterCard issuer? I don't want to sound skeptical but I talked with MasterCard today and they said that ALL MasterCard credit cards do not cover CDW in Ireland as of 9/1/2006. They said if I have a WORLD MasterCard, then I am probably covered but that I would have to verify that directly with my credit card issuer since they determine what benefits are covered by the card. Luck for us, our credit card issuer does cover CDW in Ireland.

Maybe your Platinum MasterCard is a World MasterCard. On the other hand, when calling MasterCard (1-800-622-7747), it is such a large call center that I could probably call 5 times and potentially get 5 varying answers.

In any event, that is a fantastic rate!

Safe travels, travelmngirl

Just an update for everyone. I picked up my rental car and there was no problem being covered with my MasterCard for CDW. Europcar made a quick call, wrote up the contract and away I went in my little Ford Fiesta.

I am sitting in my Westport guesthouse right now using their free WiFi in my room. More and more B&Bs, guesthouses and hotels are providing this service. Very convenient.

IrishEyes--re: "I am sitting in my Westport guesthouse right now."
Ohh, I am SO jealous. Have a wonderful trip! : )

Happy to hear from you, IrishEyes.

I think Oclan and Kevin are playing at the Porterhouse tonight. Have a pint with them.

Bill

Hello Irish Eyes

Glad it all worked out well for you with the car hire. Do you have the awful rain and winds in the West that we have here in the East! ( Dublin). Have a wonderful trip, and dont drink too much of the black stuff

Thanks to you all for your good wishes for my trip. I am enjoying it despite the weather. You take what you get in Ireland and some of those hurricanes that disappear into the Atlantic actually end up over Ireland dumping rain. We have had a few of those systems since arriving.

I had a fabulous day in Connemara on Oct 3 and a long walk with my husband on a deserted beach. Oct 4 was showery and I'm afraid I conked out before I could go pub crawling in Westport. For those looking for a nice place to stay I would recommend Boffin Lodge in Westport. It is near the Quay and about a mile from town. No interaction with hosts since it is a "managed" guest house. But nice all the same.

Oct 5 was rainy in the morning but dried up in the afternoon. It is actually quite mild for this time of year. Oct 6 was a total washout with gale force winds in the west, although right now (10:40 pm in Ireland) it is clear and a big moon is out. Don't know if it is quite full yet but pretty near. I don't know why it can't rain all night and be clear in the daytime. Maybe it makes too much sense?

Off to Northern Ireland tomorrow.