I am following this with great interest too because we are going for a week in August and I share the OP's confusion about all of this. Now I am nervous because our $289 rate (from AutoEurope with no coverage -- we have one of the magic cards) seems cheap by comparison. I wonder if I have missed something??

We rented from Dan Dooley for the second time this past April. And...for the second time had damage to our left front tire. Be very careful when you pick up the car to examine the sidewalls. Each time, we got nicked for a gouge in the tire that we never would have looked for (were too busy looking for damage to treads, rims, etc.

We had all the extra insurance, so we only paid the 100 deductible. But...I have to wonder if it's a scam because we were especially careful this time and were nabbed for the exact same damage.

My husband emailed the CEO when we returned and never received a response. It's really too bad because Angela that mans the Shannon desk is awesome - we loved working with her. But..we will never rent from Dooley again.