I agree that renting a car in Ireland can be a nightmare - especially the CDW. As far as I can tell, Mastercard Gold and Platinum provide CDW in Ireland. However, the car rental companies often refuse to accept the Mastercard CDW. Apparently, they have the legal right to do this. (I am attempting to contact some government agency in Ireland to confirm this but I am having problems.) Therefore, if you are renting a car, get it in writing from Mastercard that they provide CDW in Ireland and get it in writing from the car company that they will accept Mastercard's CDW protection. Be sure to get it in writing before you arrive in Ireland. I have had problems in the past where the car company told me that they would take Mastercard for CDW but when I arrived at the airport, the agent told me that they wouldn't take it. He told me that the policy changed the previous week. I knew he was lying and I refused the CDW. When I got back, I wrote a letter to the company and they apologized for the problem.

I found the following explanation on a website:

(For US Residents holding a MasterCard Gold or Platinum)

MasterCard CDW waiver
Master Rental Insurance may allow you to avoid the additional cost of the theft and collision damage waiver (CDW) for rental cars in some countries. This coverage is ONLY available with Gold or Platinum MasterCard's issued by US banks.

If you pay for the entire rental with your eligible MasterCard card, you may be covered for up to $50,000 without excess. This is an insurance program; certain restrictions and exclusions apply.

In order to establish if your MasterCard includes Auto Rental Insurance in the Republic of Ireland please call your credit card issuer and/or MasterCard at 1 800 6227747.

This coverage is a service provided by MasterCard to the cardholder and therefore it is the cardholders responsibility to ensure that they are adequately covered for the entire duration of the rental period.

This entire CDW discussion is pointless.

You can easily get a no fee gold mastercard or visa that will cover your CDW. Others will give you a 6 month fee waiver on their regular gold card if you want extra travel insurance. All you need do is get it before you go and then cut it up after 6 monthes.

lmhornet, This discussion is not pointless, as you just said. You are incorrect in saying that a gold Visa will cover CDW in Ireland.

ONLY MASTERCARD (and Diners Club) WILL COVER CDW IN IRELAND!!

See my earlier post: Some CANADIAN VISA Cards offer Irish CDW coverage.

Itallian_Chauffer, Thanks. I must have missed that with all the posts. I wonder why they only do it for Canadians? That would be an interesting question to ask them.

"ONLY MASTERCARD (and Diners Club) WILL COVER CDW IN IRELAND!!"

Fine, so get a no fee gold mastercard.

IrishEyes: I think the same parent corporation owns Canadian Visa and U.S. MasterCard, because the CDW waiver is called MasterRental Insurance by both. Or, maybe MasterRental is it's OWN company and only Visa Canada and US MasterCard choose to pay for the benefit (It IS an Insurance Program, after all).
Either way, you should check out my post on the thread titled EUROS as there has been interesting developements in the way we will be billed for foreign transactions from here on out. The quotes were from a flyer in my most recent Visa bill, but I assume that MasterCard won't be too far behind.

Itallian_Chauffer, Just read your post under "Euros". Very interesting. I just got a brochure from MasterCard. I guess I will have to spend an hour or two poring over it. Where's my magnifying glass? It really is fine print!

Thought I would mention that I finally received my credit card...Citibank Platinum and now that I have an actual account number to tell them--all is well and the Master Rental program has verified that I will be able to use it to cover the CDW on the rental with Dan Dooley.

Italian Chauffer and Irish Eyes- great link "Euros", have you also seen the thread "bank raises conversion fee" ? I sent them a link to euros. Seems like there is much confusion for all!

Mr. 12 is not joyful that I have a new citi card for the car rental AND a USAA card for vacation charges and who could resist that amazon visa card special for the new day pack and accessories...LOL & thanks for these latest tidbits!

ttt- for chip

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I have pasted this in from another thread so as to keep all info in one, readily accessable thread.

Author: pegoode
Date: 05/16/2005, 07:29 am
Ok, it really happened to us. We got a master card platinum specifically for this purpose. We rented from Dan Dooley and had no problem with the CDW - didn't have to show a letter, etc. The woman handling the paperwork did tell us we were making a big mistake, etc. but we stuck to our guns. OK so first day I scraped the car on a construction sign, that was the first and last time I drove the whole trip.
At the end of the trip, the Dan Dooley rep looked at the car and called someone to describe the damage. An estimate for repair was given over the phone and our card was charged $500. Upon return to the States, we filed with MC for reimbursement.

The reimbursement check finally arrived from the credit card company after about 4 months and several phone calls. The amount was around $425 instead of the $500 we were charged by the rental company. Turns out they deducted 'VAT' and a 'conversion fee'. My husband has requested the backup documentation from the credit card company but we're not sure what difference it will make. It appears we have no opportunity to get the VAT refunded and the conversion fee seems to be some nebulous number that may be further explained by the documentation. At any rate, we're pleased to have the $425 after a 4 month wait.

In the future, we will take the full rental insurance. It was pointed out to us by both Dan Dooley and MC that, had the car been undrivable for any period of time, we would have been responsible for paying for each day it was not available for rental. Since there would be no way of us controlling or influencing that if that happened, it's just not worth the aggravation and expense.




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Author: Itallian_Chauffer
Date: 05/16/2005, 09:05 am
I guess it's a 'glass is half full / half empty' kinda thing...

I think pegoode' tale is a SPARKLING RECOMMENDATION for waiving the CDW and using MasterCard!

Let's consider:
1) They had an accident, with damages totaling $500. MasterRental paid $425 of that, after deducting those GODFORSAKEN transaction fees, which everyone seems to be charging now.

20 If pegoode had bought the CDW from the rental company, they would have paid AT LEAST 7-10 euro per day for the basic. Even if their trip was only for one week, that fee would have been 49-70 euro (approx $62.72 - $89.60)AND, they STILL would have owed the $500 as DEDUCTABLE on the standard CDW!
Even if they bought the 'Super CDW' at an ADDITIONAL 7-8 euro per day (another $62.72 - $71.68 --PLUS TRANSACTION FEES!), there would have been a 100 euro deductable, even then.
So let's recap, shall we?
WAIVE CDW: Cost of Insurance= $0
Cost of damage = $500
MasterRental paid= $425
Total cost to pegoode = $75

Buying the insurance = $125.44
CDW and Super CDW
100 euro deductible = $128.00
Total cost to pegoode= $253.44

How is waiving the CDW a BAD thing?

Itallian_Chauffer,

Thanks for the conversions. It really clarifies things. Most people don't think along the same lines that you do (although I have figured it out in the past). I think waiving CDW is brilliant. I do it every time.

A new fly in the ointment is that some car companies are now changing their policies on returning the car full of petrol. They require you to pay up front for the full tank and you must then return it empty. Try and do that!! They obviously make out like bandits and are often compared to them (along with the much-hated credit card providers).