Is it possible to pre-pay for fuel with a fuel card or something like that? I figure that's possible if there are chain fuel stations easily located, but if not, maybe there's something else we haven't heard of. I would love any suggestions on getting fuel for the best price if anyone has any information. We'll be in the Cork, Kenmare, Dingle and Ennis areas.

Good luck.

It seems to me that once you're paying $8.19¹ a gallon, a few cents here and there won't mean squat in the grand scheme of things.

¹(Today's price @ http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/petrolprices = 1.172p/l.)

There aren't any schemes available.

This survey (http://tinyurl.co.uk/oin6) is a year old, and you'll see that garages don't vary that much in a given area. But they tend to be a fair bit pricier outside the two main cities - and there isn't a petrol-selling Tesco in Cork to force local prices down.

The only one I'm aware of anywhere near your planned journey is Killarney Park. But the savings are unlikely to offset any substantial detour you might want to make.

The only realistic option is to drive as economically as you can. Or see if your B+B landlady will take advance bulk deliveries for you from www.petroldirect.com

During my frequent trips to Ireland, I have not seen much difference in gas prices. The rural areas may be a little less, but I would not advise going out of your way. Get it before you get on the main highways. My rental cars usually have, poorly presurred tires, thus I always bring a pressure gauge. This gives me much better milage, and less chance of flats. Rent the smallest car that fills your needs. Some of the little ones will get around 40mpg.

I don't know how economically you're planning to travel. But gas was actually one of, if not <b>the</b> lowest expense we had. We rented a Ford Focus (there were four of us), drove from Shannon to Galway to Westport and back to Ennis/Shannon. We did quite a bit of meandering along the way. We only had to get gas twice and the second time, the tank wasn't empty. In terms of saving money on your trip, there are far bigger expenses to try to cut.

Thanks for the help. The tire gauge suggestion is a good one. We aren't looking to save pennies so I guess, just having to fill up twice or so won't be a big deal.

Tesco has the cheaper petrol stations but they I believe are in Dublkin and not sure anywhere else in the country. Nothin g else exists or i would be doing it myself over here!

As i said earlier, there's a Tesco with a petrol station at Killarney Park.

The current price of petrol is &euro;1.16 per ltr, it can vary by a cent or two, and tesco is only a few cents cheaper, i wouldnt go out of my way to go to tesco petrol station.

That's about $5.60 a U.S. gallon.

Oops. I was using pence, not cents.

Maybe a bit naive but...

Do gas stations in Ireland accept credit cards? I was just assuming they will but I saw on another thread that gas stations in France don't accept them so I thought I'd better ask...

6 weeks to go!

Yes, they all do and you can use your non-chip cards.
And in my experience they don't (yet) seem to scam you with DCC!

Are diesel cars available in Ireland? If so, get one.

<i>Do gas stations in Ireland accept credit cards?</i>

A very few small ones didn't last year when we were there. These tended to be in remoter areas where you will have no option but to pay cash if you have run your tank low.