callalilli

I am leaving for Ireland on Jun3.. my first time out of the U.S. . . I have been reading everyone's posts.. and the more I read, the more confused I get. Ok, so when I look at Budget rates - it shows CDW included in the rate. And the rate doesn't look that bad. Is it bad to have the CDW? or am I better off waiving that using the Master Card Platinum? (and then do I get a lower rate?) btw - thank you SO much for all the great info !!

starrsville

If CDW is included, then all the better.

I received great advice on this board last year. Call your auto insurer to confirm EXACTLY what they cover with international rentals and then call your Master Card to find out EXACTLY what they cover. Then, insure for any gaps if there are any. Exact coverage vary by insurer and cc.

OReilly

From what I know, CDW is compulsory in Ireland and Italy.

ira

I believe OReilly is correct.

My Amex ins doesn't cover Ireland.

lincasanova

talk to your credit card company if plannin gon waiving anything. otherwise, just know if there is still a dedcutible and how much it is, and if you are willing to risk it, or, take out their ADDITIONAL insuranceSSSSS..( in italy,even getting the SUPER CDW STILL does not eliminate deductible of about 1,500 euros at some well known agencies..)

so just KNOW what you are signing.

Jackie

I just booked a car for July and think I finally understand the insurance. If you look at Auto Europe, they have two rates, a basic and an inclusive. The inclusive rate has CDW, but you are still liable for the first $1,650 of damage. You can buy super CDW for an additional $11/day and your liability is brought down to about $100.

I checked with my MBNA platinum mastercard card and they do not cover Ireland. Having driven in Ireland before, I would not rent a car without being covered to the fullest extent possible.

nibblette

I believe OReilly is correct about the mandatory CDW. And very few, if any CC will cover Ireland (or Italy for that matter). The roads in Ireland can be rough. You'll need CDW anyway.

Itallian_Chauffer

Click on my screen name for threads on the insurance subject. It IS confusing, but not impossible to work through. We too are departing on June 3re (PM flight from Boston, arriving Shannon on the morning of 4 June). Am renting a mini-van (6 Adults)through Atlas Car Hire and are waiving the CDW coverage in order to use my MasterRental coverage on my MBNA Platinum MasterCard. I have done this in Ireland SIX times, in the last six years and have never had any problems. If you opt to BUY CDW coverage, you are still on the hook (Liable) for the first 1,000-1500 Euro's damage (in the event of an accident)UNLESS you buy the EXTRA, SUPER-CDW at 7-12 Euro MORE, PER DAY. Even then, you would still be responsible for the first 100 Euro or so. With the FREE MasterRental coverage on the Gold and Platinum MasterCard, you pay NOTHING. There are exceptions, rules and exclusions, of course*, but that's it, in a nut shell.
To VERIFY that your card provides coverage IN IRELAND, call 1 800 MCASSIST. This is a MasterCard benefit, not a function of MBNA or AT&T or whoever ISSUED your card. MBNA people have told me both that I was AND wasn't covered, but the TRUE answer comes FROM MASTERCARD.
Also, not all rental car companies ACCEPT the MasterRental -- apparrently, it is at their option??? , but if the do accept it, it will say so on their website.

*Some examples: windshields (windscreens) and tires are covered by no one, it seems. If you get a flat, you must get it fixed or replaced, or the company will charge you to take care of it, whether you buy ALL the extra insurance, or none of it.

amyprib

I've not been active on here for a while. But I copied/pasted something from a post that I made right after we got back.. as we did some thoroughly exhaustive research on this, since it was so confusing. I think it helps explain what's going on...(so long as policies haven't changed recently). You can also click on my name and it should bring up my posts, any title that has CDW or Insurance in it should have some answers and good discussion... along with others' comments.

<<post from 8/04>>
Ok - we did a lot of research on this before we went in June.
Along with what Budman said, I used my Platinum M/C and had no problems. But I also went thru Hertz directly (cuz they gave me the best price at the time for 2wks).

Now, my M/C people said they cover you in Ireland, give you the letter, etc etc. Fine. I actually got two letters.. the second one actually stated they covered me in ireland, whereas the first letter didn't have that sentence.
Anyways, because I was getting the runaround and different answers every time, I called the Hertz airport counter in Shannon to ask them, since that's who i was getting a car from. They said, they know about the M/C coverage, they accept it, they just looked at my letter, and they said they do not put a 2000eu "hold" on my credit card. Now, looking at my contract, I don't think they did, so that was good, but I didn't have to find out for sure either, no accident.

I'm not sure about the TC that says "Ireland no longer accepts"... because it's up to the rental agency to accept or decline your M/C coverage. Ireland as a country doesn't decline it.

The SuperCDW, imo, is a crock. Some people take it for piece of mind, but it's their way of making your deductible zero. As Budman said, it's the agencies way of making sure they have the money up front in case you do damage. So, even if you take the rental agencies CDW, you pay for that, but you STILL have a deductible of so much $$. Then , if you want to have ZERO deductible (except tires, they're never covered), then you can pay EXTRA to bring that deductible to zero (known as SuperCDW).

So - how long are you going, where you going, and what type of car are you getting? I know accidents happen, but if you're careful and don't just run into anything, yo've got a good chance of not having an accident. All the cars at Hertz were already shrubbery scratched and ridiculous-condition hubcaps, so I wasn't too worried about adding to that.

Having used Hertz only, and having no issues, as well as others not having had issues, I'd say use the M/C coverage.... but see if you can use another agency that won't "freeze" that money on your card, but I think most do... if you're not worried about that "freeze", then you can still use your M/C, and not have to pay AutoEurope for CDW. Then if you did get in an accident, AutoEu would use that "frozen" amount on your card to pay for the damages.

If you're under 30, I don't think you can even get the additional SuperCDW (for zero deductible)... unless the agency has a special setup where it doesn't matter. Also, you can't JUST take the SuperCDW, you have to buy AutoEu's CDW first, and then on top get the SuperCDW.

Long explanation, but hopefully it helps clear things up a little. EIther you pay and arm and a leg to make sure you don't have to pay for major repairs, or, you just use you M/C, let them freeze that amount and assume you won't get in an accident. That frozen amount means you cannot use that amount for purchases on your credit card.. so take another cc with you. But they don't charge anything to your card up front, they just freeze it.

I didn't really find driving over there too hard, and it was first time driving left. Some people find it nerve-wracking, others find it easy. Use a slow pace of driving, and you just have to be alert on the narrower roads (as well as highways). We had an automatic and made things easy.

amyprib

By the way, booking through Hertz direct was the best way for us.. Cheapest rate, and least run-around hassle. We almost went with Dan Dooley or O'Scannlian or others, but they said they require you to buy some of that insurance, I believe. We had no issues, mid-late June for us was easy, very little traffic anywhere.

You can save a few bucks if you don't get A/C. In June for us, it was high 60s most of the time, no A/C needed. You might also check any frequent flier programs you're with for random discount promotions. I had checked united or american at the time, and got a 10 or 20% discount coupon code online that I used.

We were paranoid at first with the whole accident thing, but the biggest worry I think is blown tires, which isn't covered by anything anyways. So M/C free insurance coverage seemed like the way to go! They included pretty much everything, including windshield cracks, and fire!

yale

Just got back from Ireland in March. I went through all the same questions. Here's what we did. If you pay with your Platinum MC - be sure to get what they cover in writing before you pay. It must say Ireland is covered. We got a letter that actually read "Ireland included" or something like that. Then waive the CDW. You're still responsible for the deductible. Which I wasn't aware of when we got there. Our rental agency gave us two options for the deductible. 1. A small daily fee that we paid when we picked up the car. 2. waive option 1 and pay $1000 if anything happened to the car. We took option 1. Hope this helps.

amyprib

yale - who was your car rental agency, and how much was your small daily fee?

Hertz had nothing in our contract about any deductible, or hidden charges, and we specifically asked. Greatfully we had no accidents to find out. Our car was pretty scratched up and hubcaps beat up anyways, so we weren't too worried, we just made sure to point everything out and added to their car "markup" sheet.
And yes, Platinum MC will send you a letter - get it, make sure it says Ireland covered. Hertz didn't even look at it cuz they knew all about it, but it's definitely good to have.

vikhawk

I just got back from Ireland last Friday (April 29) and I rented a car using my Platinum Mastercard which does provide CDW. I rented from Avis in Dublin and saved about 10-15 euros a day doing this. However, I had to inital the form that, in the event of an accident, I was responsible for the value of the car - about 13,000 euros. I think that my CDW covered me for up to $50,000 but I did have some second thoughts about agreeing to be responsible for 13,000 euros. I trusted in my CDW and, fortunately, I did not have to find out how CDW works. I had a brand new car (322 km on it when I rented it and 2007 km when I returned it) and I had no problems. However, the drivers in Ireland are horrible (the country roads are all very narrow - designed for two horses - not two cars) and they don't expect anyone to be on the road other than themselves. I did have some very close calls. The roads are narrow and winding and you can't see around the corners because of the hedges so there were several times that I had slowed down to a crawl (2-3 mph) as I edged around a corner only to have a car barreling around the corner right at me. I was very lucky. I asked Avis when I returned the car what percentage of drivers get into accidents and they told me that it is about 25% in the summer. The issue comes down to whether you want to pay an extra couple of hundred dollars for peace of mind or save that money and take your chances with CDW.

callalilli

thank you all... well, first - itallian_chauffer, if you are on AA, we will be on your flight. .. also, i decided to use my MC Platinum card to waive CDW. We went through Budget. They have a place on their site specifically for waiving the CDW using MC Platinum or Gold... and i spoke with MC and it all sounded good to me. Also says they will pay the deductible. So - i'm thinking i dont have to purchase any more insurance. ?.

Today is the first day i am resting.. so much reading (thank you again!) and planning.. i feel like i have my itinerary down and will be able to enjoy Ireland when we get there.

callalilli

one more thing.. i opted to spend 3x as much on an automatic... for peace of mind and being able to enjoy every minute without that little added stress of remembering to shift with my left hand.. we'll just have to stick to a closer food budget.

Itallian_Chauffer

callalilli --

Interesting choice of screen name. They are my daughter's favorite flower. Yes, we will be sharing your AA flight #211. We will be the rowdy bunch occupying ALL SIX seats in row 31, if AA doesn't mess with our assignments AGAIN!
Four of us are returning on the AA flight out of Shannon on the 15th. We are heading down to Cork City first thing, as we have a party waiting for us Saturday night. Can't wait!! Only four weeks from today!!

callalilli

one of my favorite flowers also.. i was looking at some in a vase when i chose the screenname..
sounds good.. actually flight is 212, no? i and my son (age 19) will be in row 25. we are going to stay close by in Bunratty first night..then castlegregory (Shores) making our way south and around, up to Athelone to see a friend who's going to school there and out of Dublin to London on the 9th. not a heck of a lot of time, but exciting none-the-less. i've gleaned a ton of your wisdom over the past few weeks.. funny that we will be on the same flight. the countdown has started!

Sidepockets

Call your insurance agent.

allanc

I am finding this insurance business very confusing. Just in the middle of looking at rates in Italy for Sept. It appears that I can get a MUCH better deal, when everything is included, by picking up a car in Zurich and driving south for a few hours. Still checking on this, but Italian rental rates PLUS insurances (there appear to be several) seem to be sky high. Have to check with some others. Can anyone offer me some advice on this?

rickmav

It would be interesting to hear from someone who: waived the CDW and had an accident; accepted the CDW and had an accident. We've been to Ireland many times, waived the CDW with MBNA card but, fortunately, never had to see if the system worked.

I think it's one of those things that you only know if it works if someone has actually had to test it.

Anyone out there had a fender bender in Ireland?