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Post Info TOPIC: Tips on car rental for couple with 3 month old
bobby_t1


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Tips on car rental for couple with 3 month old
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I am headed to Dublin on business and my wife and 3 month old baby are tagging along.  We'll be spending Tues-Fri in Dublin, where I'll be working during the day, and my wife + daughter will be playing it lowkey and exploring Dublin while I'm working.  Saturday-Tuesday, we plan on leaving Dublin to explore the rest of the country before flying back to the US on Wednesday morning.  I found these forums on a link on Tripadvisor, and based on my read of the forums, it's much friendlier (and more helpful!) than Tripadvisor :)  So I'll be posting a few different posts asking different questions, hoping to get some insight from the experts here.

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First up is transportation.

While we are in Dublin, we plan to not have a rental car. This is easier for us since we don't need it, and it aligns with the advice people have stated to not bother with a car since it's also crazy to drive within Dublin.

First, we are still figuring out who to rent from but having trouble overall understanding which car size to reserve. We were planning on bringing our US-made "Chico Keyfit 30" rear facing car seat. It fits in our Hyundai Elantra 4 door compact sedan. In addition to the rear-facing car seat, we will have 3 of us (wife + me + baby), moderate amount of luggage and a compact stroller. For example, could we fit in a Ford Focus or would we have to go up to a Ford Mondeo?  I know the specific cars are not guaranteed, but looking for guidance on approximate size since I know European cars are typically smaller than the US.  (Note: We are probably renting from IrishRentalCars.com since their city center pickup location is a 10 min walk from our hotel -- the Westbury).

Second, many car rental companies offer infant car seat rental for a nominal fee. Is this recommended to save traveling with our own car seat, or is it safer to bring our own?

Third, we've never traveled with our infant before and wondering how to handle getting from airport to our hotel in Dublin (city center). Do we just hail a taxi and connect our car seat to it? If we decide to get the infant car seat rental with our rental car later in our trip, how would this work? Do taxis in Dublin have car seats?

Thanks in advance!



-- Edited by bobby_t1 on Sunday 21st of September 2014 01:09:01 AM

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Michele Erdvig


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Welcome to the forum Bobby. How great that you get to mix business and pleasure in Ireland.

You are correct that you don't want a rental car in Dublin. When you do rent a car - because of your stroller and luggage - you will probably want to get an intermediate or standard car on the website you mentioned. That would give you a Toyota, Opal or VW Passat. If the stroller will take a lot of space maybe bump up another class. What time of year will you be there? If it is not high season it is possible to upgrade to another car class on arrival at the car company if everything does not fit.

There are taxis with child car seats available. This is just one: http://childfriendlytaxi.ie/

If it were my child I would take a seat I was familiar with and that the baby is comfortable in. Plus who knows what happened in a rented one? But if that is not possible you can certainly rent one. Perhaps you can email for info about how they disinfect them.

Let us know if you have any other questions. We are here to help make your trip a good experience. biggrin





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bobby_t1


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Michele Erdvig wrote:


You are correct that you don't want a rental car in Dublin. When you do rent a car - because of your stroller and luggage - you will probably want to get an intermediate or standard car on the website you mentioned. That would give you a Toyota, Opal or VW Passat. If the stroller will take a lot of space maybe bump up another class. What time of year will you be there? If it is not high season it is possible to upgrade to another car class on arrival at the car company if everything does not fit.

There are taxis with child car seats available. This is just one: http://childfriendlytaxi.ie/

If it were my child I would take a seat I was familiar with and that the baby is comfortable in. Plus who knows what happened in a rented one? But if that is not possible you can certainly rent one. Perhaps you can email for info about how they disinfect them.

 Good thoughts on baby car seat rental.. we are leaning that way anyways so thanks for affirmation that's a good choice.

As for time of year, we will be there start of October.  

For car size, I see some details across sites. I'm not familiar with all the models.  

On DanDooley.com:

  • "Class D1" (intermediate) they state example models to be "Renault Fluence, Skoda Octavia or similar".  
  • "Class D1" (intermediate again), they state "Skoda Octavia, Ford Mondeo".
  • "Class C1" (Compact) they state "Renault Megane, Toyota Corolla".

 On Avis, they have:

  • "Large: Standard" Diesel: Opel Insignia
  • "Medium: Compact": Toyota Corolla

On Europcar, they have:

  • Intermediate: "Ford Mondeo Diesel or similar"
  • Compact: "Ford Focus SW" ("SW" presumably means "Station Wagon", which is odd because it's called a "Compact")


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Michele Erdvig


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Unfortunately, each car company describes classes of cars differently which can be very confusing. Once you decide on a company to rent from I would send an email telling them of your circumstances and ask them for their suggestion for a car that will fit your family. If it is Dooley you can phone their NJ office and speak with them.

I have to admit that I am not familiar with every car mentioned and new models come out all the time. It is possible to find specs for different cars online if you have the time to do so.



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"Ireland Expert"  Michele Erdvig

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