Hi Thank you so much. I spoke to Auto Europe and they told me that they would contact their Dublin supplier  Murray/Sixth and find out any additional extras.

Hertz is contacting their training dept and letting me know in 48 hours any additional charges for the car.  Hertz told me that my rate was 196.47 for  a compact car- like an opal astra(5 door hatchback) which included liability insurance(mandatory for Ireland they said). This is for a 12 day rental.  That rate is if i waive the collision if i get approved for the World Card.

The rate they said included Vat Tax and Location fee.  They do not cover tires. The last person i spoke to told me that since World Card was 0 deductible i did not have to pay a deposit.

When the training dept gets back to me - i asked about administrative charges, loss of use, fleet login, key deposit- i will let you know.

I will also let everyone know re Auto Europe. Maybe it is different in Ireland but i have used Auto Europe before and never had any suprises.

Both companies said it is critical that you have a letter from World card stating that they cover you. Just using your card is not enough.

Please advise me as to what other charges i can be charged for.  Other reviewers that i have seen do not like Dan Dooley at all. So i guess it depends on your experiences.

Thanks again

Hi Thank you so much. On trip advisor some of the posters recently had problems with Dan Dooley. As you said it depends on your own experience.

I have contacted Hertz and they are getting in touch with Hertz at Dublin Airport re other fees.

Auto Europe is contacting Murray/Sixth in Dublin to findout other fees.

Can you please let me know what other charges are imposed.

This is what i have so far with Hertz-   a compact car- i requested opal astra(not guaranteed. Just got approved by World Card- the benefits dept told me that they would cover collision only on the rental car. That also includes undercarriage, windshield, roof. Does not include a flat tire, nail in tire etc.  They do not cover liability. Hertz told me that liablity is covered in my rental- because mandatory in Ireland.

My rate is without insurance- since i am using Mastercard- for 12 days  196.47 euro which includes VAT  and location fee.   They told me final price.  Mastercard- no deductible.

Hertz said re fuel- you start with filled tank- and you have two options bring it back full or have them fill it but will cost more.

World Mastercard said in case of an accident they will cover loss of use - with proper documents- i think that is common.  

The training dept is checking with Dublin about fleet utilization log, adminstrative costs, loss of use, keydeposit.

I am not sure about road fee.

Please explain to me what other charges i could incur if they are saying my price is final. Thanks

Thanks  Hertz told me yesterday that if i was approved for the World Mastercard- i just got approved- my rate would be 195.31. That included the 13.5% vat  and the location fee- in my case Dublin Airport of 22.91. It is the same rate for the Dublin City location.This rate is for 12 days with a compact car- i requested Opel Astra- diesel- manuel. I am a gold member so if available i can get an upgrade.  No deductible.

They said i would have two options for fuel- bring back with full tank or pay extra for them to refuel.

They said that their rate included liability because it is mandatory in Ireland.

The rate if i did not have the World Master Card would have been  290.47. That included Vat, location fee, CDW, also theft protection fee. 

World card said that they usually pay for loss of use- depending on circumstances.

Still waiting from Hertz- key deposit,  loss of use, fleet utilization log, extra fee for driving into Northern Ireland if desire, administrative fees if accident occurs, road tax fee.

There is no cancellation fee- however if i change days subject to price change if the rate changes.

I have used Auto Europe with visa in other parts of europe and i have never had a problem. I am hearing so many complaints in other forums such as Trip Advisor re Ireland.  

Will keep you posted when i get more info.  

 

After re-reading my above post, I got to thinking about the scenerio at the Rental Car Lot in Shannon.  There were 5 total cars sitting side by side, one of which was ours,  when we arrived to pick it up.  I was initially surprised by the amount of damage on our particular car.  (I don't recall seeing that on the cars in the Dublin lot, in 2006.)   I did a close inspection of the car, and found that all of the half a dozen major  blemishes were noted on the documents we were given.  I took close up pictures of a couple of minor scratches that were not documented, since the lot attendant had vanished.  I did a quick walk around of the the other 4 cars, all the same make, model and color. and it was very noticable that the other 4 cars were in much better shape....body-wise.  I am now starting to wonder, if the rougher looking cars, are not intentionally given to those who decline CDL or have credit card insurance coverage....in hopes that they might get more damage repaired if and when a fender bender occures?  Has anybody else had a similar experience?  Just curious. Dan

AutoEurope is now working with Murray/Sixth. That might make a difference but not sure. I used them for all my european trips but i am now leaning towards Hertz. Waiting for them to give me more info.

Hertz told me that they would not charge for crossing the border. I am wondering if that charge is when you actually do it. Waiting on road fees- but they think i have to pay daily- we will see when the contact me. They are emailing or calling Dublin Airport. They also told me that at the the airport the cars are 2010 or low miles- we will see.

I just wrote shaun quinn and a premond@simi.ie an email about the auto rental concerns.

Will update you when i receive info.

Boomer,

Good for you. We will be interested to hear what he has to say.

Michele

I have to agree. Still waiting on Hertz response for questions that their international dept should have. They have to get their information from Dublin because i pressed their hand.

They were concerned about the theft part of the contract because in Ireland they separate it. I called World Mastercard yesterday and this is what they informed me. They cover theft of the car as well as accessories of the physical car. Hertz was not sure if they covered side mirros, bumpers etc. Which is kind of strange because World said the physical car- but not the contents inside.

World Mastercard said they do not cover liability at all. Hertz covers the passenger but not the driver- and other passengers in the other car if an accident occurs. They call it third party. Mastercard was not aware of that term. Again, all these terms, condidtions etc.....

World Mastercard told me that they are getting alot of requests for confirmation letters for Ireland. They said now it is not enough just to show them your card. They also suggested that you extend the days when you are travelling to cover your self.

For instance- if you are renting a car on July7th for 7 days you need to extend the days up until the day you are leaving or the prior day. That way you will be covered if you want to keep the car longer.  This should be stated in the confirmation letter that they will send you. We also spoke about have the letter with your full name on the card. If a middle name or middle initial is on the card- include that.

They also gave me their toll free number. I requested a letter but the representative said if they email me and if there is a problem- they can pull up the email that i received and they will see that it was sent from their company. Any other problems they can call World Mastercard directly.

However, you must submit a hard copy to the rental company when you go to the counter. Keep multiple copies with you.

The rep also suggested that everyone check the car over and look under bumpers, above the tires and have them record it. Pictures also- but if it is not written on the forms- there could be a problem she said.

We talked about looking at the car in the rain. She said that she is suggesting taking a flashlight at directly into at the windshield and it would show if there are any cracks.

She said that with this confirmation letter and being prepared there have been less problems on their end.

Also for loss of use- it has to be documented with fleet utilization logs. However, they do not pay any administrative costs if their is an accident or other matters.

Their primary concern is the physical car- not other areas. For instance, lost keys, tires, mechanical failure of the car.  She kept on stressing phsyical car. She was really informative.

Since i wrote to Auto Europe re the bad reviews that they have encountered - they will not respond to my call or to my email. They were supposed to give me another quote. I am probably going to rent with Hertz since they are trying to give me a more detailed info- road fees etc.

Will keep you informed.

Boomer,

It sounds like you are fully informed and very prepared. You are correct that Capital One has no foreign transaction fee. I have a Cap One business card that covers a car in Ireland even though it is not a World MC. So every card and transaction is different.

The language is always "slippery". You have to be a lawyer ten times over to understand it. All the cc compaines use the word "may" in their language. It is entirely up to the car company as to whether they will accept your cc insurance coverage.

Good luck with your car rental. You will have to let us know how it goes once you get back from your trip.

Michele

I have to admit that the more I read about Hertz, overall, the more nervous I became about my own prepaid reservation so...I cancelled it and went with Dan Dooley.  (Cancelling and getting a refund was super simple- so that was a good thing!)

The exchange rate had gone down considerably so it saved me a bit of money (even with the conversion fee since I completely missed the thing about going through the New Jersey office! As Homer would say: "Doh!").  But the number of discouraging remarks on Dan Dooley were outshone by the encouraging ones so I feel at peace with that decision.  

Since I will be returning the car at Dublin airport (which seems to be where the biggest problems have occurred?) it just made sense *to me* to make the switch...

I'm looking forward to hearing about your Hertz experience, though!  
 

Hi!

The Hertz price was very competitive and they seemed to include everything in the price that I thought they should but I've never actually rented with them before so kept reading every last review and offhand comment that I could find for the last several months. 

Really, the only 'sticking point' for me was the surprise charges that seemed to pop up for people.  With Dan Dooley there seemed to be almost no charges that weren't expected so I just switched for a little more peace of mind. 

And the basic charge was the same for me with Dooley as Hertz so since there was a better exchange rate than there was back when I made my original reservation with Hertz- then that helped sway me a bit, too. 

I'm sure Hertz will be *absolutely fine* for you, especially since you are a Gold member.   

I also have gone with insurance4carhire for the excess.  Hoping I won't need to find out if the claim process is a simple one!

It was through AutoEurope/Kemwel and Murray/Sixt that I had my first truly horrid car rental experience.  I know that Murray petioned the courts for reorganization in July of last year. Perhaps that is what my "license & taxes fees" of  $500+ went toward, their legal fund...

Dan Dooley may look a tad more expensive on the onset. However, it is a small price to pay for having everything in black and white and, hopefully, no surprises.

It is amazing to me that in these tough economic times for Ireland, when the rest of the tourist industry is doing all it can to make Ireland travel affordable, that the Car rental industry isn't following suit.

I was assisting a friend in her trip planning for a September trip. She has postponed it after seeing what the auto rental costs would be.

Boomer, if you've not yet booked your flights, AerLingus just announced a summer sale... you might give it a go.

Safe Travels to all heading "home"

Slan Beo,

Bit

See what that "sale" comes out to when you put in dates and take it all the way through.  From where I was flying from, it ended up being pretty darn high.  When Aer Lingus runs one of these things, the end result is often paying really high rates on the vehicle, because if there are two of you flying, you are each paying the same rate as part of the ticket on the car. 

Maybe you will find it to be a better deal -- it was nothing to consider on this end. 

Same here -- no deal at all when you crunch the numbers.  The promo that Aer Lingus advertises looks great, but reality sinks in when you see what the bottom line will be!  Just keep looking ... something much better than this will come along.