first timer
Unregistered User
(5/24/03 10:28 am)

car rental

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My husband and I are taking our first trip to Ireland this summer and wondered if anyone had any advice/experience with car rentals. We fly into Dublin and then plan to go around the coast (duration of 10 days). Anyone know if we should wait to get a car after leaving Dublin and of any cheap rentals? Thanks so much!

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 1488
(5/24/03 11:24 pm)

Car Rental Tips

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Hi first timer,

If you are staying in downtown Dublin don't get your rental car till you are leaving the city. Getting around in Dublin is best done by walking and public transportation.

When I rent a car I look at all the car rental company's web sites for deals and then call them to see if they can do better. The last time I got an excellent price from Hertz plus they gave me an additional 10% discount for being an AAA member. (I had to call for the discount.) The two times before that Budget had the best rates. So shop around and take your best price. Also, go to the bottom of this page and click on "Car Rentals" for a listing.

Compare the same type of car at all the different companies. If you compare a manual Opal to an automatic Mercedes you will get wildly fluctuating prices. So compare "apples to apples".

Find out what is included. Do you want the full insurance or will you let your gold MasterCard insurance cover you? Does it include tax (13.5%) and airport fee (around 25 euro)?

The cheapest cars are the smallest with manual transmissions. They also get the best gas mileage. An automatic car will bump the price up but make driving on the left easier. Be sure there are no drop-off fees if leaving the car at a location other than where it was rented.

The type of car, your rental dates, the options and insurance you choose will all determine the price of your car. It is time-consuming but if you want the cheapest rates doing your homework is the only way to find them.

Michele

gharborwa
Unregistered User
(6/18/03 1:32 pm)
 
car rental size

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This is great info, but I'd like feedback on size of car to rent from the Shannon airport. Anyone? Thanks

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 1573
(6/18/03 4:10 pm)

Car Rental

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Hi gharborwa,

I have answered your question under your other posting. Let's see if some of the others post here again to help you out.

Michele

Dude
Unregistered User
(6/18/03 4:24 pm)

Car rentals

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That Land Rover that we had at the beginning of our trip, from Hertz, would be ideal for three people, luggage and golf clubs. It was almost new, drove well, and had an automatic transmission. I'm not sure what "class" it fit under, but seated 5 and had an adequate luggage space for fewer than 5 women with everything they owned in their bags!

DebbieK
Registered User
Posts: 28
(6/19/03 1:34 pm)

Re: Car rentals

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We had a Ford Focus wagon from Dan Dooley ( Shannon pickup & drop off) that fit us pretty good.

4 people = 4 25" suitcases , 4 Carry-on bags, all of which fit fine in the back. Couldn't really pull the cover over the back area, but never had a problem.

(At least at the beginning of the trip , I could see out the rearview fine, by the end of 2 weeks, Mom had filled that area with packages, which made it a bit more of a challenge. )
I would think that 2 golf bags is kind of the equivilant of 1 of the big suitcases & Carryon. Also you could put the overflow on the empty spot in the back seat.

Debbie