Car rental in Ireland

On 09/11/2010 05:37 PM, Martin wrote:
On Sat, 11 Sep 2010 08:28:19 -0700 (PDT), aquachimp
wrote:

On Sep 11, 3:41 pm, wrote:
On Sat, 11 Sep 2010 06:34:23 -0700 (PDT), aquachimp





wrote:
On Sep 11, 2:22 pm,
wrote:
On Sep 11, 1:06 pm, "Andy
wrote:

"S wrote in message

...

US associates of my husband, need to rent a car from Dublin, for
about a week. Any suggestions on reasonable rental companies to
deal with?

Watch out for the usual insurance rip-off scam nearly all car hire
companies seem to pull. You can't just simply get "fully comp"
insurance like with a normal car insurance. They'll always include
third party and usually include "collision damage waiver" and "theft
protection", so when you book it you think you're fully covered.

Then when you turn up at the desk to collect they'll explain that the
CDW and TP come with a massive excess (maybe EUR 500-1000) but you can
purchase a "top up" insurance (sometimes called Super CDW) which
waives the excess, but at an rip-off price of EUR 100-200!! They try
to persuade you to take it by insisting on a deposit or reserve on
your CC of the amount of the excess if you don't want it.

Then you may find even the Super CDW has several exclusions, like
windscreens, tyres, underside, roof... You could consider an excess
insurance from the likes of insurance4carhire. Or sometimes credit
cards include it but check carefully.

--
Andy

I don't know if this is a peculiarity of car rental in Ireland, but I
find that car rentals (& insurance) there are constantly shifting the
goal posts.

There was a time when there was the choice of the minimum insurance
cover with authorisation to withdraw stacks of cash from your credit
card. 6 years ago, in the UK, the potential withdrawal was around
£3,500 and at that, it was linked to my existing car insurance.

If you went for their full comp, which wasn't called that, then there
would be just an authorisation for fuel and the cost of the insurance.
And the price for the full comprehensive would be determined according
to the levels of excess you'd accept.

Having opted for the full cover, on returning the vehicle, (in Ireland
this time) it was my experience to meet the car rental bloke who would
start marching off to inspect the car, but on seeing I had the full
cover, would stop dead in his tracks and on asking if we had re-filled
the fuel tank would say that there is no need to inspect it.

And now they've gone and done the full swing back to the days when you
have to authorise a withdrawal from your CC... around €1,200, except
this time it's alongside having opted for the full whack insurance.

However, were you to not want to sign off on such authorisation, you
can buy your way out of it by paying around €15 per day... on top of
the full whack insurance rate.
Or, at least, that's what I now think the old drone (well, actually,
not that old... but wont be needing a Halloween mask) at the desk
was wittering on about. The papers we handed over stated clearly that
we had FULL CDW insurance, but still we were getting what felt like
the usual shake-down to buy... er, full insurance.
But, on readinghttp://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g186591-c138899/Ireland:Car.Rental....
it seems it was SCDW she was trying to flog, though it didn't sound
like it and, as I pointed out on the document she persistently refused
to re-surface from behind her desk, I already had FULL CDW insurance.

Oh yeah, and then you'll have to sign off for the fuel which will cost
around €80 for a tank that actually only costs around €45 to fill from
absolute empty.

AND, then there'll be the obligatory €900 authorisation in the event
of things being damage that are not covered by the you're-now-covered-
for-absolutely-everything full whack insurance.

And sign off for the automatic Tolls. (in case you pass one)

Something worth reading;http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g1...:Renting.A.Car...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Search?q=...e+ireland+revi...

You can also check out sites like this one which I found by putting-
353 car rentals reviews - into the search engine.

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews186427.html

Oddly, my own experience of that particular rental group remains to
this day as being the BEST experience as far as Irish car rental
****ers are concerned.

I forgot one point;
Put it this way, for the last 5 years and more, we've booked through
a travel agency and the price was an all in Fly-Drive + Hotels deal.
We usually knew what the cost of the car hire was, but in relation to
the documentation to be presented at the car hire desk, there would
only be a file code. It wouldn't actually say, in plain words, what
the cover was.

And so, we were easy prey to the dishonest car hire personal who would
tap tap the details on our documentation into their computers and then
ask us if we'd like to take out further insurance, explain that what
we were booked in with was just a basic package.

And so, we'd cough up. Then, the following year, when re-booking, we'd
mention the experience to the travel agent here and ask to be quoted a
price inclusive of the right level of insurance. At which point the
agency at our end would tap tap in their computer and inform us that
we had been fully covered on the previous trip.
But the same thing would happen again... and again... and again...

So this year the agency at this end went to the trouble of including
some downright plain English in an otherwise Dutch language document.

Personally, I wish that when I arrive at the car hire desk and am
getting the run around or the dishonest car car sales persons hard
sell, that there was a hot line I could phone to report it.
I'd so wish I could then just stand back and watch being draged off in
h

I have had both Avis and Hertz cards provided by my former employer. The
person's profile defines the options required and not required. The card also
gives the maximum discount. It isn't a credit card, it is more of an ID card. I
still have an Avis card.
--

Martin- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'm sorry martin, but I can't figure out what you're getting at there.

Get your employer to issue you with their preferred hire car companies ID cards.
Big discounts for private use, and preferences defined once and for all in the
hire companies database. In most cases the forms were preprinted and only have
to checked and signed/initialed when you pick up the car.

I have an Avis card from a previous employer but I found that far from
getting a discount, you pay the highest rate. Far better to go to
another rental company like Europecar or just book through Opodo.

T.

On Sep 11, 8:12*pm, Tom P wrote:
On 09/11/2010 05:37 PM, Martin wrote:



On Sat, 11 Sep 2010 08:28:19 -0700 (PDT), aquachimp
*wrote:

On Sep 11, 3:41 pm, *wrote:
On Sat, 11 Sep 2010 06:34:23 -0700 (PDT), aquachimp

*wrote:
On Sep 11, 2:22 pm,
wrote:
On Sep 11, 1:06 pm, "Andy
wrote:

"S *wrote in message

...

US associates of my husband, need to rent a car from Dublin, for
about a week. *Any suggestions on reasonable rental companies to
deal with?

Watch out for the usual insurance rip-off scam nearly all car hire
companies seem to pull. You can't just simply get "fully comp"
insurance like with a normal car insurance. They'll always include
third party and usually include "collision damage waiver" and "theft
protection", so when you book it you think you're fully covered.

Then when you turn up at the desk to collect they'll explain that the
CDW and TP come with a massive excess (maybe EUR 500-1000) but you can
purchase a "top up" insurance (sometimes called Super CDW) which
waives the excess, but at an rip-off price of EUR 100-200!! They try
to persuade you to take it by insisting on a deposit or reserve on
your CC of the amount of the excess if you don't want it.

Then you may find even the Super CDW has several exclusions, like
windscreens, tyres, underside, roof... You could consider an excess
insurance from the likes of insurance4carhire. Or sometimes credit
cards include it but check carefully.

--
Andy

I don't know if this is a peculiarity of car rental in Ireland, but I
find that car rentals (& *insurance) there are constantly shifting the
goal posts.

There was a time when there was the choice of the minimum insurance
cover with authorisation to withdraw stacks of cash from your credit
card. 6 years ago, in the UK, the potential withdrawal was around
£3,500 and at that, it was linked to my existing car insurance.

If you went for their full comp, which wasn't called that, then there
would be just an authorisation for fuel and the cost of the insurance.
And the price for the full comprehensive would be determined according
to the levels of excess you'd accept.

Having opted for the full cover, on returning the vehicle, (in Ireland
this time) it was my experience to meet the car rental bloke who would
start marching off to inspect the car, but on seeing I had the full
cover, would stop dead in his tracks and on asking if we had re-filled
the fuel tank would say that there is no need to inspect it.

And now they've gone and done the full swing back to the days when you
have to authorise a withdrawal from your CC... around €1,200, except
this time it's alongside having opted for the full whack insurance.

However, were you to not want to sign off on such authorisation, you
can buy your way out of it by paying around €15 per day... on top of
the full whack insurance rate.
Or, at least, that's what I now think the old drone (well, actually,
not that old... but wont be needing a Halloween mask) *at the desk
was wittering on about. The papers we handed over stated clearly that
we had FULL CDW insurance, but still we were getting what felt like
the usual shake-down to buy... er, full insurance.
But, on readinghttp://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g186591-c138899/Ireland:Car.Rental....
it seems it was SCDW she was trying to flog, though it didn't sound
like it and, as I pointed out on the document she persistently refused
to re-surface from behind her desk, I already had FULL CDW insurance.

Oh yeah, and then you'll have to sign off for the fuel which will cost
around €80 for a tank that actually only costs around €45 to fill from
absolute empty.

AND, then there'll be the obligatory €900 authorisation in the event
of things being damage that are not covered by the you're-now-covered-
for-absolutely-everything full whack insurance.

And sign off for the automatic Tolls. (in case you pass one)

Something worth reading;http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g1...:Renting.A.Car...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Search?q=...e+ireland+revi...

You can also check out sites like this one which I found by putting-
353 car rentals reviews - *into the search engine.

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews186427.html

Oddly, my own experience of that particular rental group remains to
this day as being the BEST experience as far as Irish car rental
****ers are concerned.

I forgot one point;
Put it this way, for the last 5 years *and more, we've booked through
a travel agency and the price was an all in Fly-Drive + Hotels deal.
We usually knew what the cost of the car hire was, but in relation to
the documentation to be presented at the car hire desk, there would
only be a file code. It wouldn't actually say, in plain words, what
the cover was.

And so, we were easy prey to the dishonest car hire personal who would
tap tap the details on our documentation into their computers and then
ask us if we'd like to take out further insurance, explain that what
we were booked in with was just a basic package.

And so, we'd cough up. Then, the following year, when re-booking, we'd
mention the experience to the travel agent here and ask to be quoted a
price inclusive of the right level of insurance. At which point the
agency at our end would tap tap in their computer and inform us that
we had been fully covered on the previous trip.
But the same thing would happen again... and again... and again...

So this year the agency at this end went to the trouble of including
some downright plain English in an otherwise Dutch language document..

Personally, I wish that when I arrive at the car hire desk and am
getting the run around or the dishonest car car sales persons hard
sell, that there was a hot line I could phone to report it.
I'd so wish I could then just stand back and watch being draged off in
h

I have had both Avis and Hertz cards provided by my former employer. The
person's profile defines the options required and not required. The card also
gives the maximum discount. It isn't a credit card, it is more of an ID card. I
still have an Avis card.
--

Martin- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'm sorry martin, but I can't figure out what you're getting at there.

Get your employer to issue you with their preferred hire car companies ID cards.
Big discounts for private use, and preferences defined once and for all in the
hire companies database. In most cases the forms were preprinted and only have
to checked and signed/initialed when you pick up the car.

I have an Avis card from a previous employer but I found that far from
getting a discount, you pay the highest rate. Far better to go to
another rental company like Europecar or just book through Opodo.

T.

Tom, there's no second "e" in europcar;
(a natural mistake which I found out myself when there seemed to be
very little by way of review on it.)

But http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews76705.html puts it as even
worse than the impression one gets of 353 car rental

On 09/12/2010 11:37 AM, Martin wrote:
On Sat, 11 Sep 2010 20:12:55 +0200, Tom wrote:

On 09/11/2010 05:37 PM, Martin wrote:
On Sat, 11 Sep 2010 08:28:19 -0700 (PDT), aquachimp
wrote:

On Sep 11, 3:41 pm, wrote:
On Sat, 11 Sep 2010 06:34:23 -0700 (PDT), aquachimp





wrote:
On Sep 11, 2:22 pm,
wrote:
On Sep 11, 1:06 pm, "Andy
wrote:

"S wrote in message

...

US associates of my husband, need to rent a car from Dublin, for
about a week. Any suggestions on reasonable rental companies to
deal with?

Watch out for the usual insurance rip-off scam nearly all car hire
companies seem to pull. You can't just simply get "fully comp"
insurance like with a normal car insurance. They'll always include
third party and usually include "collision damage waiver" and "theft
protection", so when you book it you think you're fully covered.

Then when you turn up at the desk to collect they'll explain that the
CDW and TP come with a massive excess (maybe EUR 500-1000) but you can
purchase a "top up" insurance (sometimes called Super CDW) which
waives the excess, but at an rip-off price of EUR 100-200!! They try
to persuade you to take it by insisting on a deposit or reserve on
your CC of the amount of the excess if you don't want it.

Then you may find even the Super CDW has several exclusions, like
windscreens, tyres, underside, roof... You could consider an excess
insurance from the likes of insurance4carhire. Or sometimes credit
cards include it but check carefully.

--
Andy

I don't know if this is a peculiarity of car rental in Ireland, but I
find that car rentals (& insurance) there are constantly shifting the
goal posts.

There was a time when there was the choice of the minimum insurance
cover with authorisation to withdraw stacks of cash from your credit
card. 6 years ago, in the UK, the potential withdrawal was around
£3,500 and at that, it was linked to my existing car insurance.

If you went for their full comp, which wasn't called that, then there
would be just an authorisation for fuel and the cost of the insurance.
And the price for the full comprehensive would be determined according
to the levels of excess you'd accept.

Having opted for the full cover, on returning the vehicle, (in Ireland
this time) it was my experience to meet the car rental bloke who would
start marching off to inspect the car, but on seeing I had the full
cover, would stop dead in his tracks and on asking if we had re-filled
the fuel tank would say that there is no need to inspect it.

And now they've gone and done the full swing back to the days when you
have to authorise a withdrawal from your CC... around €1,200, except
this time it's alongside having opted for the full whack insurance.

However, were you to not want to sign off on such authorisation, you
can buy your way out of it by paying around €15 per day... on top of
the full whack insurance rate.
Or, at least, that's what I now think the old drone (well, actually,
not that old... but wont be needing a Halloween mask) at the desk
was wittering on about. The papers we handed over stated clearly that
we had FULL CDW insurance, but still we were getting what felt like
the usual shake-down to buy... er, full insurance.
But, on readinghttp://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g186591-c138899/Ireland:Car.Rental....
it seems it was SCDW she was trying to flog, though it didn't sound
like it and, as I pointed out on the document she persistently refused
to re-surface from behind her desk, I already had FULL CDW insurance.

Oh yeah, and then you'll have to sign off for the fuel which will cost
around €80 for a tank that actually only costs around €45 to fill from
absolute empty.

AND, then there'll be the obligatory €900 authorisation in the event
of things being damage that are not covered by the you're-now-covered-
for-absolutely-everything full whack insurance.

And sign off for the automatic Tolls. (in case you pass one)

Something worth reading;http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g1...:Renting.A.Car...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Search?q=...e+ireland+revi...

You can also check out sites like this one which I found by putting-
353 car rentals reviews - into the search engine.

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews186427.html

Oddly, my own experience of that particular rental group remains to
this day as being the BEST experience as far as Irish car rental
****ers are concerned.

I forgot one point;
Put it this way, for the last 5 years and more, we've booked through
a travel agency and the price was an all in Fly-Drive + Hotels deal.
We usually knew what the cost of the car hire was, but in relation to
the documentation to be presented at the car hire desk, there would
only be a file code. It wouldn't actually say, in plain words, what
the cover was.

And so, we were easy prey to the dishonest car hire personal who would
tap tap the details on our documentation into their computers and then
ask us if we'd like to take out further insurance, explain that what
we were booked in with was just a basic package.

And so, we'd cough up. Then, the following year, when re-booking, we'd
mention the experience to the travel agent here and ask to be quoted a
price inclusive of the right level of insurance. At which point the
agency at our end would tap tap in their computer and inform us that
we had been fully covered on the previous trip.
But the same thing would happen again... and again... and again...

So this year the agency at this end went to the trouble of including
some downright plain English in an otherwise Dutch language document.

Personally, I wish that when I arrive at the car hire desk and am
getting the run around or the dishonest car car sales persons hard
sell, that there was a hot line I could phone to report it.
I'd so wish I could then just stand back and watch being draged off in
h

I have had both Avis and Hertz cards provided by my former employer. The
person's profile defines the options required and not required. The card also
gives the maximum discount. It isn't a credit card, it is more of an ID card. I
still have an Avis card.
--

Martin- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'm sorry martin, but I can't figure out what you're getting at there.

Get your employer to issue you with their preferred hire car companies ID cards.
Big discounts for private use, and preferences defined once and for all in the
hire companies database. In most cases the forms were preprinted and only have
to checked and signed/initialed when you pick up the car.

I have an Avis card from a previous employer but I found that far from
getting a discount, you pay the highest rate. Far better to go to
another rental company like Europecar or just book through Opodo.

I get a 30% reduction.
I have even used the card to hire a car in Australia for three weeks long after
I retired. Using the card gave me the cheapest rate.
Maybe it depends on how much business your employer does with the hire company.

Employer: large international IT business.

"Andy Pandy" wrote in message
...

"tim...." wrote in message
...

"Andy Pandy" wrote in message
...

"S Viemeister" wrote in message
...
US associates of my husband, need to rent a car from Dublin, for about
a week. Any suggestions on reasonable rental companies to deal with?

Watch out for the usual insurance rip-off scam nearly all car hire
companies seem to pull. You can't just simply get "fully comp" insurance
like with a normal car insurance. They'll always include third party and
usually include "collision damage waiver" and "theft protection", so
when you book it you think you're fully covered.

Then when you turn up at the desk to collect they'll explain that the
CDW and TP come with a massive excess (maybe EUR 500-1000) but you can
purchase a "top up" insurance (sometimes called Super CDW) which waives
the excess, but at an rip-off price of EUR 100-200!! They try to
persuade you to take it by insisting on a deposit or reserve on your CC
of the amount of the excess if you don't want it.

No they don't This is not a sales tactic at all. It's how it works

"No they don't" what?

They don't pressurise you into taking the CDW by threatening to "reserve"
the excess on your CC.

The system is that you choose one or the other. No-one (in the UK) has
ever pressurised me into taking the CDW after I have said no. They just
inform me that in that case they have to reserve the deposit on my card.
How else can they possibly let you take the car if they don't do this? If
the don't check first you may come back with a broken car and not be able to
pay.

tim

"tim...." wrote in message
...

"Andy Pandy" wrote in message
...

"tim...." wrote in message
...

"Andy Pandy" wrote in message
...

"S Viemeister" wrote in message
...
US associates of my husband, need to rent a car from Dublin, for
about a week. Any suggestions on reasonable rental companies to
deal with?

Watch out for the usual insurance rip-off scam nearly all car
hire companies seem to pull. You can't just simply get "fully
comp" insurance like with a normal car insurance. They'll always
include third party and usually include "collision damage waiver"
and "theft protection", so when you book it you think you're
fully covered.

Then when you turn up at the desk to collect they'll explain that
the CDW and TP come with a massive excess (maybe EUR 500-1000)
but you can purchase a "top up" insurance (sometimes called Super
CDW) which waives the excess, but at an rip-off price of EUR
100-200!! They try to persuade you to take it by insisting on a
deposit or reserve on your CC of the amount of the excess if you
don't want it.

No they don't This is not a sales tactic at all. It's how it
works

"No they don't" what?

They don't pressurise you into taking the CDW by threatening to
"reserve" the excess on your CC.

The system is that you choose one or the other. No-one (in the UK)
has ever pressurised me into taking the CDW after I have said no.
They just inform me that in that case they have to reserve the
deposit on my card. How else can they possibly let you take the car
if they don't do this? If the don't check first you may come back
with a broken car and not be able to pay.

But what about all the exclusions you usually get with the Super CDW
(eg glass, tyres, underside etc). They don't take a deposit/reserve to
cover those. Why do you think the typical excess for CDW is so high?

A reserve isn't so bad, but sometimes they will actually charge your
card and refund it when you return it - happened to me with Hertz in
Majorca. Luckily the charge and refund were in the same statement
period, but if my statement date had occured between the two I'd have
had to pay the charge and waited a month to get it back.

--
Andy

"Andy Pandy" wrote in message
...

"tim...." wrote in message
...

"Andy Pandy" wrote in message
...

"tim...." wrote in message
...

"Andy Pandy" wrote in message
...

"S Viemeister" wrote in message
...
US associates of my husband, need to rent a car from Dublin, for
about a week. Any suggestions on reasonable rental companies to deal
with?

Watch out for the usual insurance rip-off scam nearly all car hire
companies seem to pull. You can't just simply get "fully comp"
insurance like with a normal car insurance. They'll always include
third party and usually include "collision damage waiver" and "theft
protection", so when you book it you think you're fully covered.

Then when you turn up at the desk to collect they'll explain that the
CDW and TP come with a massive excess (maybe EUR 500-1000) but you can
purchase a "top up" insurance (sometimes called Super CDW) which
waives the excess, but at an rip-off price of EUR 100-200!! They try
to persuade you to take it by insisting on a deposit or reserve on
your CC of the amount of the excess if you don't want it.

No they don't This is not a sales tactic at all. It's how it works

"No they don't" what?

They don't pressurise you into taking the CDW by threatening to "reserve"
the excess on your CC.

The system is that you choose one or the other. No-one (in the UK) has
ever pressurised me into taking the CDW after I have said no. They just
inform me that in that case they have to reserve the deposit on my card.
How else can they possibly let you take the car if they don't do this?
If the don't check first you may come back with a broken car and not be
able to pay.

But what about all the exclusions you usually get with the Super CDW (eg
glass, tyres, underside etc). They don't take a deposit/reserve to cover
those. Why do you think the typical excess for CDW is so high?

I'm not disagreeing with you that the CDW is a bad deal

I'm just saying that the threat to charge your card with the excess is a
necessary requirement of the system. It's not a scam designed to sell you
the CDW.

tim

"tim...." wrote in message
...

"Andy Pandy" wrote in message
...

"tim...." wrote in message
...

"Andy Pandy" wrote in message
...

"tim...." wrote in message
...

"Andy Pandy" wrote in
message ...

"S Viemeister" wrote in message
...
US associates of my husband, need to rent a car from Dublin,
for about a week. Any suggestions on reasonable rental
companies to deal with?

Watch out for the usual insurance rip-off scam nearly all car
hire companies seem to pull. You can't just simply get "fully
comp" insurance like with a normal car insurance. They'll
always include third party and usually include "collision
damage waiver" and "theft protection", so when you book it you
think you're fully covered.

Then when you turn up at the desk to collect they'll explain
that the CDW and TP come with a massive excess (maybe EUR
500-1000) but you can purchase a "top up" insurance (sometimes
called Super CDW) which waives the excess, but at an rip-off
price of EUR 100-200!! They try to persuade you to take it by
insisting on a deposit or reserve on your CC of the amount of
the excess if you don't want it.

No they don't This is not a sales tactic at all. It's how it
works

"No they don't" what?

They don't pressurise you into taking the CDW by threatening to
"reserve" the excess on your CC.

The system is that you choose one or the other. No-one (in the
UK) has ever pressurised me into taking the CDW after I have said
no. They just inform me that in that case they have to reserve the
deposit on my card. How else can they possibly let you take the
car if they don't do this? If the don't check first you may come
back with a broken car and not be able to pay.

But what about all the exclusions you usually get with the Super
CDW (eg glass, tyres, underside etc). They don't take a
deposit/reserve to cover those. Why do you think the typical excess
for CDW is so high?

I'm not disagreeing with you that the CDW is a bad deal

I'm just saying that the threat to charge your card with the excess
is a necessary requirement of the system.

Why? As I've already said, they don't take a deposit to cover the
uninsured elements, see above. So they are happy to risk you returning
the car with damage that isn't covered without proving you can pay. So
why is the CDW excess deposit a "necessary requirement"?

It's not a scam designed to sell you the CDW.

The level of the excess is clearly a scam designed to sell the rip-off
Super CDW, and the deposit/reserve is an attempt to make the customer
nervous about not paying for the SCDW.

How else could they possibly get away with selling SCDW at the
ridiculous price they charge? Only an idiot (or very bad driver) would
consider the price reasonable.

--
andy