** Vehicle Hire queries **

seanin4711

anyone recommend one for this purpose and get rid shortly after,
thanks

coylemj

You'd still have to pay the €30 Govt tax.

Some rental companies will accept a debit card but you either have to buy their expensive supplementary insurance or (if you decline the insurance), they deduct the excess from your account and refund it after you return the car undamaged.

antix80

I often wonder why people have such an aversion to owning a credit card. It does essentially the same as a debit card without the inconvenience of hotels and car hire companies putting a large hold against your bank balance that takes weeks to get released.

Slippin Jimmy

antix80 wrote: »

I often wonder why people have such an aversion to owning a credit card. It does essentially the same as a debit card without the inconvenience of hotels and car hire companies putting a large hold against your bank balance that takes weeks to get released.

Probably of the fear of knowing it's there. A person I know got it for the above reason. After a while they used it to purchase stuff that was beyond their means.

Ponster

Make sure that you get one with no annual fee so that it doesn't cost you a penny to just leave it alone once you're back from your holidays.

HcksawJimDuggan

Ponster wrote: »

Make sure that you get one with no annual fee so that it doesn't cost you a penny to just leave it alone once you're back from your holidays.

Is the government levy of €30 not applied to all credit cards issued in Ireland?

Caranica

Ponster wrote: »

Make sure that you get one with no annual fee so that it doesn't cost you a penny to just leave it alone once you're back from your holidays.

Stamp duty is payable annually on credit cards so there's no free cards.

gabe1977

I recently hired a car from budget car hire using my visa debit card.
Didn't take out any of their extra insurance nor was there a deposit held.
Don't know did the girl at the booking desk make a mistake or is this their policy but that was my experience

Xcellor

Get credit card
Get sensible limit
Set up 100% repayment with direct debit

No interest is charged and no fear of building up a balance.

Apart from the unavoidable 30 euro already mentioned what is so scary?

Xcellor

gabe1977 wrote: »

I recently hired a car from budget car hire using my visa debit card.
Didn't take out any of their extra insurance nor was there a deposit held.
Don't know did the girl at the booking desk make a mistake or is this their policy but that was my experience

Some companies make exceptions. I hired a car on one of the greek islands and gave a prepaid card... But the likes or Hertz etc this won't work. Also the car I received was a piece of ****.

gabe1977

Xcellor wrote: »

Some companies make exceptions. I hired a car on one of the greek islands and gave a prepaid card... But the likes or Hertz etc this won't work. Also the car I received was a piece of ****.

I've used budget every year for last 4 years and this year the car was while still a fresh car was definitely well below the usual standard. Tyres just about legal and bodywork with lots of scratches and 2 big dents.
However with some of the horror stories of some of the other companies of charging cards for damage not caused by the hirer I always stick with budget as I've never had an issue with them

coylemj

gabe1977 wrote: »

I recently hired a car from budget car hire using my visa debit card.
Didn't take out any of their extra insurance nor was there a deposit held.
Don't know did the girl at the booking desk make a mistake or is this their policy but that was my experience

This probably applies to a specific Budget operation so it might be be worth stating where - in a lot of cases it's a local franchise and the same rules won't apply in other Budget operations.

You said in a later post (#12 above) that the car had lots of scratches. Which suggests that there is no excess and they don't care about minor damage.

This sounds similar to some of the local companies in the Canaries which get very positive recommendations in the Vehicle Hire Queries thread. There is no excess so they will accept payment in cash and they don't try to sell you any additional insurance. The result is that when you pick up the car, you ignore any existing scratches because when you bring it back, nobody will be bothered if you've picked up a few more.

LillySV

U need a credit card, don’t get caught abroad and find out the hire crowd won’t give u the car without it! I had this happen to me before!! My partner had the credit card and I thought I could be the driver using her card.... they said no... the driver also has to be the owner of the card! So I had to insure her on the car too to be allowed use her card (even though she didn’t want to drive!) .... they wouldn’t accept debit

blastman

Any recommendations for car hire in the UK? Looking for something small and cheap for four days or so, won't be doing too much driving in it. I've already got my excess insurance, so won't be taking theirs.

LillySV

blastman wrote: »

Any recommendations for car hire in the UK? Looking for something small and cheap for four days or so, won't be doing too much driving in it. I've already got my excess insurance, so won't be taking theirs.

I can tell ya that I’ve had issues with easyrent in uk, and europcar elsewhere so I wouldn’t advise them. I’ve never had problems with sixt so would advise them

SusanC10

Has anyone booked Car Hire with Aer Lingus and used their Avios Points to get a lower price ?

If I look at Prices on the Aer Lingus website, the quote is €50 higher but includes Free Additional Driver (which we would need).
However, if I go through using Avios Points which brings you through to the Avios Site and the quote is €50 lower but no mention whatsoever of Additional Driver.

Not sure which to go for. Tried phoning the number on the website but on hold too long.

If anyone has experience of this, please advise.

towger

I booked a car in the US via Avios ( it was with Avis ).
Wife was covered to drive also ( don't know if just spouse can be the extra drived, or can be anybody ). Not sure if you are interested but the necessary insurance was included too. Overall I was very happy with the process.

SusanC10

towger wrote: »

I booked a car in the US via Avios ( it was with Avis ).
Wife was covered to drive also ( don't know if just spouse can be the extra drived, or can be anybody ). Not sure if you are interested but the necessary insurance was included too. Overall I was very happy with the process.

Thank you ! Yes, with Avis. Did you need to do anything "active" to add your wife ? Or was it just included ?

SusanC10

Gave them another call there now and got through.

Apparently the Free Additional Driver with Avios is for USA only not Europe. So would be better with Aer Lingus website and save my points for something else.

towger

SusanC10 wrote: »

Gave them another call there now and got through.

Apparently the Free Additional Driver with Avios is for USA only not Europe. So would be better with Aer Lingus website and save my points for something else.

Good thing you checked.
Thanks for posting back, that is valuable information to know.

Yamanoto

Booking cars with Avios is generally a poor use of miles & you can be sure Aer Club / EI will be among the least competitive offerings available.

Booking Avis through BA Executive Club will give you an additional driver, wherever you choose to rent from.

https://production.rent-at-avis.com/avisonline/gb/avis_ba.nsf/c/AvisPreferred

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

Howdy all

Looking to do a car hire one way as above

Looking around on the main sites like Enterprise etc come back approx 660 dollars when fees and damage waivers included

Looking online and looking at Skyscanner more specifically and I'm finding deals from the likes of national etc for 259 all in including fees and damage waivers.

A deal like that with national or Alamo booked through easy rent cars.com

I just want to know if anybody here has experience using these sites and how trusty they are ? Have hired in USA before with Enterprise directly because they had a very good offer at the time but not they are near most expensive.

Looking for a big car not small to accommodate people + bags etc. And something a bit American like the F-150 I had the last time !

Any advice welcome

MayoForSam

RecordGo in Spain (Malaga) - don't anyone use these shysters whatever you do. I rented a car for a week, some minor damage I noted at the start (2 paint scratches), took pics but they didn't note it on the booking agreement (they don't record any damage less than 4cm in size apparently).

Nice car, no issues, not one extra mark during the week. We had to return it early morning to catch our return flight, just dropped the keys back to their office.

As soon as we touched down in Dublin, I noticed not one but two emails from them, sent about 20 minutes after I dropped the car back with a claim for damages totaling 700 Euro (2 separate invoices)!! 1200 euro pre-approved on my credit card so no comeback there. I've emailed them, still waiting for photographic evidence of the damage. I have car hire excess insurance so I shouldn't be out of pocket but this is totally wrong. Lesson learned, avoid like the plague.

coylemj

MayoForSam wrote: »

RecordGo in Spain (Malaga) - don't anyone use these shysters whatever you do.

It's a bit late now but if you had searched for them by name in this thread alone, you would have come across these consecutive posts from August 2018.

Poster Dinariuus had a link to a Ryanair car hire offer but was unsure which rental company was involved so he posted the link here and asked. Poster k1234565 responded....

k123456 wrote: »

RECORDGO

Dinarius wrote: »

Thanks.

Quick search on Trustpilot and TripAdvisor shows they have uniformly appalling reviews.

Back to the drawing board, I think. (Though most people only go on the web to complain, admittedly.)

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=107721952&postcount=729

Allinall

I suppose it's the luck of the draw.

I've used RecordGo twice a year for the last 6 years and have never had an issue.

Always declined their insurance as have excess insurance separately.

Moyglish

Currently wanting to hire a care for a week or so from Knock airport.

If I want to pay for it online but the main driver is someone else, can I use my card details to pay for it and any fuel costs, insurance costs on the day even if I'm not the main driver?

I want to pay for it for someone arriving to Ireland, I don't want them to have to pay or have the financial burden, but I'm worried that on the day the car hire company will insist on all payments been made via the drivers named cards, whereas I want to pay for it all but won't be the driver, will this be possible or will I run into problems?

Ponster

I believe that all what you say is possible. There was a time in the past certainly when the card used to book the car had to be the same one used to collect it but I've not ran into that for a few years now.

I regularly book cars for my wife, pay in full with insurance, and she picks it up at the other end, no charge (Cork & Dublin). I do seem to remember that they still expect her to have a credit-card in her name which is scanned but no charge is taken.

As ever with these types of questions, best find out who offers car hire in Knock and give them a call to confirm.

Quackster

Moyglish wrote: »

Currently wanting to hire a care for a week or so from Knock airport.

If I want to pay for it online but the main driver is someone else, can I use my card details to pay for it and any fuel costs, insurance costs on the day even if I'm not the main driver?

I want to pay for it for someone arriving to Ireland, I don't want them to have to pay or have the financial burden, but I'm worried that on the day the car hire company will insist on all payments been made via the drivers named cards, whereas I want to pay for it all but won't be the driver, will this be possible or will I run into problems?

The person who books the car has to be the person who rents and collects the car. So you will have to add the other person as an additional driver (even if they will be doing all the driving and probably at an extra fee) and they will have to be with you when you collect the car as ye both will have to produce you driving licences.

If you won't be drinking the car, it would be much easier (and probably cheaper) for the other person to just book the car.

EverythingGood

Quackster wrote: »

The person who books the car has to be the person who rents and collects the car. So you will have to add the other person as an additional driver (even if they will be doing all the driving and probably at an extra fee) and they will have to be with you when you collect the car as ye both will have to produce you driving licences.

If you won't be drinking the car, it would be much easier (and probably cheaper) for the other person to just book the car.

Drinking??:D:D:D:D:D

Sully

Ponster wrote: »

I believe that all what you say is possible. There was a time in the past certainly when the card used to book the car had to be the same one used to collect it but I've not ran into that for a few years now.

I regularly book cars for my wife, pay in full with insurance, and she picks it up at the other end, no charge (Cork & Dublin). I do seem to remember that they still expect her to have a credit-card in her name which is scanned but no charge is taken.

As ever with these types of questions, best find out who offers car hire in Knock and give them a call to confirm.

Kinda this. Read the T&Cs. Some require you to book the rental online and present the same card in the name of the rental online.

Others allow anyone to prepay but the card presented on the day must be credit in the name of the driver booked online

Rows Grower

I went to book a van with Enterprise last week, I couldn't remember the PIN for my credit card as I rarely use it and asked to use a debit card as I have used one to rent from them in a different branch before. No dice, first he told me I couldn't have rented from them using a debit card and then didn't apologise when he checked my booking history.

Rang the bank from their office phone (which was manky) and the best they could do was send out a new credit card PIN in three days although the guy on the line did offer to speak to the chap from Enterprise when I asked him to. The chap with Enterprise wasn't interested in talking to the chap from the bank even though it was he that dialled the number. It's not like he was too busy, there was four people behind the one desk and I was the only customer.

Went to Hertz and there was no problem using the debit card Enterprise had refused. Drove away in a new van after about 10 minutes and the chap even moved another van to allow me park my car temporarily. The difference in customer service was stratospheric.

Hertz have gained a new customer.

Sully

Rows Grower wrote: »

I went to book a van with Enterprise last week, I couldn't remember the PIN for my credit card as I rarely use it and asked to use a debit card as I have used one to rent from them in a different branch before. No dice, first he told me I couldn't have rented from them using a debit card and then didn't apologise when he checked my booking history.

Rang the bank from their office phone (which was manky) and the best they could do was send out a new credit card PIN in three days although the guy on the line did offer to speak to the chap from Enterprise when I asked him to. The chap with Enterprise wasn't interested in talking to the chap from the bank even though it was he that dialled the number. It's not like he was too busy, there was four people behind the one desk and I was the only customer.

Went to Hertz and there was no problem using the debit card Enterprise had refused. Drove away in a new van after about 10 minutes and the chap even moved another van to allow me park my car temporarily. The difference in customer service was stratospheric.

Hertz have gained a new customer.

In fairness the majority of places wont take a card without a pin. While the call center staff in the bank were happy to vouch, it wouldn't stand up I suspect if you appealed the transaction. Plus it costs the merchant more to process it manually. My local supervalu even have signs up insisting on a pin! It's supposed to be more or less mandatory for point of sale transactions.

Every hire company has different rules on debit. Some take bigger deposits, some insist you take their insurance and others just ask for proof of income - not insisting you pay extra or put down a big deposit. Some simply will not take them at all.

In terms of service- absolutely, the employee could have been a bit more helpful and friendly. And a cleaner phone!!!

Rows Grower

Sully wrote: »

In fairness the majority of places wont take a card without a pin. While the call center staff in the bank were happy to vouch, it wouldn't stand up I suspect if you appealed the transaction. Plus it costs the merchant more to process it manually. My local supervalu even have signs up insisting on a pin! It's supposed to be more or less mandatory for point of sale transactions.

Every hire company has different rules on debit. Some take bigger deposits, some insist you take their insurance and others just ask for proof of income - not insisting you pay extra or put down a big deposit. Some simply will not take them at all.

In terms of service- absolutely, the employee could have been a bit more helpful and friendly. And a cleaner phone!!!

I honestly don't know what you mean when you say if I appealed the transaction. I knew my PIN for the debit card and had used it in a different branch of the same company less than a year ago and he could see that on his screen. He asked had I an invoice with my company name on it but I didn't.

The chap from the bank was looking at my different account details as I had given him the online pass codes and he was going to confirm I am self employed and there was funds to cover the rental and whatever deposit was required. It was a disappointing experience from a company I often get emails from showing me how many loyalty points I have accumulated.

The chap from Hertz just took one look at the debit card which said "business account" on it and said no problem, what would you like to hire and for how long?

I got the distinct impression the lad in Enterprise was trying to impress the three younger ladies behind the counter with his dismissive, authoritative manner and to be honest I don't think it worked.

I fired off an email to customer service that evening as it's a company that I've only always had positive experience's with before this. Still waiting on a reply but not losing any sleep over it.

I thought it was an experience worth sharing on this thread.

Mark1916

I wonder can anyone help....

I have had to exchange my UK licence for an Irish licence recently. It's a condition of a lot of car rental companies that you have to have at least 1 year on your driving licence (which I had 15 on my UK licence). My Irish licence gives an issue date of August 2019 however on the back the Valid from date is 2004 (in line with my prior licence). Any idea which date they use?

coylemj

Mark1916 wrote: »

My Irish licence gives an issue date of August 2019 however on the back the Valid from date is 2004 (in line with my prior licence). Any idea which date they use?

Why would there be a problem? If they only used the August 2019 date, it would mean that anyone who renewd his licence couldn't rent a car for the next 12 months which would clearly be ludicrous. Your licence says that it was first issued in 2004, meaning that you have been fully licensed for 15 years.

4real

anyone rented using rentalcars.com before?
company i am using is Rentplus and have never used them before, the price is very good for a VW Polo for 9 days in Prague.

killbillvol2

4real wrote: »

anyone rented using rentalcars.com before?
company i am using is Rentplus and have never used them before, the price is very good for a VW Polo for 9 days in Prague.

Rentalcars is a broker. They're good to deal with. They outline the T&Cs for the different companies very clearly so make sure you read them.

G-Man

I see in the small print of my proposed car rental insurance in germany viia autoeurope

"Rental excludes Collision Damage Waiver . Auto Europe strongly advises you to contact your credit card for coverage. If credit card does not provide coverage the coverage is then mandatory. Proof of coverage must be presented at the counter.
"

Now the main agent website (enterprise) does not have this condition.

IF they look for this, will they take carhirexcess letter, or must it be the credit card.. I dont think any irish CC offer this..

Perhaps its just an autoeurope thing and the main agent (enterprise) wont even ask about this..

Quazzie

4real wrote: »

anyone rented using rentalcars.com before?
company i am using is Rentplus and have never used them before, the price is very good for a VW Polo for 9 days in Prague.

I used them once. Paid extra money to get a 7 seater, and turned up late at night to collect and was given a 5+2. There was about €100 in the difference at time of booking and we paid extra for the comfort. I said this at the desk when picking it up and was basically told it's that or nothing and my issue was with rentalcars, who obviously couldn't be contacted at that time.

Never used them again after that.

coylemj

G-Man wrote: »

I see in the small print of my proposed car rental insurance in germany viia autoeurope

"Rental excludes Collision Damage Waiver . Auto Europe strongly advises you to contact your credit card for coverage. If credit card does not provide coverage the coverage is then mandatory. Proof of coverage must be presented at the counter."

Even when you have your own excess policy, it's still you who has to pay for the damage, then claim it later from the insurance company. So it makes absolutely no difference to the rental company whether you have excess cover or not.

It sounds like they're softening you up to force you to buy their insurance. Because (and this happens with all of the cowboys) even if you show them your cover confirmation letter, they will tell you it has exceptions which don't cover this rental.

Edit: I compared an identical rental quote from Auto Europe (using Enterprise) and Enterprise (direct) for a four day rental next week from Munich airport. The prices quoted for the lowest three categories of car were the same in both quotes. When I clicked on the Auto Europe terms and conditions, I found this...

Auto Europe does not provide insurance. Coverage is provided by the rental company as indicated. Additional coverage may be available for purchase from the rental company.

The Enterprise Ts & Cs say there is an excess of just €850 so it sounds like you'll be ok. For an excess of that level, you can either risk it or buy a one-off or annual excess policy before you travel.

G-Man

Ok mostly sorted, but now I see they all have sort of wiggle room wrt compulsory winter tyres.. Are they going to take them off, if they try and charge me ?

Well at least there is a max charge of 96 per rental.

4real

Quazzie wrote: »

I used them once. Paid extra money to get a 7 seater, and turned up late at night to collect and was given a 5+2. There was about €100 in the difference at time of booking and we paid extra for the comfort. I said this at the desk when picking it up and was basically told it's that or nothing and my issue was with rentalcars, who obviously couldn't be contacted at that time.

Never used them again after that.

problem is that direct providers are way too pricey for me, plus not many providers are there in Prague Airport as opposed to other European cities.

redcup342

coylemj wrote: »

Even when you have your own excess policy, it's still you who has to pay for the damage, then claim it later from the insurance company. So it makes absolutely no difference to the rental company whether you have excess cover or not.

It sounds like they're softening you up to force you to buy their insurance. Because (and this happens with all of the cowboys) even if you show them your cover confirmation letter, they will tell you it has exceptions which don't cover this rental.

Edit: I compared an identical rental quote from Auto Europe (using Enterprise) and Enterprise (direct) for a four day rental next week from Munich airport. The prices quoted for the lowest three categories of car were the same in both quotes. When I clicked on the Auto Europe terms and conditions, I found this...

Auto Europe does not provide insurance. Coverage is provided by the rental company as indicated. Additional coverage may be available for purchase from the rental company.

The Enterprise Ts & Cs say there is an excess of just €850 so it sounds like you'll be ok. For an excess of that level, you can either risk it or buy a one-off or annual excess policy before you travel.

Car hire in Germany without CDW means full liability.

You're exposure on the excess for loss or damage of the vehicle will be the full value of the car.

This is because it's possible to rent a car here with a CDW covered by your Credit Card. (North American/German)

This is a common misunderstanding as in other European Countries the default is always an excess of 500-1500 euros.

Excess cover only covers you if you have an excess (usually a limit of 5000 euros)

E.G.
https://www.sixt.de/mietservice/vollkasko/

If you don't select anything when booking your excess is not limited.

If I'm booking in Germany I have to take the basic CDW for my Car hire Excess Insurance to cover the rest.

Tigerandahalf

I have never purchased the above before. I always just pay the full amount to get the excess reduced to zero and cover everything for peace of mind. However it can be expensive.

If you do purchase the above will the car hire company still claim the excess on your credit card in the event of an accident and you then claim it back off the insurance? So you would want to have that amount set aside in case it took a while for the reclaim?

Thanks

ToxicPaddy

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

I have never purchased the above before. I always just pay the full amount to get the excess reduced to zero and cover everything for peace of mind. However it can be expensive.

If you do purchase the above will the car hire company still claim the excess on your credit card in the event of an accident and you then claim it back off the insurance? So you would want to have that amount set aside in case it took a while for the reclaim?

Thanks

I rent about 6-8 times a year and got annual car excess insurance from AIG. Costs about €49.99 iirc and as soon as someone starts the hard sell in a rental company about their insurance, I take out a print out and they stop almost immediately.

There is an excess of €75 and that's it. Definitely worth it imo.

ToxicPaddy

Sorry forgot to add, yes the rental company will take the excess from you and you claim it back from the insurance company when you get back. I believe you need to have police reports if there is an accident and a report of damage from insurance company to submit if its just damage to the car.

Allinall

To answer the OPs question.

Yes. You will need to pay the excess- usually about €1.000 - €1.500 , and then you gather all the paperwork and claim back off the excess insurance.

I’ve gone through it once. And while it’s a fair bit of hassle and work, if you rent any way regularly then it’s definitely worth it.

I find when pricing rentals that to cover the excess with the rental company it usually doubles the cost.

I also have an annual policy which costs €50.

You can take out excess insurance for about €3 per day if you only rent occasionally.

I used this before, and claimed in the past for a damage in europe. This is what I recall what happened in my case.

The car hire company blocks the entire damage deposit amount on your credit card when you rent. You will need to have this available on your card, and debit card is not accepted.

I had a minor damage, they photographed it when I returned the car, and charged my card, I was emailed a receipt, and bill with the picture of the damage. When I did the claim, the insurance co. sent a claim form, it included a police report section, which I didn't need, and they didn't require in the end (car park damage - no report). The insurance company refunded me the full damage amount that was on the bill in a couple of weeks. Have to say it was less hassle than I expected.

The only issue is making sure that you have that deposit available on your CC, and the hire staff tend to like to remind you how much is being blocked, it's usually around €1K.

Hope this helps.

Tigerandahalf

Thanks for replies. I would just be renting once in the year so I am not sure if it is worth the hassle. If I was renting 3 or 4 times a year I could see the value.

Caranica

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Thanks for replies. I would just be renting once in the year so I am not sure if it is worth the hassle. If I was renting 3 or 4 times a year I could see the value.

Get a per trip policy, I recently paid €8 for a car hire excess policy for a UK trip. Saved me a fortune at the hire desk