Car rental costs killing vacation plan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ireland also has punishing insurance rates relative to pretty much anywhere else. We got a chase sapphire card which I believe is one of the few that offered coverage there (but please check). Other cards specifically say they don’t cover like Ireland, North Korea, Iraq and Syria, something like that.

Not sure if you are in a position to get any new card or if that would help, but figured I would mention

Also as a pp mentioned it is very doable to get around without a car. My parents are very active and did it for weeks on end.

Yes, I have a Chase Sapphire Preferred for just this reason! 🙂💪 It’s just that the base price is SO much higher this year. I’m definitely used to my very American independence and I guess I have been spoiled! I will have to reinvision what I thought the trip would be!

[Anonymous]

Could you bus and bike? That’s my nightmare, but i know bikers think nothing of riding 20 miles somewhere…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didn't you research your trip before changing your life around?
It's well-known that car rental prices are very expensive in Europe. Next time, please, OP, do your homework before committing to grand plans.

My sister works for an Irish tour company. Car rental prices went through the roof this year. They’ve had to cancel their offerings that included rented cars because they don’t make financial sense at the moment. This is an unprecedented situation.

[Anonymous]

Is there any travel associated with your job? Do you work for a large company? I am allowed to book Avis through our corporate negotiated discount as long as I disclose it is for personal use. That took my recent vacation from $100+/day to $200 total for a week.

Also I used to rent cars by the month for work travel when I went to the same place every week for months on end. The monthly rate is so much lower than the daily rate x 6 weeks. You have to call and talk to someone. You can’t get monthly rates over the website.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I did 10 days in Wales (the rural part not Cardiff city but the north and middle) using only public buses. There were a few frustrations when a bus was late, but we actually had an amazing trip and got to see parts of the country that tourists usually bypass. We did hop over to Ireland at the end on the ferry and spend a few days in Dublin, but didn’t go to the West of Ireland. I don’t know if the public bus system is as comprehensive in Ireland, but you might find that you can still see a lot with some good planning and being flexible.

[Anonymous]

Bike and walk. You'll see a whole different side to the country that way too.

[Anonymous]

The car rental crisis is such a pain, here and abroad. The only way around it — and this doesn’t help you at all, OP, but maybe it will help someone else — is to book way ahead.

I was in a very low place at the end of last summer, and started planning a trip to France without believing it would seriously happen. I got plane tickets and booked a car. That car would cost six times what I paid if I booked now, and the trip isn’t happening until July.

Rental car prices used to be the type of expense that would actually go down the closer a trip got, and I’d often rebook and save money the closer the trip became. I guess that’s over now.

Good luck, OP. I hope you can find a way to solve this. You mentioned the complication of having someone need to put you in their insurance if you borrowed a friend’s car, but doesn’t insurance cover the driver, rather than the car?

[Anonymous]

I might also ask your friends/relatives living there for ideas. Maybe someone has a friend of a friend who is going on a long vacation and would be open to an unofficial turo arrangement. Or maybe they know someone who is a driver that will give good rates for transfers between towns. Or help you come up with something creative.

[Anonymous]

I found that it's much, much cheaper to rent a car if you return it to the same place.

[Anonymous]

^^ When we rented a car and picked up in point A then returned to point B, it cost 2 or 3 times more then if I had rented from point A and returned it to point A. This was in the US before the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't you research your trip before changing your life around?
It's well-known that car rental prices are very expensive in Europe. Next time, please, OP, do your homework before committing to grand plans.

I have traveled to Ireland every other year for shorter trips for nearly 2 decades now. No one planned for the effects of COVID three years ago. So, yes, I have researched my trip for a long time and I had a very good sense of what my budget would need to be. A year ago, car rental prices were double the norm. Now they are 4x the norm. That was not expected.

Sorry I was rude, OP. Crappy night over here.

Totally get it. The world feels pretty awful right now, and I sometimes get salty with eejits here, too. It’s kind of you to come back and say that, and I hope your night gets better.

This exchange right here made me so happy. We are all human.

[Anonymous]

My cousin and his dad biked most of their trip. They loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My cousin and his dad biked most of their trip. They loved it.

Yes, this! Bike!

[Anonymous]

My sister rode a horse across Wales.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you checked prices with Autoeurope? That’s who I always use. They offer leasing information, too.

Having said that, I agree with those who suggest renting a car for less time rather than canceling your trip!

Yeah, just tried that, and prices are over $3500 for 4 weeks for the tiniest car size. Thank you for the lead, though!

Even before Covid that would have been the cost in Ireland. Summer of 2019 we paid 3k for 3 weeks for a dinky Opel. If you go over 30 days you trigger the higher price. So you can either do the trains and buses-- which literally take you everywhere or rent for 28 days then do another rental. We do that most summers. We generally are on the west coast then we take a day drive back to Dublin airport, drop the car and take the city bus to Dublin, spend a night or two and pick up another car. We usually get a car at Avis in Dublin which can be cheaper than the airport. There may be a fee if you don't drop off at the same location. It also means you need to drive at least out of Dublin. I don't find it bothersome but my DH can't handle it at all. Also remember you can pay for going to Northern Ireland when you return the car. Don't bother paying upfront if plans may change. Trying to get prepaid $ back can be a pain.