Rental car pricing in Ireland

[PJ Blake]

I could kick myself for not reserving a car for our trip to Ireland back when I booked flight and lodging. With my own insurance it was around $420 for 10 days through a local rental company. Now it's over 2200 dollars!  I'm sick about it. I don't now if I should wait it out and hope prices drop, but then I risk not being able to get a car at all. It's just pure greed. Things are just so screwed up these days. Excuse my frustration. 😬

Edited May 19, 2022 by PJ Blake

[Stetson]

It is sad and not at all unique to Ireland. The word gouging may be harsh considering rental car companies can’t get enough inventory to meet demand.  I am very thankful I booked my car for June 2022 back in July of 2021. I was able to lock it up for 8 days for a grand total of $220 USD.  
 

unfortunately everything for my trip is this way. Our flight was under $1k, now $3k for those wanting to join us. Hotel was under $100/night and now $400/night. 
 

we “saved” many thousands by not waiting.  If we were to book now we wouldn’t go due to cost

[hammergolf]

4 hours ago, PJ Blake said:

I could kick myself for not reserving a car for our trip to Ireland back when I booked flight and lodging. With my own insurance it was around $420 for 10 days through a local rental company. Now it's over 2200 dollars!  I'm sick about it. I don't now if I should wait it out and hope prices drop, but then I risk not being able to get a car at all. It's just pure greed. Things are just so screwed up these days. Excuse my frustration. 😬

In my research, it seems the rates fluctuate from day to day. I looked for my upcoming trip in October two weeks ago, and it was around $1200 for the week. This week it went down to $840. I would just check it daily because it will go up and down. The thing that sucks about renting there is the double insurance they require. 

[puttnforthe8]

4 hours ago, PJ Blake said:

I could kick myself for not reserving a car for our trip to Ireland back when I booked flight and lodging. With my own insurance it was around $420 for 10 days through a local rental company. Now it's over 2200 dollars!  I'm sick about it. I don't now if I should wait it out and hope prices drop, but then I risk not being able to get a car at all. It's just pure greed. Things are just so screwed up these days. Excuse my frustration. 😬

 

Bummer on the increased price.  You had the chance to book a car for $42/day, a great deal, and passed on it. You should be solely frustrated with yourself.

 

 

[Hawkeye77]

Yep, we booked the car and took the discount for paying in full in advance back in January -- looked in on the prices last week and they were still significantly higher and cars hard to come by, but they've been that way since March and getting worse.  The signs were there last year for this year and I agree  -  it's not greed, there are significant supply issues and a lot of demand this year.  

 

Just a suggestion --- a waiting to see if prices go down strategy after that strategy failed the first time isn't probably wise.  You may wait and find out there are no cars at any reasonable price.  

 

"Gouging" really isn't fair comment, IMO.

 

No fun but get the car and sleep well tonight!

Edited May 17, 2022 by Hawkeye77

[hammergolf]

On 5/16/2022 at 1:41 PM, PJ Blake said:

I could kick myself for not reserving a car for our trip to Ireland back when I booked flight and lodging. With my own insurance it was around $420 for 10 days through a local rental company. Now it's over 2200 dollars!  I'm sick about it. I don't now if I should wait it out and hope prices drop, but then I risk not being able to get a car at all. It's just pure greed. Things are just so screwed up these days. Excuse my frustration. 😬

What size rental are you looking for? I agree the $2200 is high especially if you’ve got insurance on top of that. I’ve had quotes for a private driver and van for a week for around the $2500 price…..

[darkhelmet]

Same thing happened to us this past fall visiting family in Boston -- just so happened that the week of my son's fall break was the week they had chosen for the postponed Boston Marathon, and we couldn't find a 5-day rental for less than about $1300.

 

I found a newish company called Kyte that drops off rental cars wherever you need them in certain cities -- more expensive normally, but instead of $1300 for Hertz/National/Enterprise etc. it was around $600.

 

Kyte only operates in the US, but in looking for it I saw a company called Turo that operates in Ireland -- basically like AirBNB for cars, where you rent someone's personal car.  Have no idea what the insurance implications are, but you may want to at least look into it as an alternative.  Looks like they also have some smaller commercial rental companies that offer their rentals through Turo, depending on where in the world you are.

[PJ Blake]

On 5/16/2022 at 6:06 PM, Hawkeye77 said:

 

 

"Gouging" really isn't fair comment, IMO

 

Yeah I was in shock, bad choice of word so I changed it. 

 

 

[Hawkeye77]

Just now, PJ Blake said:

 

Hope you got the car and yes, even being prepared for what I would see, the prices are way up there!  But we got a great deal on our airline tickets when I was browsing 12/30, the vacation rentals we have lined up are all very reasonably priced and look great and I was able to get a tee time everywhere I want to/have time to play - the wife and I aren't playing every day or ever play 36 - too much sightseeing, but I'll get in ten rounds (okay there is one stretch where I play every day but the wife doesn't, lol).

[PJ Blake]

47 minutes ago, hammergolf said:

What size rental are you looking for? I agree the $2200 is high especially if you’ve got insurance on top of that. I’ve had quotes for a private driver and van for a week for around the $2500 price…..

I did get a couple quotes for 10 days with private driver and it was waaaay more than that  back in February. Give me the name of the company you're talking about and I'll check with them just for the heck of it. Meanwhile, I nailed down a car through Avis without CDW for a total of 1597.  I'm anticipating a bit of pressure to pay for add-ons. Never thought I'd pay more for a rental car than 2 airline tx all the way from Cali to Ireland 🤣

[hammergolf]

Just now, PJ Blake said:

I did get a couple quotes for 10 days with private driver and it was waaaay more than that  back in February. Give me the name of the company you're talking about and I'll check with them just for the heck of it. Meanwhile, I nailed down a car through Avis without CDW for a total of 1597.  I'm anticipating a bit of pressure to pay for add-ons. Never thought I'd pay more for a rental car than 2 airline tx all the way from Cali to Ireland 🤣

How many guys going? 

[PJ Blake]

Just now, hammergolf said:

How many guys going? 

Just my wife and I....that's the problem with getting a personal driver or having a golf travel company set it up. And my wife doesn't golf.

[PJ Blake]

5 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Hope you got the car and yes, even being prepared for what I would see, the prices are way up there!  But we got a great deal on our airline tickets when I was browsing 12/30, the vacation rentals we have lined up are all very reasonably priced and look great and I was able to get a tee time everywhere I want to/have time to play - the wife and I aren't playing every day or ever play 36 - too much sightseeing, but I'll get in ten rounds (okay there is one stretch where I play every day but the wife doesn't, lol).

Sweet! I felt good about getting a flight straight to Shannon with one short layover in NJ for only 490 per ticket. I like having a stopover, although it's somewhat of a pain, its nice to have a break from sitting in the plane that long. I wish I had the back to play as much as you. 

[hammergolf]

2 minutes ago, PJ Blake said:

Just my wife and I....that's the problem with getting a personal driver or having a golf travel company set it up. And my wife doesn't golf.

I would just keep looking to see if the prices go down. The companies I got quotes from were for 8 person vans so that wouldn’t work for you.

[PJ Blake]

12 minutes ago, hammergolf said:

I would just keep looking to see if the prices go down. The companies I got quotes from were for 8 person vans so that wouldn’t work for you.

Yes...I'll keep an eye on rates.

 

Lesson learned that's for sure. Thanks for the input everybody. 

[hammergolf]

8 minutes ago, PJ Blake said:

Yes...I'll keep an eye on rates.

 

Lesson learned that's for sure. Thanks for the input everybody. 

I haven’t booked yet for my October trip but hoping prices go down. I do know that during the peak summer months they raise prices significantly though. Im not sure Ireland has personal car renting apps like Turo, because the insurance is very high there for cars. But it may be worth looking into.

[Hawkeye77]

31 minutes ago, PJ Blake said:

Sweet! I felt good about getting a flight straight to Shannon with one short layover in NJ for only 490 per ticket. I like having a stopover, although it's somewhat of a pain, its nice to have a break from sitting in the plane that long. I wish I had the back to play as much as you. 

I’m a little jealous - when I was booking with Aer Lingus flying into Shannon wasn’t an option - we would have skipped Dublin altogether and not been concerned about it. 

[PJ Blake]

22 minutes ago, hammergolf said:

I haven’t booked yet for my October trip but hoping prices go down. I do know that during the peak summer months they raise prices significantly though. Im not sure Ireland has personal car renting apps like Turo, because the insurance is very high there for cars. But it may be worth looking into.

Who knows...you may get lucky on October prices if you hold out for the predicted recession😁.  It's hard to say if things will change drastically that quickly though

[PJ Blake]

31 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

I’m a little jealous - when I was booking with Aer Lingus flying into Shannon wasn’t an option - we would have skipped Dublin altogether and not been concerned about it. 

My first two attempts at planning a trip (thwarted by covid of course), didn't look good for landing in Shannon. It was fly into Dublin, take a train in Limerick, and grab a rental there. Would have been fun to see part of Ireland from a train, but I'm relieved we don't have to hassle Dublin and catching the train. More time for the SW. You going in September? Sounds like it's going to be really busy.