Hiring a car at Dublin Airport- how do I avoid being scammed by the carhire company?

[SilverTonguedDevil]

So many stories of extra charges being levied against people hiring cars
Who are the least likely to scam me?
It's such a minefield trying to work out what level of insurance you need.
Any advice appreciated.

Watching with interest as this happened to me. They said something like "would you prefer a medium or large car?" so I said medium thinking that was what I'd booked and that they were trying to upgrade me to large. But they were classing my original booking as "small" so I still paid extra and got a car that was much bigger than I wanted.

Maybe say "will that cost me more?" to every question.

We book cars quite regularly at Cork and Dublin and use Enterprise. We do buy their insurance which is a rip off but we’ve never been scammed in the other ways you mention.

Get third-party car hire insurance - it's way cheaper. We've hired a car a lot and never had any problems.

Get third-party car hire insurance - it's way cheaper. We've hired a car a lot and never had any problems

Well yes, it is cheaper, but any insurance is if you’re only taking 3rd party. The difference is though, that IF something happens, you’re fucked if you’ve only got 3rd party.

@FeatheredHope

Get third-party car hire insurance - it's way cheaper. We've hired a car a lot and never had any problems

Well yes, it is cheaper, but any insurance is if you’re only taking 3rd party. The difference is though, that IF something happens, you’re fucked if you’ve only got 3rd party.

I suspect the poster means the insurance that insures the excess on the car hire car - that's usually around £1000 unless you pay an exorbitant sum to the car hire company.

Sorry, I meant excess car hire from a third party provider! You can get it for a few quid a day.

Take photos of every single part of the
Bodywork

I would especially advise this to anybody going to Spain 🇪🇸

www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire/ There are some links and info here. We always buy excess hire from a standalone provider - it's so much cheaper.

excess insurance* Sorry, my brain is like sludge today.

Repeat the words, I am happy with the booking as I have made it.

And if you think you will be driving around a fair bit, then it can be worth getting excess protection from a third party provider to insure you against the excess should you have an accident. I usually arrive late at night, drive to my parents' house, hang out there for a few days and drive back to the airport so the risk of accident is low and one that I am usually willing to live with.

Thanks @ChateauMargaux
I'll definitely get the excess protection.

Who do you normally hire from?
Are Hertz more reputable than the others?

We've hired cars over the last 2 summers, used Europcar and Sixt, no problems at all. When you pick up the car, they do a walk through with you and point out any scratches or bumps, make sure you take photos.

I’ve been hiring at Dublin Airport for years and have always used Hertz. Not cheap but the pick up has always been super smooth and no scam type behaviours . I did once spot a €30 charge on my receipt for adding my DP, which they had offered as free at pick up but it was refunded without quibble.

Post lockdown their prices seem to have rocketed so I used Budget in August. Lengthy pick up, found sweet wrappers in the car (supposed to be deep cleaned for Covid protection 🙁) Also, nearly got caught out with paying the M50 toll. Hertz just add the toll charge to your final bill. Budget never mentioned you have to pay yourself and the payment line wouldn’t take payment for the car registration as it was linked to an existing account. Spent 30 minutes on the phone to Budget sorting it out.

So I guess it’s swings and roundabouts. Some hire cars can be driven away from the car park just outside the terminal while others are a shuttle bus ride away which might be something to consider.
Also, return the car with a full tank. The refuelling charge is about €80 plus the cost of the fuel.

I would go for convenience of not having to go miles out of the way to a distant pickup point. Usually ok for pickup, but it puts an additional time-pressure on you for drop off.

Take photos of all aspects of the vehicle and also make sure any mark, even tiny ones, are on the rental agreement form before you set off. Being nitpicky at this stage, I feel, makes them mark you down as more difficult to scam.

Bring back full of fuel. There's a service station on one of the airport roads in a 1way system.

Re. 3rd party insurance. I'm not sure it's that useful. I'm very hazy on recollection but I seem to recall having issues with it before. Either it not being recognised, or being between pillar and post when it comes to claiming. Not straightforward when it came down to it.

You'll need a credit card (not debit) to pay, or have to jump through loads of hoops (if they even let you). You can't be the only driver but use someone else's credit card.

Have a lovely visit here!

Sixt was good, competent efficient staff, no upselling.. included the M50 toll, in airport pick up but drop off was at an offsite location, added faff.

Avis was OK but staff were a bit loud, pushy, upselling and creating stress for a customer over the credit card problem. Pick up and drop off were in the airport but drop off was a little stressful, I had to drive round the car park 3 times being directed to spaces that already had cars in them. The quality of the car was less than the Sixt one but the biggest ball ache was the bloody M50 toll. 3 different credit cards refused, couldn't get through on the phone line as its linked to an account which they do not share with you and then the payment system was taking 0.52 instead of 5.20.. I spent more time trying to pay that bloody toll than I did driving the car!!!!

Paper counterpart is no longer required check this DVLA link about 1/2 way down it shows how to access your driving record for hire companies.
www.gov.uk/government/news/driving-licence-changes
If you're hiring for more than a few days then you can get 3rd party cover it's about £45 annually, I've always used Questor.
Take pictures of every panel and a short video before moving the vehicle. Especially if you don't have full cover.
M50 toll is included in Hertz rentals but not other companies at the airport.

I'm a hertz gold
Member which is free and means you have all the paperwork done before you arrive, you have a faster queue abs the car is picked up abs dropped back to the airport. Most importantly they never try to upsell and often give me a slightly bigger car ( I book an Up as I'm a cheapakate)