Airport car hire

So if you intend to rent a car in Ireland and chance some of the worst roads in Europe while (if you’re from anywhere other than former British empire territories or Japan) driving on the other side of the road, chances are you’ve arranged for your car in advance.

May I suggest doing otherwise?

The car hire agencies in the airport are willing to haggle. Every time before moving here (and a few times since) I have managed some pretty incredible deals in Dublin airport. I suspect that the eager look in the salespeople’s eyes and the deals they cut are indicative of a quota-driven system. Basically, they pay rent on the lots where their cars are parked and if those cars aren’t hired, it loses money for them. I once got a rental with a free upgrade to a mid-size sedan for €15 a day. The trick is to ask around and get a couple of prices; each of the many rental desks in the airport are willing (if they can) to undercut the prices of the others – it’s all about who’s more desparate for your business.

A couple of other things, it’s called car “hire,” not “rental” here and 99% of the cars on the road are manual transmission. If you can’t drive a stick, you may be out of luck and if you’re not, you’ll definately be paying more because the automatic transmissions here are usually only the pricier BMWs and Mercedes cars.