# Car hire in US



## collieb (13 Dec 2005)

Can anyone tell me if your ordinary irish/EU licence is accepted for driving in US or if you need an international licence?


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## Cyrstal (13 Dec 2005)

Your ordinary license will be accepted in the US to drive. We were there a few months ago and rented a car out using the Irish Driving License....

Beware though, NOBODY would accept it as a proof of age in any of the watering holes around the East Coast!  They wanted passport or US driving license only - and myself and the hubby are a few years past 21


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## Sim One (13 Dec 2005)

Cyrstal 

Can I ask who you rented your car from?  

Sim


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## collieb (13 Dec 2005)

Thanks for that, will bring the pasport around just in case!

I was searchng a few sites for car hire and found the best rate with autoeurope.com, 237 euro for a bog standard saloon for 8 days in north carolina.


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## Cyrstal (14 Dec 2005)

We hired our car from Hertz...it had a fantastic GPS Navigation system, you just could not go wrong with the system, it was FANTASTIC!!  We didn't get lost once.  It was 15 dollars a day extra, but was worth it.  It worked out to be about 300 dollars(including navigation system) for 7 days.


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## Marion (14 Dec 2005)

We booked a Jeep Laredo with www.Alamo.com. We had it for 5 days at US$265.

Marion


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## bond-007 (15 Dec 2005)

Cyrstal said:
			
		

> Your ordinary license will be accepted in the US to drive. We were there a few months ago and rented a car out using the Irish Driving License....
> 
> Beware though, NOBODY would accept it as a proof of age in any of the watering holes around the East Coast! They wanted passport or US driving license only - and myself and the hubby are a few years past 21


By contrast my battered Irish driving licence was readily accpeted by the inns and bars of California, Nevada and Arizona. Also note in the US ID is needed if you are using a Credit card to buy anything.


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## emmt (15 Dec 2005)

in order to get myself listed as a named driver on a hire car in the US I was required to produce a credit card, even though i wasnt paying for the car on my credit card, my husband was. When I queried this with the desk clerk, he said that it showed a level of responsibility in an individual....


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## bsloe (15 Dec 2005)

beware of insurance  - some rental companies will require u to buy comprehensive insurance which will make car hire expensive. I find dollar.com to be reasonable and they allow you to purchase the cheaper 3rd party insurance.


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## Brian4B (15 Dec 2005)

Third party insurance...may be fine, however neither you (the driver ) nor the car are covered.


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## RainyDay (17 Dec 2005)

bsloe said:
			
		

> beware of insurance  - some rental companies will require u to buy comprehensive insurance which will make car hire expensive. I find dollar.com to be reasonable and they allow you to purchase the cheaper 3rd party insurance.


Ebookers.ie will give you a fully inclusive price here which includes all legally required insurances for the US.


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## bond-007 (17 Dec 2005)

RainyDay said:
			
		

> Ebookers.ie will give you a fully inclusive price here which includes all legally required insurances for the US.


Yes but often times this is not full comp. You will end up paying extra for LDW/CDW. Ebookers are quite misleading in this regard.


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## RainyDay (17 Dec 2005)

bond-007 said:
			
		

> Yes but often times this is not full comp. You will end up paying extra for LDW/CDW. Ebookers are quite misleading in this regard.


Not my experience - see their [broken link removed]


> *What does 'fully inclusive' car hire mean?*
> 
> Fully inclusive includes:
> 
> ...



The rental agency may well try and 'upsell' additional insurance to you, but your basic ebookers price includes CDW & TW. When I go on to make a booking, it also mentions that LDW is covered.


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## Swoon0 (19 Dec 2005)

Have used www.nova.co.uk - now owned by Fexco in Killorglin, the last fours times to the USA - they use Alamo, they quote an all-inclusive price i.e. all insurances are included in the rate they quote you, and had no problems with them at all. I have alsways compared them for the exact same rental with Alamo directly and they have always been cheaper. You pay Nova 10% and the rest to Alamo.

I have no connections with Nova should people want to know !!!!


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## Chacrastor (5 Jan 2006)

North America car rental Gohop.ie worth looking at... cheapest, all inclusive and you call them if you have any questions.


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## CCOVICH (5 Jan 2006)

Could someone outline the meaning/benefits/disadvantges of collision damage waiver and theft waiver?  I'm going to Chicago in September and thinking of hiring a car to go to Cleveland.


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## minion (16 Jan 2006)

You need to get an international driving license.
You do this in the AA shop on suffolk street.
Just bring in your irish one and they'll give you an international one.
Costs about €4


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## bond-007 (16 Jan 2006)

No international licence required for the USA and most english speaking countries. They will accept a full EU licence. They are only useful where the local language is not english.


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## gauloise (19 Jan 2006)

CCOVICH said:
			
		

> Could someone outline the meaning/benefits/disadvantges of collision damage waiver and theft waiver? I'm going to Chicago in September and thinking of hiring a car to go to Cleveland.


CDW = Collision Damage Waiver = Limited insurance in the event of collision for the car and driver. There is usually an excess of min 400.00euro and the agency are within their rights to block this on your (and any other named driver who sign a contract) credit card. It is important to be aware of this for larger models that can have excesses over 1000.00euro

TP= Theft protection = the above principle also applies so in effect if an agency wished to (at their discretion) could in fact block both these excesses on your card..I have come accross people who have not been able to pay their hotel bill because they were unaware of this!
In some countries it is now possible to purchase Super CDW/TP which in effect wipes out any responsability on your part and is not too excessive depending on the model of the car. I worked for a car hire company hence the knowledge!


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## CCOVICH (20 Jan 2006)

Thanks Gauloise.  Having worked in the industry, who would you recommend for short-term car hire in the US, with a different collection and drop-off points?


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## gauloise (20 Jan 2006)

Hi! If you are looking to rent in the US try and use  a US based website as the prices are much cheaper..you are probably looking at about 500$ for a 2 week rental including the usual LDW etc.. and drop off fee. Interestingly, you can get thte same price with a French based website..in fact any other website that isn't in either the Irish or UK market as for some reason these are all priced higher than the French. Check out www.hertz.fr where you will get a rate of 460.00euro all in for a Ford Focus for 2 weeks on a prepaid rate. If you have any memberships ie AA or MBNA credit card you can avail of special rates in Ireland call 01 6767476 and ask for Triona who I usually deal with..even if you don't have the memberships say you do...they never check! Try Hetz.com or national.com for US based companies..let me know how you get on!


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## CCOVICH (20 Jan 2006)

Thanks.

I am actually only interested in 1 or 2 nights hire.


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## gauloise (20 Jan 2006)

Well theory still holds the same..about 140.00euro before discounts for a 48 hr rental midweek ttc or 160$ and this is midweek..normally great deals are available  a wekend rental!


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## Sim Two (10 Apr 2006)

My car hire rental agreement includes Third party liability insurance, theft waiver insurance insurance and CDW insurance for my trip to the US.

What does all this mean in the event that 

(a) I am involved in a accident for which I am responsible 
or 
(b) I am involved in an accident for which I am not responsible

Does my car insurance here in Ireland come into play at all?

Grateful for any help on this one.


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## bond-007 (10 Apr 2006)

There is usually a big excess you have to pay, if you don't take the extra insurance. 

If you are in an accident they will charge you the excess even if you are not at fault. You would get the money back once the insureres sorted out the mess. 

It does not affect you Irish car insurance at all.


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