When we plan our vacation and begin making arrangements we sometimes fall into the trap of expecting what we have done before will apply to our new trip. Most of the time that is the case. However not always! And what you don’t know could cost you money.

Normally when you rent a car you can decline the Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) because your credit card company includes that as a benefit with your card. This is not case in Ireland. There are three countries in the world where the credit card company will not honor the CDW waiver for your card, Israel, Jamaica and Ireland. Your option is to either accept the CDW option from the rental car company or accept it from travel companies like Travelocity, Expedia etc. from which you use to rent the vehicle. If you have to add it to the rental at the counter when you pick up the car like at Dublin airport, it could cost as much as 40 Euro per day ($45 USD) (Avis). Travelocity offers CDW coverage for $11 USD/day which is a significant savings.

Standard or Automatic? The cheapest rental is usually a car with standard transmission and it is best to decide which type to drive at the time you make the reservation. If you reconsider at the counter when you pick up the car it will cost you a premium beyond the difference in the two when you made the reservation. Avis at the Dublin Airport will charge 50 Euro ($57 USD) per day to change to an automatic transmission at the counter. When considering the difference remember in Ireland and the UK, you drive on the left side of the road and the driver is on the right side of the car. For standard transmissions, the clutch and gas are on the left and right respectively as at home however the gear shift is on the left not the right which takes a little getting used to. If you can handle driving stick shift especially on narrow roads and making turns the opposite of the way you do at home, then you can save money on the rental.

Finally, for cars that take diesel instead of regular gas, the price of diesel is less than the price of gas which is the opposite situation in North America.

Do your homework on renting a car and you will save some unnecessary heartache and money.