Best credit card for Ireland car rental

[ann824]

We are going to Ireland in August. Is there a Marriott credit card that’s good for rental car insurance?

 

[cubigbird]

Not a Marriott card but Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve come with primary collision damage waivers if you charge the entire rental on the card. That's what we use when traveling. You would only need to purchase liability if required.

 

[dougp26364]

Double check the exclusions. It’s been several years since we’ve been to Ireland, but at that time Ireland was listed as an exclusion to every option, including credit cards. In the end I just paid to the damage waiver coverage, which turned out t9 be a good thing since we blew out two tire in one day. Each tire was $500 each. In our case, the coverage paid for itself

 

[Sandy VDH]

Ireland might still be exclused. As previous poster indicated. It was last time I went too.

 

[jwalk03]

Don’t use a Mastercard! Their rental insurance benefit to significantly more restrictive than a Visa! The Sapphire cards provide primary coverage which is better than secondary- but as others have mentioned you need to call and confirm if Ireland is still on the excluded countries list or not. I took a look at the Sapphire Preferred benefits guide- but it doesn’t not list the specific country exclusions, just says coverage applies in *most foreign countries.

 

[dsmrp]

We rented in Dublin a few years ago and I think we used Chase Sapphire Reserve , and Ireland was covered.
I did request and get a statement from the credit card that they covered Ireland.
We also declined all CDW insurance from the car rental company, so the credit card coverage would be primary.

We reserved thru Costco. Best to check in the fine print on the credit card and rentals T&C's.

 

[dioxide45]

For Ireland you really need to check with your credit card company. Many (most) credit card CDW won't cover Ireland. We are going in early October and are taking Doug's advice and have just loaded up on the car rental provided coverage. It isn't cheap, over $1200 for 8 days. Another thing to watch out for, if you decline their insurance, the rental agency may instead place a several thousand dollar hold on your card above the cost of the rental.

 

[Fasttr]

Why would Ireland be excluded? Just curious.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Why would Ireland be excluded? Just curious.

Too many accidents, like perhaps mine, where they clearly were setting the situation up and hoping to get money and such out of it. I had an accident in Ireland some 30 years ago. The guarda, the car driver and the farmer who parked the tractor on the road were all in cahoots with each other.

 

[kkosully1]

I use the Costco visa card. I also suggest that you call their customer service on the credit card and bring a copy of the email showing that they cover Ireland and the amount of the coverage. They may ask for it. Additional you will need $5,000 avliable on the card so they can place it on hold. I have successful done this many times.

Additional they may charge a one time fee of 30 Euro for doing this... I know... I don't understand why,.. but they do.