The cost of car hire at Dublin airport has been the topic of much discussion this week, with tourists and locals alike expressing concern about how rising prices will impact Irish tourism.
The cost of renting a car in Ireland has been described as ‘extortionate’ and ‘crazy,’ and, judging by the experiences of people sharing their stories online, is clearly becoming a problem.
Following a tweet from RTE’s LiveLine with Joe Duffy on Tuesday, which included a screenshot of a €18,703.50 quote to hire a top-end car for a week, people were quick to joke that it would be cheaper to buy a second-hand car than to rent one in what has been deemed ‘rip off Ireland’.
It comes as a Kerry woman who has lived in the US for 32 years told Radio Kerry that she saved almost €1,500 on a three-month car rental by renting out a car from Northern Ireland and having it delivered to Dublin.
It’s clear from a quick online search comparison that the cost of hiring a car in Dublin far exceeds the cost of renting one in Belfast.
Renting a five-seater Ford Focus from Saturday 9th July – Saturday 16th July from Belfast International Airport will cost €106.27 a day, or €743.92 a week for car hire.
If the car is rented from Dublin Airport, however, the cost is significantly higher. In fact, it soars to twice that price – to rent the same car model, for the same dates, and for the same length of time.
Renting a Ford Focus from Dublin Airport with the same car hire company, eurocar.com, will cost you €207.29 a day, or €1,451 for the week of the 9th-16th July.
This is also double the cost of renting the same five-seater Ford Focus from Heathrow Airport over the same week in July. Rental from Heathrow for that week on eurocar costs €101.45 a day or €710.16 a week, significantly less than Dublin and even less than renting a car in Belfast.
We also compared the price of renting a car from Dublin Airport with other popular European cities. Renting the same Ford Focus from the 9th-16th July from Copenhagen Airport with the same company will also save you money when compared with Dublin – costing €75.96 a day, or €531.74 for the week – a staggering €920 less than Dublin Airport.
Renting a similar five-seater family car over the same week in July also costs less in other European hotspots. Renting a Volkswagen Polo from Berlin Airport will come at a cost of €56.90 a day, or €398.27 a week.
Rental of the same car will cost €91.75 a day from Madrid Airport, totalling €642.28.
Hiring the same Volkswagen Polo from Dublin airport will, however, set you back much more – €171 a day, totalling €1,196 a week, which is €554 higher than the rate in Madrid, and €798 more than the bill in Berlin.
It’s little wonder then, that so much outrage has surfaced regarding the cost of car rental at Dublin Airport, and why people are looking to the North for car hire instead.
Indeed, Failte Ireland has warned that those who cannot secure a car booking in Ireland may not decide to come at all. It recently said that this would represent a major loss for Ireland’s wider tourism industry, estimating that 20% of all overseas tourists to Ireland rent a car and that those who do end up spending more time and money, and are more likely to visit rural Ireland.
A report carried out by Indecon on behalf of Failte Ireland found that the cost of renting a car for tourists in Ireland soared above the European average.