Cheap car hire in August from Dublin Airport?

737max

I'm looking for cheap car hire from Dublin Airport in August.
Prices are very high.
Does it get cheaper if I leave booking until much closer to the date? Are the car hire prices just speculatively high in anticipation of high demand in August and they'll still have cars for hire in August at decent rates if booked a week or two in advance?

Greyfoot

August counts as main high season, prices are likely stay the same if not higher. Book it in advance, chances are companies will be out of cars the more you wait. Expect to pay premium on top for zero excess too. Might be worth looking at smaller companies if you can.

For Forks Sake

Height of the season, max demand and low supply. If you can't get a decent price now, it won't have dropped nearer the time.

afatbollix

Book as soon as possible. Everything does like the airline industry and ramps up the cost closer to the day. No such thing as last minute these days.

Charles Babbage

Cheap car hire is almost impossible. There are only so many cars in the fleet and lots more tourists.

If you are not Irish resident and staying for a week or two, get the bus to Belfast and try there.

biko

Check prices at branches in Dublin city. Possibly it's cheaper and you can bus it into the city and then hire a car there.

veetwin

My experience suggests the opposite to most of the advice given so far. I rent regularly from Dublin Airport and often find the earlier I book the more expensive it is. Outside of a few peak weeks car hire in Ireland can be ridiculously cheap. I've rented cars for less than €7 per day. A Polo for next Wed for a week can be got for less than €12 per day. I usually only book the day before I need it and have often booked online when I've arrived at the airport.

I pass by the car rentals every day throughout the summer and would be confident that they never sell out. They will always have something.

Best sites are rentalcars.com and autoeurope.ie

wonski

737max wrote: »

I'm looking for cheap car hire from Dublin Airport in August.
Prices are very high.
Does it get cheaper if I leave booking until much closer to the date? Are the car hire prices just speculatively high in anticipation of high demand in August and they'll still have cars for hire in August at decent rates if booked a week or two in advance?

What do you consider high price per day?

Booked through Ryanair at Stansted recently and it was few pounds cheaper than going directly, worth a shot maybe?

737max

45 euro per day for smallest class of car is expensive.
I've come across a german survey from a travel website which says car hire is cheapest 10 to 14 days ahead of hire date. Of course this is generalised and will be of solace to me if all the cars are rented on travel date. I'm going to risk it and wait 14 days until hire date and I might report my findings afterward.

XR3i

check out enterprise

you could be better off renting a small van or a transit, (depending on your milage)

they can be better value than a car in the tourist season

and if your on a budget you coulde sleep in de back a de van instead of hostel and bnb

737max

I don't think I will but I commend you on your ability to come at a problem from a different/novel direction

737max

737max wrote: »

45 euro per day for smallest class of car is expensive.
I've come across a german survey from a travel website which says car hire is cheapest 10 to 14 days ahead of hire date. Of course this is generalised and will be of no solace to me if all the cars are rented on travel date. I'm going to risk it and wait 14 days until hire date and I might report my findings afterward.

I continue to observe prices and I've found prices have dropped by about 15% so far for my chosen travel dates.
I also found a cheaper car rental website; happycar.de
I will continue to monitor with an aim to booking car hire about 12 days in advance of travel date.

737max

just to update:
I booked 12 days out from travel date in August at around 60% of price being offered earlier.
I used happycar.de which appear to be cheaper than the others by about 5% and they offer a 10 euro voucher which will be credited back to me once I complete my trip(I hope).

It appears to be worth waiting for car hire in high season.