Senior renting car in Ireland

When feasible, my husband (age 75) and I prefer to drive about a country. Planning for a trip in May ’07, we discovered that many Irish rental agencies do not rent cars to anyone over 75, while with some the limit is 74 and some, 70.

I found Auto Europe (Portland, ME; 888/223-5555 or 207/842-2000, www.autoeurope.com) to be very helpful. I phoned them in March and was very glad I did. Their rep was very aware of the age restriction and he spent some time checking out various companies for us (they broker with several car agencies).

Car rental is quite expensive, and he found one that had good rates, but the age limit was 74. If we went with that company, we would have had to pay a daily surcharge of about $25 to let my husband drive. He then found another agency (Budget) with which the age limit is 75. It was more expensive but still less than the first agency even with the daily surcharge.

We signed up for the car rental and they e-mailed me all the info the same day as well as mailed me the same. The basic rental cost a total of $615, including sales tax, unlimited mileage and broad insurance.

I’m sure that Auto Europe probably has a fee built into the cost, but it was worth all the searching the rep did and he was very nice. I’m sure that I would have spent hours and had a lot of frustration if I had done it myself on the Internet.

STEPHANIE RICHARDSON

Malibu, CA