Renting a car in Ireland is a pit full of daggers. You think it's easy - go into a website select a car and date and get a quote. You think, fine this will cost me 39Euros. Then by mere accident you mouse falls on the terms and conditions and happy Fido happens to hit the mouse button and you start reading.

• A 25 Euro surcharge applies if you pick it up from the airport
• A 25 Euro surcharge applies if you pick it from the city center
• Excess waiver surcharge

Sorry, but from where am I supposed to pick up the car if the only locations available in Dublin are the city center and the airport. Shall I go to Galway and pick it up from there maybe it turns cheaper traveling to the other side of Ireland to avoid a 25 Euro surcharge.

I spent 2 hours looking for a 6-seater van to rent for a day. 1 and a half hours were spent searching the web, trying to understand terms and conditions and computing an accounting exam exercise. The other half hour was spent phoning each company and getting a quote directly from customer service.

The moral of the story – don't bother with the web there are too many hidden factors, to make life easier just phone and ask for a quote. However, if there is a web offer and the calculated price is much cheaper than the one the customer service officer quotes it would be a good idea to ask the agent why his quote is higher than the one on the web, maybe there's a discount.

P.S. From the 4+ companies I tried out to rent the 6-seater for 1 day from the airport Avis was the cheapest.