Car Hire at Alicante Airport: The best companies

Situated 6 miles southwest of Alicante, Alicante–Elche Airport (ALC) is the fifth busiest airport in Spain and the main airport serving the Valencian Community, Murcia and the popular resort of Benidorm. Statistically, 80% of all passenger flights are international with the largest numbers of visitors coming from Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Sweden and the UK.

Alicante Airport (Photo: Paul Thompson via Flickr/ CC BY-SA 2.0)

No matter how giddy with excitement you may be on arrival, you’ll have no problem finding the car rental counters that are located in the middle of the main terminal.

To determine which rental car companies offer the best vehicles across our three categories (Most Affordable, Best for Luxury, Best for Minivans), Travelmag.com have carefully researched prices, availability, policies and customer reviews for each company based at ALC airport. Below are our findings:

Most Affordable: Drivalia and Wiber

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Given that none of the region’s main attractions are particularly close to each other, renting a car is by far the most practical way of getting around. Moreover, car rentals at ALC airport are cheap compared to the rest of Europe. Amongst some of the best deals on offer, the strangely named but popular Drivalia boasts new cars and a ‘no surprises and no hidden costs’ policy (nevertheless, we still advise you to read the small print). Wi-ber, another car rental company barely known outside of Spain, also have some very cheap rentals; their compact cars kick off at €30 per day. If you read the fine print carefully and take the time to check the car thoroughly before driving off, you shouldn’t be disappointed as Wiber receives decent customer feedback.

Best for Luxury: Drivalia and Sixt

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At Alicante airport, it was Wiber that had the best prices in the luxury car category, although a Nissan Duke will hardly get you noticed on Benidorm’s main strip. For something a little more upmarket, Drivalia had both a Ford Eco Sport and an Opel Mokka at under €45 per day. In order to access Drivalia’s counters, you need to take the free shuttle bus pro-vided at the main terminal. If you can’t be bothered with that, then Sixt has a healthy range of premium cars including the Mini Cooper, the Audi A3 Cabrio, the Audi A4 and A7 and several models from the excellent BMW series. Sixt also offers several perks with each reservation including third-party liability and free cancellation 24hr before the reservation if you have booked online.

Best for Minivans: Centauro and Avis

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If there are seven of you or fewer, then we’d suggest Centauro’s Renault Touran. The Touran offers a lot more room than compara-ble SUVs and the latest model has had a recent mechanical and interior redesign so it is not only safer but also more comfortable and more fun with plenty of high-tech gadgets. For a larger vehicle, Avis was renting out the Mercedes-Benz V-Class for €20 more while OK Rent-a-car had the spacious Renault Trafic at a little over €200 per day. If you do choose Avis, its desk is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.