Last updated: April 2026
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If you’re thinking about renting a car in Portugal, it can feel straightforward at first – until you start comparing prices and reading the small print.
That’s usually where things get a bit unclear. Insurance, deposits, fuel policies… it’s not always obvious what you actually need and what you can ignore.
The good news is that once you understand how it works, it’s pretty easy to keep costs under control and avoid the usual pitfalls.
I’ll walk you through what to look out for, what’s worth paying for, and what you can safely skip so you can book with confidence.
I usually use DiscoverCars for my own trips because it lets you compare prices, availability and rental conditions across multiple companies, including smaller local firms that don’t always appear elsewhere. It also has strong Trustpilot reviews.
Once you can see the options side by side, it’s much easier to spot what’s genuinely good value and what’s likely to end up costing more later.
If you want to get a sense of prices for your dates, it’s worth checking what’s currently available.
👉 Compare Portugal car rental prices on DiscoverCars
Most bookings come with free cancellation, so you don’t have to get it perfect first time. If your plans change or you find a better option, you can adjust it.
Do you actually need to rent a car in Portugal?
Before you get into prices, insurance and all the rest, it’s worth taking a step back.
A car isn’t always necessary, and in some cases, it can make things more complicated than they need to be.
If you’re staying in Lisbon or Porto for most of your trip, you’ll probably find a car more hassle than help. Parking can be awkward, traffic builds up quickly, and public transport is usually easier.
Where renting a car starts to make sense is when you want to explore places that are harder to reach – rural areas, smaller towns, or if you’re planning a road trip.
If you’re still figuring out your route, this is usually where things start to get a bit tangled.
A lot of the decisions around car hire – how long you need it, where to pick it up, whether a one-way rental is worth it – only really make sense once your itinerary is clearer.
That’s exactly what my Portugal Travel Planner is designed to help with. It walks you through building a realistic route based on your timeframe and travel style, so you can see where having a car actually adds value (and where it doesn’t).
Some people use it before booking anything, just to avoid ending up with a plan that doesn’t quite fit together.
If you already have a rough idea of your route, you can check availability for your dates here and see what options you’re working with.
Tips for getting the best price when you rent a car in Portugal
It’s never too soon to book a hire car
You can get some fantastic deals on car rentals in Portugal if you book well ahead. The later you leave it, especially at peak holiday periods, the higher the cost will be.
Prices can change quickly, especially in places like the Azores Islands or during peak travel periods.
On one trip, I saw a small car go from around €50 for a few days to double that within a few weeks. Left any later, it would have been significantly more.
My advice: Use a comparison website like DiscoverCars to see what’s available for your dates – even if you’re not ready to commit yet – just to avoid leaving it too late.
If you find a deal that suits you, book it up. With most companies offering free cancellation, you can always get your money back if you spot a better offer or change your plans.
Car rental periods
Car hire is typically charged per 24-hour period so if you pick up a car at 10 am on day 1 and return it at 11 am on day 2, you’ll end up paying for 2 days.
Avoid this by carefully selecting your pick up and drop off times. You also need to double check opening hours for rental offices away from the airports and especially in smaller cities. Many close at 7 or 8 pm during the week and at 1 pm on Saturdays for the rest of the weekend. If you can’t return your car before they shut, you may have to pay to keep it until the following working day or pay an extra fee.
Tip: If you need a car for 5 or 6 days, try altering your search to see how much it would cost over 7 days. You may find a cheaper weekly deal and there’s nothing to stop you returning the car before the end of the hire period.
One way car rentals and different drop-off locations
Although one way rentals may be described as being free within Portugal, the reality is that if your drop off point is different from the pick up location, even within the same city, you will pay more, sometimes considerably so.
How to deal with this: Plan your itinerary to come full circle so you can use the same pick up and drop off location. Look into the cost of public transport or taxis to or from pick up and drop off locations if necessary to see what is most cost-effective and convenient for you.
If you are flying in and out of different airports, it may even be worth arranging two separate car rentals.
Automatic or manual transmission?
Automatic cars are still less common in Portugal, so they’re usually more expensive – sometimes significantly so, depending on availability.
What to do about this: If you’re not used to driving a manual car, it’s not that bad really. Get some practice in at home before you have to start dealing with unfamiliar roads and signs.
Size matters
While they may be poky compared to what you normally drive, ‘economy’ cars are generally roomy enough for two people who are travelling light. They won’t have much ooomph for overtaking and you’ll have to drop a gear or two to get up steep hills but when it comes to parking, you’ll appreciate the merits of a small vehicle. If you’re venturing into tiny villages and country lanes, or even the historical parts of bigger cities, a dinky car is a definite advantage.
My advice: ‘Mini’ or ‘economy’ cars will usually be the cheapest to hire. Choose the smallest car that can take all your luggage in the boot (trunk). If there are more than two of you and you’ll be doing a lot of driving, look for a compact or mid-sized car for better comfort levels.
Should you hire a car from the airport?
Portugal’s major international airports in Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Madeira and the Azores islands all have car hire companies on site or a short shuttle bus away. You’ll get more choice and usually better deals with airport rentals than in-city locations.
That said, I would avoid driving in Lisbon and Porto if at all possible. The public transport systems in both cities, coupled with cheap taxis, mean that having a car during your stay is unnecessary and is likely to be more of a headache than anything else. Parking is problematic, one way systems and signage can be confusing and local drivers have little patience, especially at rush hour.
Other cities are not so bad and if you have a GPS navigation system and accommodation with parking, having a car should not be a problem and will give you the freedom to explore further afield.
My advice: Plan to spend car-free days in Lisbon or Porto at the beginning/end of your trip then take public transport (or a taxi) to or from the airport/Prior Velho (the off-site location for many car rental companies) when you collect or drop off your hire car.
👉 Compare car rental prices at Lisbon Airport
👉 Check Porto Airport car rental deals
👉 Compare Faro Airport car hire options
Once you start looking at the details and preparing for your trip, it’s easy to lose track of what you’ve checked and what you haven’t.
This is where having everything in one place really helps:
Possible extra charges when you hire a car in Portugal
Once you’ve chosen a car, this is where most of the confusion (and extra costs) tend to come in.
Rental companies use a few standard ways to increase the final price, but once you know what to expect, they’re fairly easy to manage.
If you’re comparing options, this is where it helps to look carefully at the rental conditions to see what’s included in the price rather than just the headline cost.
Excess waiver coverage
The additional fee I dislike most of all is the collision damage waiver (CDW). All car rentals include compulsory vehicle insurance but there is usually a relatively small amount that isn’t covered. In practice, this means that if you have a bump that requires repairs, you’ll have to pay the first €1,000 (or whatever the ‘excess’ or waiver amount is) even if it wasn’t your fault.
If you’ve found a cheap rental, the cost of this extra cover can end up being similar to the hire itself.
Rental firms have you over a barrel once you get to their office. You either pay up or take your chances and spend the rest of your holiday fretting about scratches and dents caused by other drivers.
Options for dealing with this: If you like the peace of mind that having full coverage provides, you can usually avoid the high over-the-counter fees.
- Plan ahead and take out a standalone excess waiver insurance policy that covers you for multiple rentals within a given period.
- CDW insurance may already be part of your credit card or other policy coverage so check to see whether any of your existing insurance policies cover you.
- Take out Full Coverage when you book through DiscoverCars to cover the deductible for damage and theft, as well as costs related to repairs, towing, taxi expenses after an accident, key loss or lockout, and certain administrative fees associated with damage or loss of use. Choosing this at the booking stage works out cheaper than waiting until you collect the car.
Important tip: Make sure you have enough available credit on your credit card to cover the excess as the car rental company will place a hold on your card to the value of the excess until you return the car even if you have separate insurance to cover this. If you have an accident, the rental company will take the money from your credit card and you will have to claim this back from your insurer.
Check the rental terms to find out how much this ‘hold’ will be before you leave home and contact your credit card company to arrange an increased limit if necessary. We got caught out by this one time in the UK and because the hold value was abnormally high, i.e. more than Mike’s credit limit, we were forced to take the extra insurance, which cost more than the actual car hire!
Another important tip: Don’t skimp on the inspection. Check that every existing scratch and dent is recorded by the company before you drive off. If possible check for damage in daylight. Ideally, arrange to drop the car off during office hours so you can get them to sign off when you return it. Take photos or a video of the car if you notice any damage.
Fuel fees
When you collect your rental car, it should have a full tank of fuel. The rental company should give you the option of returning it full or empty, in theory to save the time and stress of having to find a petrol station before dropping the car off.
If you choose full-empty, you will inevitably be giving the car hire company free fuel as you won’t want to risk running out of petrol.
How to avoid wasting your money: Make sure you opt for full-full, meaning you only pay for the petrol or diesel you actually use. You can usually filter your search for this option.
Paying for toll roads in Portugal
Almost all Portuguese motorways are now subject to toll fees. Some of them, such as the A1 between Lisbon and Porto, have toll booths where you can simply pay as you go.
Others (known as former SCUT roads) used to be free but the government decided to install electronic tolls and a ridiculous system for collecting fees which has undoubtedly caused more problems than it solved.
What this means for you is that you will either need to meticulously plan your route to avoid passing through any of these electronic tolls (not advisable) or decide how you are going to pay for them.
All car rental companies must offer you the use of an electronic device that registers any toll fees you incur while driving a Portuguese-plated car in Portugal. This usually costs a small daily fee, often with a cap, depending on the rental company.
You can opt to prepay your tolls with the rental company, which may mean that you pay a little more than you actually use but for the convenience, it’s worth considering.
The other options are for them to collect the toll fees from your credit card after your trip is over (this is what I would do) or pay the fees yourself at a post office. This manual payment method is complicated by the fact that the post office system takes 2 days to register your tolls so if you are leaving the country within two working days of driving through your last toll, you can’t pay in person.
Tip: If you are using the electronic device, you can also drive through the green Via Verde lanes at the traditional toll booths instead of paying on the spot. This saves you time as you don’t have to stop the car and means you can pay for all your tolls using the same method.
More information about the toll system, including rates and locations, is available on portugaltolls.com
Navigation and GPS
I strongly recommend using some form of GPS navigation system to help you drive around Portugal. You should also have a good paper road map of Portugal with you for backup and so you can easily see the bigger picture if heading off the beaten track.
Many modern car models have GPS navigation as standard but not all. Some rental companies still offer GPS devices, but they’re rarely worth paying extra for.
Most people now just use Google Maps or another navigation app on their phone, which you can usually connect with the car’s navigation console using Bluetooth. That’s what I do. Waze is apparently good for driving in busy cities such as Lisbon and Porto.
It’s worth downloading offline maps in advance in case the signal drops, which can still happen in more rural areas. If you are travelling solo, bring a gadget for attaching your phone to the dashboard in case you can’t connect via Bluetooth.
Additional driver charges
Some car rental deals include an extra driver. This is not standard and most companies will charge for additional drivers on a daily basis. The rate varies but is usually in the €7-10 range.
What you can do about this: Decide beforehand whether or not you will need more than one driver. If so, take this into account when comparing rental deals between companies. If you can’t get a deal that has a free extra driver, some hire firms will allow you to pay for specific days, e.g. if you are renting a car for 7 days but will only need a different driver on 2 of them, just pay for those periods.
Young drivers
You have to be over 18 to hire a car in Portugal and some companies won’t even consider anyone under 21 (or even 30 for some models of car!). Check age restrictions carefully before choosing your company. I believe all of them charge an additional Young Driver fee for anyone under 25. This usually ranges from €6-10 per day.
What can you do? If at all possible, make sure your driver is over 25 to get a cheaper car. Otherwise, you’ll need to do some serious shopping around to avoid paying more than is absolutely necessary.
Child safety seats
If you’re travelling with children under the age of 12 or shorter than 135 cm, they’ll need a car seat. If you need to hire one, it can cost up to €10 per day per seat.
How to reduce the cost: It may be worth paying your airline’s extra baggage fees to bring your own car seat(s) with you. If all you need is a booster seat, they can be bought very cheaply at major supermarkets, although that only helps if you are not collecting your car from the airport on arrival.
Cancellation fees
Some companies, including Discovercars.com offer free cancellation and amendments up to 48 hours before the date of hire while others are far less lenient.
Always check the small print for the cancellation policy before you book.
👉 Check rental conditions and free-cancellation options on DiscoverCars
Cross-border fees
Just because Spain and Portugal share a border, that doesn’t mean you can freely drive between the two countries. You must let the rental company know in advance so that they can deal with the insurance and any other requirements. There will be a cross-border fee, which ranges from €60 to €150.
Avoid surprises by reading the Rental Conditions for a specific offer and check the cross-border policy and fees.
What if there’s a problem?
If you have booked your rental car through a vendor such as DiscoverCars.com and are hit with unexpected fees or anything that doesn’t match your agreement when you pick up the vehicle, contact the company you made the booking with before signing for and taking the car. This will give them the chance to mediate if necessary and resolve the situation.
If you’ve got this far, you’re probably already comparing options or close to booking.
At this stage, most people either:
– go ahead and book something that looks reasonable
– or get stuck second-guessing the details
If you want to keep things simple, start by checking what’s available on DiscoverCars and narrowing it down from there.
And if your route isn’t quite clear yet, it’s worth figuring that out before committing to dates and pick-up locations – it makes everything else much easier to decide.
You may also like these:
Is It Hard to Drive in Portugal? What to Expect + Practical Tips
Top tips on your first trip to Portugal
The N2-The ultimate Portugal road trip
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Where can you rent a car in the Algarve for a long period of time, say 2-3 months?
Beware of Guerin/Enterprise Car Rental Agency at Funchal Airport in Portugal. This local franchise (of a major firm, Enterprise) company seems to have a well-oiled scam. They are trying to charge me an extra CDN$280 by alleging ‘new damages’ to my number of a rental car (they hold 300 Euros on the credit card for this purpose). It’s pretty blatant what they do: 1. hold a 300 Euro payment, 2. allege damages on return, and 3. hope that the renter DID NOT PHOTOGRAPH the car – if you do RENT, take BEFORE & AFTER photograph! Fortunately, I had been alerted (by someone that knows Madeira island) that several of the car rental firms try to exploit their clients. Even though I was told of a ‘zero deductible’ insurance coverage (that I paid), they are still trying to steal extra $s. Fortunately, I took photographs and a video that show no damage. I am now considering whether to litigate for added damages. What a joke. I have frozen my payment at my bank, plus contesting these extra bogus charges with Enterprise Plus (global). For those looking to travel to Madeira, I can say it is beautiful, but you may be better off trying to avoid a rental car altogether and either use taxis or Ubers or hire a paid driver. At least you have been warned about Guerin/Enterprise Car Rental Agency at Funchal Airport in Portugal –
Best of luck, Peach!
Oh wow! You are amazing! Thank you for sharing these tips. I am doing a road trip from Porto down to Algarve on March 31, 2022. Wish me luck 🙂
Try AutoEurope for rental car…. they also offer long term or leased cars.
HI Narayani, I’ve never had to rent long term so I have no advice to offer.
HI, I want to thank you for the blog! It has a wealth of info that is very helpful. We are fortunate enough to be visiting Portugal for 3 months with our 3 kids. Do you have any experience or info on long term car rentals or leasing? I’m doing a lot of research online but any “insider” tips would great. Thanks!
We plan to rent a car while visiting Portugal and have collision insurance through our credit card (and will have the letter from them with us when we are traveling). But what about liability insurance? We recently rented a car in Mexico and declined the CDW because of our cc insurance but got nailed with liability insurance which added hundreds of dollars to our rental (that we were quoted in the reservation). Do Portuguese car rental require this liability insurance and if so, it is obscenely expensive like in Mexico? We will want to know this before renting a car there. Please advise. TIA
Check the rental car companies – some of them have age restrictions, but not all
Driver over 70. Need for concern?
Hi Andrew, What you’ve said sounds perfectly doable.
So when we fly into Lisbon we are staying at a B and B…
We do not want to rent a car in Lisbon.
I read on your site that it is easier to rent a car from Prior Velho.
I was thinking about getting a taxi or Uber from our B and B in Lisbon to Prior Velho.
Then renting a car and driving to Ericeira.
Do you think that would be difficult?
After we leave Ericeria I rented a place In Sagres.
So we would drive from Villa Valbom to Sagres then back to Prior Velho.
Please let me know if you have any other suggestions?
Our whole trip in Portugal is 14 days.
Thank you for any help.
AK
Hi Maria, I don’t have any direct experience with either of those companies, I’m afraid. I think we used Europcar but I’m not 100% certain
My husband and I are planning to rent a car in the Azores (Sao Miguel), but are trying to decide between two places (Illa Verde and Sixt). Sixt is more expensive, but Illa Verde seems to have some negative reviews so just wondering if you have any experience with either of these car rental agencies. Thanks!
I always rent a car in Lisbon and I travel there twice a year…never had any problems…check for a car at europe car rental and choose your car….you have the option to choose full covered which is what I do..it covers evrything including tyres and glass….
nice blog
good and very informative for me
I haven’t heard of them so you should look out for reviews before making a decision.
I’m a bit nervous about renting a car as I’ve never done it overseas. We’ve always been somewhere that we could walk or take public transportation. This time however we will be on São Miguel in Azores. Have you ever heard of a company called Go Rent-A-Car?
Sorry to hear you’ve been having trouble. I suggest you contact the RentalCars helpline for support. They are not scammers but a very useful rental car search and booking engine. I would not recommend them if I thought otherwise.
Why would you say that renting from rentalcars is “straight forward”? Having provided all details including credit card, the button “pay now” transfers you back to the main page and you only get an email that “you haven’t completed your booking”. There is no button to cancel the reservation and you could keep providing your credit card over and over again. They are scammers… the same Hertz. The pop-up asking about driver’s age is the last thing you see on their website.
It’s impossible to rent a car in portugal – that’s the safest way not to get into “small print” charges.
Thank you for sharing these information on renting cars.
I think so. See the guidelines here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hiring-a-vehicle
Hi, I’ve read that since the UK paper counterpart has been scrapped that a code needs to be supplied to the hire company to check the validity of the driving licence…..is this the case please ?
I can’t say whether or not it would be cheaper but you can get to those places by public transport. Check timetables first to plan your time as efficiently as possible.
Hi Julie,
Can we travel across Portugal by train and bus and taxi, without renting a car. Reading all the scams of rental car companies there, it just turns me off from renting one. We are coming in September for 3 weeks, is it cheaper travelling by train? We will go to Evora, Albufeira, Liisbon, Nazare, Porto, Coimbra. Thanks so much,
I’m not sure if you mean it’s only valid for 6 months or you have only had it for 6 months. Either way, it’s best to check with the rental agencies for specific questions like this.
Hello Julie, may be you know. If my driving licence is only 6 months, can I rent a car in Portugal?
John, I think it very much depends on the rental company as to how much they hold on your credit card and you really need to check that when you make the booking so you can arrange an increased limit with your card provider if necessary.
If you have independent insurance that covers the excess, the rental company will still place a hold on your card but will release that when the car is returned undamaged.
I have no idea where your $1,000 came from but I’ve stopped using the cheaper companies as they are often the worst when it comes to trying to make money in other, more underhand ways like this ridiculously high hold. Last rental I did in Portugal, the hold on the card was less than €1,000 so it varies. If you turn up at the rental office without sufficient limit on your credit card, then you’re at the mercy of the company, as we found to our cost in the UK once.
Julie,
Your article is titled “How to rent a car in Portual and Avoid Sneaky Extra Charges”..however reading all the advice and reader’s experience as well as my own experience..YOU HAVE TWO CHOICES PAY AN EXTRA $1,000 OR HAVE A HOLD OF $2,500 PLACED ON YOUR CREDIT CARD. There is absolutely no way of avoiding these sneaky charges!!
The first time we traveled to Portugal we had booked our rental online, and selected waive insurance as we have both travellers and our auto insurance that covers us internationally and we have rented vehicles hundreds of times without issue..so we did not expect any issues…but oh no that’s not the case for Portugal car rental companies. YOU WILL BE HELD HOSTAGE with only two choices if you still want to rent that vehicle. Horrible way to start a vacation…
Rental companies should have to be more forthright about these hidden insurance charges. It’s time that these hidden clauses are brought to light and force these companies to justify why foreign insurance coverage isn’t good enough, or why is it that the additional coverage is $1,000, when everywhere else it’s about $19/day for insurance?
Also best advice is to take your cell phones out and video the vehicle inside and out bumper to bumper, both at picking up and dropping off.
Also prior to leaving, have your own waiver to be signed by car rental place to ensure your deposit is released within 24 hours not 30 days.
This article brings light to the situation however, there is no whay of avoiding these charges!
thanks
Great blog. I read your blog and i get the some valuable information about rent car in Portugal. Very helpful information. Thanks for sharing the great information. Good Luck!
I do not recommend anyone to use DSCAR: from my experience they provide lack of information while you are signing contract and charge you extra afterwards as they have 100 euro deposit of your money. Eventually I had to pay for the transfer of money back to my account as well, what was not mentioned by company`s employer. All and all, they did not answer my emails for weeks when I asked for clarification of a charge they had taken from those 100 euro. Not a good experience at all.
Hi Jim,
Wondering how that car rental deal worked out for you? Were there any hidden costs?
thanks… planning ahead for Sept 2018.
Teresa
Hi,
We will be in Portugal Sept 11 – 23 this year and I have really been enjoying your website and blog posts. We will be flying into the airport and traveling directly to Sintra to spend a few days. Our accommodations there have free parking, as well as paid airport pick up available. I have yet to book a car (this will be a driving trip) and am unsure if we should just plan to pick up our car on arrival, pay for a few extra days and let it sit in Sintra while we explore, or if we would be better to take either public transport or airport shuttle to Sintra, then figure out a way to go back to airport to pick up our car or reserve one at a town closer to Sintra. Either way, our final drop off will be back at the airport. (I’m figuring the extra few days of rental charges for the first scenario would be about the same as having different pick up and drop of locations in the second scenario.) Should we be unduly concerned about traffic leaving the airport between 11 – noon on a weekday morning? What would you advise?
Hi Daniel, I’m afraid I haven’t even heard of them so can’t help.
Hi Julie, Do you have any opinion or know anything about Payless car rental in Faro?
I am looking to rent two vans and they have the best price, but I cannot find much info or reviews about them online! Thanks
amazing, i’m a driver and traveling, i’ve been to Portugal. This is an ideal place for me and if I read the previous article I was able to hire myself a car to explore this wonderful country more. Anyway, I will be back soon on a nice day. Thank you for sharing this very interesting information
Thanks for sharing the article.You solved all my problems. I was scared to rent a car because I heard so many things . I am glad that I read your article . Thanks .
Hi! Thanks so much for the very helpful post! I’m trying to book through the autoeurope website you mentioned and at the end it says the following:
“We strongly recommend you select an increased coverage option above. If you do not and the driver’s credit card does not include coverage for a rental car, you will be required to purchase additional coverage at the counter in order to pick up the vehicle.”
I’d prefer to buy a standalone policy as you suggest but this makes it seem like you HAVE to buy increased coverage through them. Do you know if this is correct?
Hi Julie,
Thanks for such great wealth of info! Like everyone else here, we have a question regarding driving and renting a car while in Portugal! We will be visiting Portugal at end of Sept for 2 weeks! The places we’ll be visiting are (in order): Sintra, Obidos, Batalha Monastery (stop on our way to–>) Aveiro, Porto, Douro Valley and Lisbon! Oh we are so excited!! But at the same thing, a bit stressed!! Please help! Here’s our (4 adults and one toddler) main questions:
1) Should we drive WHILE in Sintra–as we hear parking can be a huge challenge for these places we plan on visiting(we will visit: Day 1: Just tour around Cascais on day of arrival for walking around and meals. Day 2: Quinta da Regaleira Palace, Palacio Nacional de Sintra, Santurio da Peninha, & Cabo da Roca. Day 3)Pena Palace, Castle of the Moors, & Convento do Capuchos (the palaces of visit can be modify to best suit the best getting-around method).
2)This question also depends on what we do from question #1. If it’s not advised to drive while in Sintra, then:
a) How should we get around with those attractions in mind–taxi, bus, etc.?
b) Where should we rent a car for the remaining tours of Portugal (as we hear there’s no car rentals in Sintra. We plan to end our Portugal trip with 3 days in Lisbon before flying back home)?
What should we do Julie? Thanks so much for taking the time to read and answer our questions in advance! We really would appreciate giving us insights in this stressful part of the planning!
I can see why you’re wondering if it’s too good to be true, Jim. Unfortunately, I can’t answer that. It all seems to be in order and if you can’t find anything suspicious in the T&C, it should be fine. If CDW is included, you don’t even need that separate policy, although I’d double-check that. March is off season so that might be why it’s such a good deal.
Hi Julie, I read your site with great interest, obtained Excess Insurance cover from MultiTrip, and used a price comparison site to list Portugal Airport cars. I booked a March 2018 seven day trip, selecting a small car (VW UP), with InterRent, and have been quoted only 7.05 euros for the week! This quote lists Full to Full petrol, CDW, Unlimited Mileage, Roadside Assistance, Theft waiver, Third Party insurance and VAT included (all in writing) .. is this a mistake, or am I heading for massive hidden costs somewhere when I pick up the car? How can it be so cheap?
Regards, Jim A.
Probably but you should check the conditions on your credit card, because it depends on those and not the rental car companies.
What usually happens with third party insurances (which is the case) when a problem occurs, is that the rental car company will still keep the money authorized in the credit card. You can then ask for the credit card company to activate your insurance and reimburse you of the amount paid. Again, check your credit card terms of use for the details on how to operate in this case.
I would think so but expect to have the excess ‘held’ on your credit card until the car is returned safe and sound -see previous comments.
Most credit cards, especially travel related ones cover CDW. Is this adequate in Portugal?
Thanks
This is one reason I always rent directly with the rental agency. I never use any intermediaries. So far I haven’t had a problem like this.
Hi James, other than what I’ve covered in this article, I have nothing more to add on the subject of car rentals, I’m afraid. I’ve only ever needed short term rentals but I know that it’s possible to arrange longer ones.
Good to know. Thanks for the tip, Paulo.
This is probably not a timely comment but I think it’s important to point out anyway: most cheap car hire contracts do not allow border crossing. Your insurance becomes void as soon as you cross the border. Make sure to read the fine print about this, if you’re planning to rent a car to travel through more than one country.
Hi Julie – We are planning a 3 month family trip to Portugal for May-July 2018. Flying in and out of Lisbon (from US). Do you have any advice or information regarding long-term car rental, or short-term lease? I have just discovered your very informative site, so I’m sure your readers will see me asking questions on other topics too! Thank you for this great resource!
It depends on your nationality. You’ll need to check the guidelines with your rental company or on the Visit Portugal website.
I am planning a trip to Portugal soon. Need to know if one needs to carry an international license to drive in Portugal?
I think different rental companies may have different age restrictions so you’ll have to check their T&C.
ARE THERE AGE LIMITS, SUCH AS NO OVER 70 DRIVERS?
Yes, as far as I know. Any rental car comes with basic insurance included, assuming you’ve done it through a reputable company.
I understand about the CDW when renting a car. I have read several conflicting things about Third Party Liability (TPL). One of the things I’ve read is that TPL is mandatory in Portugal and thus, covered in the car rental fee. Can you confirm if this is true?
Hi Sue, a quick Google search gave me this: http://portugal.embassy.gov.au/lbon/drivelicence.html and this: http://www.autoeurope.com/go/international-drivers-license-in-portugal/ but you’d be better off asking the hire companies directly to be sure of current requirements.
Is an international licence necessary in Portugal and Spain for Australian drivers? Will hire car companies require this I.D?
Hi Kelly, Sorry to hear you’ve had this bad experience and are having trouble getting it resolved satisfactorily. It’s of little consolation but the lack of apology is typical in Portugal. It goes against my long customer service background but I think people avoid doing it as they a) don’t seem to appreciate the difference it can make to the way the customer feels and b) don’t see that it’s possible to apologise for the circumstances without necessarily accepting responsibility.
These links may help: http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-to-complain-about-your-car-hire-company
And yes, I do think it’s worth letting the tourism board know if they have these companies listed on their websites.
Do you know of any way to file a complaint regarding a car reservation/ rental gone wrong? Details: We booked a Smart ForTwo via Azores Getaways with Hertz at PDL. When we arrived at the counter and presented our voucher, there was no car available and no record of our reservation. The counter attendant did the best she could and offered us a Mercedes Benz for an extra €100. We felt we had no choice but to pay this. Following up now with Azores Getaways and 296 Rent A Car (the actual company that operates under the Hertz name) we are being told that the reservation was sent by Azores Getaways to 296 Rent A Car and 296 Rent A Car is claiming that we chose to upgrade and thus the extra cost. My main goal in following up was to understand what went wrong and where and to help insure this doesn’t happen to someone else. The fact that no one will even apologize and admit their mistake is very concerning. I’m follow up with Hertz Corporate Office, but not sure who else should be notified – a tourism board perhaps?
Hi I wonder if an Israeli driving licence is acceptable for driving in Portugal?
Hi Julie,
Great read!! Thanks for the awesome info! I’m wondering the most up to date info on – if a Canadian citizen would need a international drivers permit to rent a car in Ponta Delgada?
That’s the ideal situation 🙂
You would need to double-check with the car rental company to be absolutely certain as I don’t know their policies. My understanding is that excess insurance is optional, therefore they can’t force you to take out their crazily-priced insurance on site.
The only issue I can envisage is that they may still insist on placing a hold on your credit card to cover the excess even if you have insurance with a 3rd party company. In the event of a claim, you would probably need to pay the excess and claim it back from your other insurance company.
Hi,
I bought a policy with icarhireinsurance.com last April but I did not need to fill a claim yet. Luckily for me 🙂
Hi Julie, would you mind to share your thoughts on something slightly off-topic? Even before reading this blog entry I always bought extra insurance for my car hires abroad, most of the time via RyanairCarHire/Cartrawler/Axa, no hassle, all went well, but the extra we’ve spent wasn’t a money thrown out of the window. Feeling secured always worth it, for us at least.
Now, for this summer we’re heading to the Canaries/Tenerife. Ryanair car hire was cheeky on the car choice, so used arguscarhire, which happens to use the same Cartlawer provider. Shock came when I’ve been quoted over 90€ for excess insurance. That’s almost 1/3 of the 2wk hire of a Hyundai IX35 via Hertz so it made me think I’ll look elsewhere for no excess car insurance.
We always buy our annual travel insurance with multitrip.com (and had good experience with them due to an unfortunate theft on one of our previous hol’s in Mallorca, no hassle claim,paid absolutely everything we’ve claimed, etc).
Via their sister company/site/whatever carhireexcess.com they do offer extra car insurance, almost at 1/3 of the AXA price (cover up to 5kEUR,fire, theft, vandalism,tyre,keys,window,undercarriage,CDW up to 100kUSD). On paper this looks good, but in your/blog reader’s opinion can I get into any sort of trouble thru the pickup/dropoff/hire period in Teneriffe if I pick the extra insurance thru a different channel?
I’m thinking I should have no trouble under any circumstances, just thought I seek for the opinion of the more experienced here.
Thanks for your advice
Balazs
Thank you, Julie. I got all the answers in the website you suggested.
Cheers,
Cesar
Hi Cesar, I assume in that case that the car will have a Spanish licence plate, in which case, the options on this site will apply: http://portugaltolls.com/ I expect the hire car company will offer you a solution but it’s best to know what the possibilities are in advance so you can choose what suits you best.
Thanks. By the way, you should check-out CarDelMar.co.uk. I think they are better than AutoEurope.
In September we rented a car in Lisbon for a two week trip in Portugal with the device for Via Verde. It is very convenient. Just take the left lane at the toll booth and go. We spent 75 Euro in tolls.
In June we will visit Portugal by car again and we are worried about not being able to get the device because we will pick up the car in Spain.
Isn’t there any way of getting the device as we enter Portugal, Julie?
Thanks in advance for your answer.
Hi Oliver, as far as I’m aware, the only other way to pay for electronic tolls for Portuguese registered vehicles involves going to the post office 2 working days after your journey and within 3 days to pay tolls accumulated for the car’s registration number. Simply not possible if you’ve left the country! It’s far easier to use the device.
Thanks. Actually we are often renting cars here. They always try to rent us this device. I wanted to know if it’s mandatory to get it, or if we can pay the electronic only toll online by card?
No but you’ll need to find another way to pay the tolls. If you’re renting a car in Portugal, they can provide the device. If you have a foreign-plated car, see your options here: http://portugaltolls.com/
Is the Via Verde device mandatory if we are going to drive through electronic tolls only roads?
Happy to help, Stacy. Have a great trip!
Planning our trip for the end of the month just now. Your car rental tips helped a lot! We’ve decided to take the train for some places and drive some places. This site has been super helpful!
Hi Michele, By returning the car full, you only pay for the petrol you use. If you return it ’empty’, it’s hard to guess how much petrol you’ll need to leave in the car to avoid running out of petrol on the way back to the hire depot. Invariably, you will play it safe and put more in than you need. The only way I can see this full-empty being to your advantage is if you’re not driving far enough to require topping up with petrol.
As far as I am aware, they do not actually charge your credit card, they just stake a claim on an amount until they are sure you don’t owe them any money, usually when you return the car undamaged. You’d have to check the T&C to be certain about time periods – they may vary between car hire companies.
As for CDW, if the company includes it but you already have a policy and don’t want to be paying extra for this coverage, again, the only way to be 100% certain s by checking with the hire company. Basically, CDW is an optional add-on insurance to cover the excess levied on an insurance claim. Rental companies make money by charging clients an exorbitant amount for insuring this sum, which may be in the region of €1,000. I don’t usually take out this extra insurance and simply take the risk. I reckon I’ve saved more than €1,000 over the years by not having this extra coverage, at least at the rates charged by car hire companies. If you have an independent policy that covers this CDW amount in the event of a claim, you don’t need to pay for it again through the car hire company. They may, however, insist on placing a hold on the value of the CDW on your credit card, which is what they do when you have no insurance, because they won’t be certain of your insurance coverage.
Hello,
I would like a clarification on the ‘full-full’ and ‘full-empty’ policies. You mention that ‘full-empty’ is bad because you give them free fuel … wouldn’t it be the opposite?
Also, is there any way to avoid the credit card to be charged in advance and, if not, when will they give you back the blocked amount? Is there a document to ensure they will do so? We will leave the country after giving back the car so I would appreciate to have a way of being sure about it.
Finally, this all CDW thing is confusing me: if the company includes CDW they will not take the ‘franchise’? 100% sure?
How can I know in advance if they will refuse my national company assurance?
Thank you very much for your tips! Very helpful!
Yours
MG
Hi Nick, If you wait until you collect the car, you will have no option but to forgo it or pay the exorbitant fees that the rental company imposes. If possible, try to take out an independent excess waiver policy from an insurance company in your own country so that you can decline the offer from the rental car company with confidence. You may still need to allow the rental company to place a hold on your credit card to cover the amount but in the unfortunate event of having an accident, you can claim the amount from the independent insurance company.
Hello – we plan to rent a car in Porto. The excess waiver insurance you speak of – where is that obtained? from the rental company?
Hi Janet, If the CDW is included, you shouldn’t have to take out any extra insurance. I should think your booking is sound – both companies are well known and have a good reputation. It is possible to get to Arcos by bus: https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Porto/Arcos-de-Valdevez but that won’t give you any flexibility for exploring, unless you use a guide or taxi.
Having a car will certainly make it easier and quicker to get to the Douro, too.
Hello Julie, thanks for the great information. We are planning on renting a car in Porto in order to travel to Arcos de Valdevez – arriving at Campanha train station and then going to collect the car. We have gone through Expedia to rent from Enterprise. Is it best to rent from a company in Europe from the link you provide? Have been reading many of the forums on Tripadvisor and it has made me weary on renting at all. If the CDW is included, do we need to buy extra insurance? We prefer public transportation, but being that we will be in Arcos were advised to rent a car to get around and travel to Porto/Douro. Thanks for any help!
Sorry Rick, a temporary hiccup. Should be resolved now but if not, here’s the link to AutoEurope PT, just change the country at the top of the page.
Julie, a week or two ago I discovered that I was getting lower quotes for car rentals by following the links to autoeurope on your page, but now the links are gone. Am I going crazy or what?
Hi John, Thanks for your detailed and useful addition to my tips for renting a car here. I know that there is always compulsory insurance, which includes personal liability cover, included in the rental fee but they can’t insist that you take out the CDW insurance, or at least that’s never happened to me and I never pay for it – it’s a rip off.
I have also learned the hard way that the cheapest option isn’t always the best (or even the cheapest in the long run) so I tend to stick to brands I recognise when I see the results from search engines.
Nice to read this article…. Thanks for sharing this article…….
Julie, Just to expand on your worthy advice over rental car insurance extras, and whilst I am aware that you probably shy away from mentioning any particular rental companies for commercial reasons, the last time I looked up this subject, certain **local** shiny car rental compani(es) absolutely refused to accept any form of insurance cover pre-arranged with a third party company (I am trying to avoid saying ‘third party insurance’ as that would introduce great confusion!) – at the pick-up desk they insisted no-matter-what on the renter taking out and paying then and there for their own insurers’ cover before they would hand over the key. The reason for this was cited as being to do with selling commissions to the renting company – and presumably onward in some part to their employees – for such insurance. By the way, CDW is also referred to as ‘excess’ in (British) english, ‘deductible’in (US) english I believe, and as ‘franchise’ in French – I’ll leave your readers to make their own enquiries as to the Portuguese word, but it may be worthwhile arming themselves with it! Watch out also for Personal Injury nsurance, Theft of Own Property insurance, etc., etc., anything some companies can think of to make you pay more wherever you may be!
In the end I decided to drive my own car the whole way there from northern France, but using the French SNCF Autotrain service between Paris Bercy station/gare and Biarritz. That saved a reasonable amount of fuel, fatigue and autoroute tolls across France, but it is not very joined up as you then have to totally separately take a pretty slow and rather ancient, overnight sleeper passenger train from the nearby Gare d’Austerlitz across the River Seine and meet your car at Biarritz station the following morning, and vice-versa
Whilst I also use AutoEurope from time to time, they do not necessarily include all possibilities, particularly the smaller local renting companies, and of course, whatever you may end up reserving in advance, there remains the risk of additional advance charges being forced upon you at the pick-up desk, where you bargaining power really is almost zero and it is take it or leave it. Without wishing to cause offence, I did also read a press survey some time ago that concluded that Portugal was THE most expensive country in Europe for renting cars. So all of your advice is well worth noting in order to keep the costs down to a relatively acceptable level, and without nasty surprises, compared to elsewhere across Europe, and booking very early would be a good start.
For anyone driving into Portugal from Spain, I can further advise that there are **some** fully automated facilities on newer Portuguese motorways, in my case I entered NE Portugal from Spain on the Spanish A-75 / Portuguese A24 at Feces de Abaixo, where about 1-2km inside the border there was a layby where you pull up to a gantry camera, then get out to operate the adjacent credit card machine, enter your card number and some other details, the machine takes a photo of the number plate, and once complete, the machine issues you with a receipt confirming that you can travel on any of the auto-toll motorways and the tolls will be auto-debited from your bank account as you go, for a maximum overall period of 30 days. I don’t remember if it’s renewable/extendable, presumably it will be on their website that you mention. It may also give more locations for these facilities, which did work without any hitch I have to say, althought the list of 1/2/3/4/…€ debits on the bank statement back home was rather long!
Keep Up the Good Work,
John H
Even better is to take a video of the car before and after.
Hi Dorothy, If you Google it, you should find a few options that are relevant for US citizens.
Hello Julie, Very informative detail. I’m from the U.S. Where do I find stand alone insurance policies?
Seraj, we’re just back from a 5 day family trip from Algarve, drove over 1000 kilometers and been using the A22 a lot. Google maps did work fine in avoiding tolled roads, still tries to put your route thru the highest ranked road possible (the wider ,the better quality, etc.. and sometimes nearly as fast as the paid motorways).
Only downside I’ve experienced is when sudden route changes occurred. Re-planning happens in an instance but on 3 occasion (that I can recall 3 days after the return) the darn thing wanted me to leave the main road and drive on macadam road with tons of serpentine for 5km… this happened twice around Mnt. Foia near Monchique. One was scary enough as it was a serpentine road already and due to a Beligian cycle team training for maybe the Tour, in the tick fog you could barely see a thing, then in an instance turn right, said the voice in the head… I had to pull over, stop the car, close Gmaps and launch CoPilot to get it right towards to Aljezur
Gmaps is free, you can download offline maps with ease, so you’re good to go even if there’s no 3G/LTE, but there’s still good gps/glonass coverage. However..not sure what system you’re on (Android, IOS, BB, Win) but i.e. on PlayStore there are some proven, decent offline navigation apps with a 7 day trial, 7 days meant (the last time) is you’re still on the trial period, but whatever countries/regions map you’ve downloaded did work! Friend been using this when he visited us and done the Ring of Kerry 🙂 Give a try to Ndrive, Sygic, copilot, just to name a few
One important thing though, if savvy traveler wants to use a smartphone for navigation. Make sure to invest in a decent car charger with at least 2amps output , and good quality charging cable…(and some kind of suction holder). There’s nothing more annoying when an app gets stuck in the background and drains ur battery while you need the phone/navigation the most 🙂
Cheers
B
Hi Silvia, As long it’s safely locked out of sight in the boot, you should be fine. Try to park in a secure spot in Braga and Bom Jesus just to be on the safe side.
hi julie, we would like to rent a car at porto airport and drive to braga, bom jesus, citania de briteiros and then up to geres national park. is it safe to leave our luggage in the car during the day while we visit these sites?
Hi Karen, Porto airport is north of the city so you could hire from there and get straight on the motorway to go further north. You’ll probably get a better price if you hire from there but compare with hiring from Braga/Guimarães to be sure. One thing to mention is that both of these are also fairly large cities and Braga’s ring road is frustrating to say the least!
What do you think of the idea of renting the car from a smaller town, such as Guimaraes or Braga, and avoiding the traffic in Lisbon or Porto? We will be exploring the northern areas, and thinking we could simply take the train or bus to a smaller place, rent the car then return it when we’re heading back for city activities. Does that make sense? Or is it easy enough to rent at Porto airport and drive directly out of town?
We live in a small town, not very accustomed to rushed or heavy traffic. Thanks for your wonderful information pages.
What do you think of the idea of renting a car in a smaller town, like Guimaraes or Braga, for exploring the northern areas? This way we could avoid driving out of Lisbon or Porto, or even around Coimbra, all places we want to visit. We could just train into one of those places and return to Porto by train at the end. Does that make sense? Or is it easy enough to simply rent at Porto airport when leaving town?
I am enjoying your pages, very helpful for planning – and dreaming!
Some of the credit card companies still offer collision caover age for up to 30 day rentals BUT it ONLY covers the rental car, not other cards or liability.
Some of the credit card companies 9e.g., for me American Express and Citibank) still offer collision coverage BUT it covers ONLY the rental car, not other cars or liability.
Hi Adriana, you’d need to confirm that with the car rental company, I’m afraid.
Hi Julie,
I already rented a car for my upcoming vacation to Portugal but I was just reading the car rental company requires an International Driver’s license. I’ve rented cars in Europe before (Italy, Spain, France) and I’ve never needed that. Is it mandatory in Portugal? I have a driver’s license issued in Colorado, USA.
Thanks!
Kind Regards,
Adriana
Hi Seraj, you should find the answers to your questions and a route planner to help you avoid tolls on this site http://www.portugaltolls.com/, athough you can select ‘avoid tolls’ on Google Maps too.
Hi Julia, very informative site u have here. I do however have a question. I’m actually driving down there from the UK so I wanted to know if whether using Google maps or Waze and selecting avoid road tolls on the app menu will make me dodge the roll roads. Or maybe I have no option but to use the toll roads. Also I wanted to know where I can buy a transponder from when I get into Portugal from spain? Thanks for your advice and information. Greatly appreciated.?
Hi Lyn, in Portugal, at least, it’s a legal requirement for rental companies to make the electronic devices available to clients if they want to use this option.
Hi Cesar, I’m afraid I have no personal knowledge of or experience of Rhodium so I can’t say one way or another, other than to have faith in the partners that AutoEurope choose to work with.
Hello Julia,
I am beginning the process to rent a car with AutoEurope through your website.
Is Rhodium a reliable car rental company?
Thanks in advance for your answer.
Best,
Cesar
Having driven hire cars in many, many countries throughout the world I absolutely agree with all your tips. I find the whole electronic toll thing the hardest thing about rental cars, although it is getting easier now that electronic tolls are so much more common and rental companies more universally offer electronic toll tags.
Thanks, César. Happy to have helped.
Hi Julia,
Excellent post. Very helpful indeed. I will most probably rent with autoeurope through your website.
Thanks, Nathalie. Many of the places I have written about on my blog are difficult if not impossible to get to without a car so I thought it was about time I put together a useful guide for hiring a car in Portugal. Public transport is great but it only takes you so far. I love the freedom of having my own wheels.
We often rent cars when we’re in Europe, we find it convenient for visiting smaller towns that are off the train routes. Thanks for the great tips, I’m sure they will help many.
Thanks Jane! Praise indeed 🙂 I agree about those standalone policies – a great way of avoiding those ridiculous fees. I used to take the risk but I’d feel happier with some cover, as long as it’s reasonably priced.
Julie, I can honestly say that this is one of the most comprehensive and useful posts I’ve read!!! I did pretty much all of these things before we visited, but it was a process that took me tons of time to research eall of the bits and pieces. (When I found out about those excess insurance standalone policiesI was thrilled!!!) Well done!
Hi Anita, that’s a great tip about the extra memory card for the GPS. I was shocked at how expensive they are to rent.
As for the Way of St. James, there’s more to come, and please do come to me if you have questions.
Great tips and you covered any questions that I could think of, Julie. We rented a car for 3 months this winter in Lagos and found the low season prices and insurance to be a pretty good deal – about 340€ per month – which I’m assuming triples during the high season. From conversations we’ve had with other friends, one of the real “hidden” charges might be renting a GPS as we heard the figure 10€ per day quoted which is extortionate. We brought our own GPS (Tom-Tom) from the US and bought a larger size memory card to load both US and European maps on it. So much more economical and we never leave home without it! Anita P.S. Loved your posts on the Way of Saint James – I’ll be contacting you at some point to discuss this!
Sadly it’s no longer that simple, although the rental companies have ways of making it painless for you so no need to stress but something to be aware of.
i might be going to Portugal so I was interested in how driving there would be different from France where I visit frequently. Most interesting was the prepayment to pay the tolls. I just always assumed I could pay at the toll booth with cash or credit.
Good to hear. I like the fact that when you’re coming to Lisbon airport via the A1 motorway, it’s so easy to access.
Good idea, Arline. My husband got stung once in the UK and we are super cautious now. We get everything signed off but haven’t gone as far as photos.
Before renting any car in the U.S. or Europe, I always take photos of the outside and inside. Also make note of any scratches, damages – and ask the rental agent to also note any damages found and to give me a signed copy. Otherwise you may be charged for damages not noted when you return the car.
Last year we rented a car at Lisbon airport and returned it there… it was super easy.
Tip in this context = advice, useful information, not money for services 🙂
I do not tip anyone at the car rentals in either Europe or the U.S. – nor have I ever had anyone appear to expect a tip.
Absolutely, as long as you’re fit to drive 😀
Hi Julie – is it safe for two single, 60 year old, women to drive alone in Portugal (and Spain)?