Car Rental in the Algarve (and Faro Airport Guide)

If you’re looking to explore the Algarve, you’ll often need to hire a car. Outside of the major towns and cities, taxis can be expensive and public transport can be inconvenient or non-existent. Despite it being straight forward to rent a car in the Algarve, one of the biggest complaints I hear is about the cost of car hire and the extra fees. In this guide to car rental in the Algarve, we’ll explain all of the costs and if or how you can avoid them! This car rental guide is specifically for the Algarve region, if you’re looking for a guide that covers the basics that apply to car rentals all over Portugal then read our guide here.

Car Rental in the Algarve: How to Avoid Extra Charges?

First thing is to always search, compare websites and, always book in advance.

Once you’ve read this guide to car rental in the Algarve, you’ll understand the importance of doing a little extra research, but you should always book in advance. Not just to save money, but at peak times of the year many companies entire fleets can be booked.

Many of the usual car rental comparison websites (like booking.com) also have free or low cost cancellations so you’ve really got nothing to lose. Once you’ve got your holiday dates and know when and where to book the car, what do you look out for next? With the basics like the Deposit, Collision Damage Waiver and the fuel options covered in our main guide to car rental in Portugal. We’ll dive right in with the specific costs that can occur when renting a car in the Algarve.

Charges Specific to Car Rental in the Algarve

Possibly the biggest complaints I hear about car hire result from these extra charges, so if you want to avoid them read on carefully!

Airport Collection Fee – Faro Airport

What is it? This is always one of the first extras you’ll get charged, and usually payable in cash. It’s a mandatory charge enforced directly by the airport authority in Faro to all rentals that are picked up at the airport.

How much? It’s €15 and payable locally in Euros only.

Can you avoid it? If you plan on picking a car up yourself at the airport, then unfortunately there is no way to avoid it. There are a variety of rental companies that operate buses to collect you from the airport and take you directly to their depots in the local area. Booking a car with one of these will help you avoid the extra charge – if you don’t mind the extra inconvenience.

Toll Transponder for the Highways

What is it? The Algarve’s main motorway, the A22, operates an unmanned toll system. A toll transponder is a device that allows you to automatically pay these tolls without having to visit local pay stations or post offices. For a full breakdown of the toll system and how to pay, have a look at our handy guide here!

How much is it? It varies widely. For example, Lagorent charge an administration fee of €5 and charge to a credit card all of the toll costs, but don’t require a deposit. MasterKings charge €25 with €20 being pre-charged credit that is not refunded. Guerin charge €1.85 per day and all toll costs are charged to your credit card.

Can you avoid it? Not if you want to use the main motorway hassle free. However, like much of the advice here you can shop around for a reasonable deal. It’s important to note that many of these companies will still charge you a deposit of €20-25, in case you do use the toll road, which will be refunded if you don’t. For reference, a recent trip to Sagres from Faro and back again cost me €5.20 in tolls, of which I didn’t receive the change from €20 either.

Border Exit Fees in the Algarve

What is it? The fee you pay if you want to take your vehicle out of Portugal and into Spain.

How much is it? It can be free, or anywhere between €10-€80 a day.

Can you avoid it? If you plan to take your vehicle outside of Portugal then unfortunately you can’t avoid it. However, what you can do is choose a company that charges a smaller amount as once again they don’t all charge the same fee. Guerin charges €60 plus VAT payable locally, whereas another company Drive4Fun only charges €10 euros locally. If for example you plan on making a weekend trip to Seville from Faro, these charges can make quite a difference especially on a short-term rental. In general, the larger EU wide companies like Avis and Dollar do not charge for border exit, but the smaller regional companies do.

So from the above two sections, you’ll usually be immediately charged €15 (airport fee), €20-25 (tolls), and a fuel deposit of approximately €50-60. So that super cheap car rental you booked online suddenly gets hit with nearly €100 of charges and that’s not including the deposit for the car itself. Granted some of these will be returned if you don’t use the toll road and bring the car back with the same fuel, but it can still be hard pill to swallow as soon as you arrive. This next section includes some optional extras, which can be avoided but again adds up if you can’t!

Rental Car Algarve

The Optional Extras for Car Rental in the Algarve

Once you’ve found your car, and during the process of booking, you’ll soon find a bunch of optional extras that car rental companies can be quick to add in. Read on to find out which you want and which you don’t!

Out of Hours Collection or Return Fees

What is it? Picking a car up, outside of the rental company’s office hours.

How much is it? Again it varies widely, Guerin operate from 06:00-00:00 daily and charge €44.60 for collections or returns out-of-hours. RentCar4Less operate from 07:00-22:00 and charge €20 for a collection or return out-of-hours. At the other end of the scale TravelRent operate from 07:30 to 23:59 daily and charge €15 for an out-of-hours collection and no fee for an out-of-hours return. You’ll start to see a pattern at this point, because all of the companies charge differing amounts for these extras, it can get quite confusing to keep track of which is the cheapest.

Can you avoid it? Unfortunately, if you have an early or a late flight this can be an unavoidable cost. However, each of the companies has their own hours and different costs associated with this. What you can do, is check the small print and check what each of the companies charge for this service and choose the cheapest option depending on when you’re arriving.

Sat Nav and GPS

What is it? The fee to rent a Sat Nav direct from the rental company.

How much is it? The fee varies widely but assume from €5-10 a day, with some companies charging up to €200 deposit on your credit card as well!

Can you avoid it? Absolutely, yes. We always recommend using something like Google Maps on your phone combined with a traditional paper map. Something else to bear in mind is that some of the newer fleets also have their inbuilt satnav units. The most recent I hired – a Fiat 500 from Goldcar – had the inbuilt Satnav unit, so it’s always worth asking before you pay for an extra one. If you must rely on a Sat Nav, then consider updating your own with EU maps or even buying a new one before you arrive. The rental charges vary widely but it’s almost always cheaper to update your own or purchase one if you plan on more than one trip! MasterKings charges €5 a day to a maximum of €70, alternatively Guerin charge €11.70 a day to a maximum of €110 a day!

Child Seats and Booster Seats in the Algarve?

What is it? To comply with EU legislation children under the age of 12 or shorter than 1.35m must use a booster seat.

How much is it? Cost varies widely but assume between €5-15 a day per seat.

Can you avoid it? When it comes to safety, we don’t advise cheaping out. However, you can shop around for a different company as once again they all charge different rates. This might be extremely worthwhile if you have a bigger family or you’re planning a longer trip. For example, Guerin charges €6.45 per day to a maximum of €60 for a booster seat, and €7.65 per day to a maximum of €80 for a child seat. TravelRent also available at the airport offer a one time fee of €15 per seat per rental. You can see how these costs add up differently. Another alternative is to buy one when you arrive. Basic booster seats can be bought at superstores for around €10. The final option is to simply bring your own, which once you find out how much they cost to rent, might seem like a much better idea!

Additional Driver Fees for Car Rental in the Algarve

What is it? The fee to have additional drivers on the rental agreement.

How much is it? It can be free or anywhere between €7-€20.

Can you avoid it? Spotted the pattern yet? It can be avoided by reading the small print and choosing a company that doesn’t charge extra or charges less. Goldcar charge €7.95 per day per extra driver. On the other end of the scale DriveonHolidays charge a massive €18.45 per day per extra driver! Whereas RentAuto don’t charge for extra drivers at all (according to their website). The best question to ask is do you really need additional drivers and to split driving? An extra stop for a coffee and a break might work out much cheaper than swapping drivers for long distances. Or if you really want the extra drivers pick a company that doesn’t charge for them.

Young Driver Fee

What is it? Generally all drivers have to be over 21, however those between 21 and 25 usually receive additional insurance costs and fees. The only company I know that lets 19-20 year olds rent cars is Goldcar, with even higher fees.

How much is it? As always, the fees vary between companies for reference DriveonHolidays charge €15 plus tax, dollar charges €9 a day.

Can you avoid it? Not if you’re a young driver, you can of course do your research and pick a company that charges less.

Top Tip: Even if you’re over 21, you still need to have held your license for over 1 year to rent a car. If you don’t hold an EU license than you also need an International Driving Permit.

Automatic or Manual Rentals?

There is a significant premium on automatic cars, the cheapest car for a weekend in May was €28. The cheapest automatic was €75. If you’re looking for cheap car rental it’s best to skip the convenience of an automatic and take a manual. If you absolutely can’t drive a manual and I don’t really recommend learning to drive one in the Algarve, be prepared for higher costs!

One Last Trick: Currency Conversion

After all that, there’s one final trick I feel the need to mention. Charging you in your home currency and letting their own bank provider handle the conversion bumping the costs up to you even further. They’ll gladly hand over the card machine with the currency in your own and even try to convince you ‘I’ve put it in Pounds so it’s simpler for you to know exactly how much it is’ to ‘oh but it will take too much time to go over everything in a new currency’. If you have confidence in your own bank provider (or use a specialist travel debit/credit card with better rates which is what we recommend) insist on paying in Euros and let your own card provider handle the conversion.

Summary

With this guide to car rental in the Algarve, you’ll have a much better understanding of what all the costs are and why the price you booked online is almost always different when you arrive. Hopefully you’ll be much more confident to rent a car in the Algarve and you’ll be able to avoid any of the usual horror stories.

If you’ve read all of this, then perhaps you’re wondering how you can calculate all of these fees and how you can find out what each of these companies actually charge for lots of these hidden extras. Experience and research is where lots of this comes from, unfortunately you will need to read lots of small print. Our favourite search provider at the moment is Zest Car Rental. Zest allow you to search, compare and see the prices of these extras a lot more simply than other websites.

Let us know in the comments if you think there’s anything else we should add to our guide to car rental in the Algarve!

Affiliate disclosure: The links included in this post are affiliate links. What this means is we get a tiny percentage of the booking fee if you do click the links. This costs no extra for you and helps support the site.

Written by

Ana Veiga is the co-founder of We Travel Portugal. Ana’s a travel writer currently studying Language and Literature at the University of Lisbon. When not writing or studying she’s steadily on her way to visiting, photographing, and writing about every town and village in Portugal.

You can contact Ana by email, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

8 thoughts on “Car Rental in the Algarve (and Faro Airport Guide)”

  1. Great info.
    I have rented cars all over the world nut no one has ever explained it in detail as u have.
    Thanks a million.

    Question: do rates change in low season?

    Reply
    • Hi Lisa, thanks for the positive feedback! They definitely do get somewhat cheaper during the low season, unfortunately I haven’t collected enough data or quotes to give you an idea of how much though!

      Reply
  2. Hi Annie
    Coming to Portugal later this year. Want to hire a car but do not have a credit card. Is there any rental company that will accept a debit card…?I have been informed that Budget Rent a Caer does. Please confirm.
    Thank you
    Janet

    Reply
    • Hi Janet, I know some of the larger companies like Centauro, Goldcar and Sixt will usually not need a deposit if you opt for their most expensive CDW packages. However, these do get very expensive! In some cases they might still want a credit card deposit for the fuel and toll costs too!

      Reply
  3. What about 3rd party liability insurance? To cover a) the damage to the other car or b) to cover personal injury liabilities? how is this covered?

    Reply
    • All car rentals by law have to have 3rd part liability insurance. However, you will usually need your own Personal Accident Insurance (PAI), or Travel insurance to cover injuries to yourself while you’re travelling in the event of an accident.

      Reply

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