Alicante Airport is served by a number of car hire companies, and they're not interchangeable. Mileage limits, one-way availability and out-of-hours pick-up all vary — here's what actually sets them apart.
Price comparison sites tend to treat car hire companies as interchangeable — pick whichever is cheapest and move on. In practice, the company you choose affects more than the price: how far you can drive without extra charges, whether you can drop the car off somewhere other than Alicante, and what happens if your flight lands in the middle of the night all depend on which company you book with.
Not every company includes unlimited mileage, even on a zero excess rate. Goldcar applies a daily mileage limit on its basic full-full fuel rates. Drivalia caps mileage at 2000km for the rental. Solcar only restricts mileage on its people carrier and premium vehicle groups — everything else is unlimited. If you're planning a longer road trip around the region rather than sticking close to Alicante, this is worth checking before you book on price alone.
If you want to collect your car at Alicante Airport and drop it off somewhere else, your choice of company narrows considerably. Goldcar and Centauro both permit one-way hire, with an additional fee that typically runs from around 65€ for a short, same-city drop-off up to 120€–190€ for a drop-off in a different region. With Solcar, one-ways are possible to Javea and Valencia (30€). Drivalia and Record Go do not offer one-way hire at all — if you need to return the car somewhere other than where you collected it, these companies are not an option regardless of price.
Most companies at Alicante Airport close their desks by around 11pm or midnight. Solcar is the exception: payment and paperwork are handled in advance, and the car is delivered to just outside the arrivals hall, so a late or delayed flight doesn't leave you stuck without a car until morning. There's a fixed 40€ out-of-hours surcharge, but no desk, no queue and nothing to sort out at 1am. We've covered this in more detail in our guide to out-of-hours pick-up at Alicante Airport.
Whichever company you book with, the single biggest factor in your total cost of risk isn't the headline rental price — it's whether you've booked a zero excess rate. Without one, a basic rental leaves you exposed to a deposit of up to 2000€ held on your card and released against any damage, however minor. Booking the correct zero excess rate from the start removes that exposure entirely, regardless of which of these companies you choose.
If you need a long mileage allowance for touring the Costa Blanca or further afield, Centauro, Goldcar and Record Go are the better fit. If you need to drop the car off somewhere other than Alicante, Goldcar or Centauro are your main options. And if your flight is likely to land late or get delayed, Solcar removes the stress of an out-of-hours arrival entirely. None of these are the 'best' company outright — the right one depends on what your trip actually looks like.
See live prices and zero-excess rates across all companies at Alicante Airport.
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