Located 9km from Almería’s town centre, Almería Airport (LEI) is one of the fastest growing airports in the region. It mainly caters for charter flights and cheap airlines such as Jet2, Thomas Cook and Ryanair.
A plane on the tarmac at Almería Airport (Photo: দেবর্ষি রায় via Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0)
With just one terminal, car rental companies are easy to locate at Almería Airport. Simply, follow the signs in the terminal and you’ll find a host of international rental brands as well as several lesser-known European agencies.
To determine which car rental companies offer the best vehicles across our three categories (Most Affordable, Best for Luxury, Best for Minivans), TravelMag.com diligently researched prices, availability, company policies and customer reviews of each company operating out of LEI airport. Here are our findings:
For cheap car hire, we found both Firefly (part of the Hertz group) and the ‘Recommend-ed Car Selection’ picked out by rentalcars.com to have the cheapest deals. On our sample dates, Firefly had an Opel Corsa and a Renault Megane at under $35 per day while rentalcars.com’s recommendations included a Renault Clio Estate and a Fiat 500 at $40 per day. Among Firefly’s promotions, you’ll find a free cancellation policy and unlimited mileage – however, as this is the case with most companies advertising very cheap rates, we advise you to meticulously read the small print and come with a credit card to avoid having to purchase a costly fully comprehensive car insurance policy.
You may need to compromise on your choice of luxury car at a relatively small airport like Almería’s. On our sample dates, Avis had a Seat Tarraco SUV for an economical $89 per day. The Tarraco is a sophisticated 7-seater vehicle with plenty of space and sufficient power to cruise the local motorways. In Budget’s fleet of cars, Renault Kadjars and Opel Mokkas were both being rented out at $120 per day. For something a little more upmarket, we found an Audi A3 for $150 in rentalcar.com’s ‘Recommended Car Selection’
From driving en masse to the Cabo de Gata national park to visiting the palatial fortification known as La Alcazaba, there are scores of interesting things to do and see in the province of Almería. If you’re travelling in a group of seven or less, we suggest Budget’s Citroen Grand Picasso at $89 per day; however if there are more of you, then Goldcar’s Mercedes Benz Vito or the 9-seater Opel Vivaro, rented out by InterRent, are probably more suitable choices. Both minivans were listed at a little over $130 per day.
