Located 6 miles from Albany in the state of New York, Albany International Airport (ALB) serves the northeastern part of New York and Western New England. A recent modernisation of the airport has improved the terminal and enlarged the parking area.
Across the tarmac towards the terminal at Albany Airport (Photo: formulanone via Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0)
Conveniently located in the baggage claim area of the terminal, the car rental agencies are easy to find; just follow the signs from the arrivals area to the counters. The cars are parked inside the airport parking garage.
To determine which car rental companies offer the best options across our three categories (Most Affordable, Best for Luxury, Best for Minivans), TravelMag.com conducted research into all of the agencies at ALB airport. Our findings are as follows.
MOST AFFORDABLE: DOLLAR
As has been the case for a while, Dollar has the cheapest rates at ALB in the majority of car rental categories. Their cheapest car comes in the form of a Chevrolet Spark. This vehicle is ideal for a city trip but they also have people carriers for family and group road excursions. As an example of pricing, they were renting out a Nissan Sentra and Buick Encore at a little over $50 per day in mid October. Of course, choosing your preferred rental agency might just come down to preference of vehicle. Hertz and Budget’s lowest rates were $10-15 higher than Dollar’s with a Ford Escape and Nissan Pathfinder amongst their fleet. Open: Sunday to Friday; 5.30am – 12am, Saturday; 5.30am – 10pm.
BEST FOR LUXURY: BUDGET
Visitors looking for premium rental cars at ALB might be a little disappointed by the lack of Mercedes, BMWs and Audis on offer. However, Budget has plenty of luxury vehicles from other international car manufacturers with American-made sedans like the Ford Taurus and the SUV Ford Expedition in their portfolio. As is the case with Dollar, Budget’s vehicles are parked on Albany Road just outside of the airport. If you book a vehicle through rentalcars.com, you get unlimited mileage and free cancellation if you cancel your reservation up to 48hrs in advance. Open: Monday to Sunday; 8am – 12am.
BEST FOR MINIVANS: BUDGET
With several minivans and SUVs in its fleet and plenty of positive customer feedback, Budget is also the best bet for families and large groups. Budget’s fleet has something for every family at a good price, but if you’re traveling with a very large group, you should ask for their 12-seater Ford Transit that is rented out at $195 per day. Not only is the selection good, but Budget also picks up above average scores for the cleanliness of vehicles, the helpfulness of the staff and the ease of drop off. Open: Monday to Sunday; 8am – 12am.