Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport or simply, Porto Airport (OPO), is an international airport lying 8 miles northwest of the centre of Porto. After Lisbon Airport, the airport is the second-busiest in the country serving as a base for many of the budget airlines operating in Europe like EasyJet, Ryanair, TAP Air Portugal and its subsidiary TAP Express.
Porto Airport (Photo: Sharan DArlin via Flickr/ CC BY 2.0)
With over 5 million tourists per year, there are numerous car companies operating at the airport including Hertz, Sixt, Europ-car and budget specialists, Gold Car. With English widely spoken in Porto, you shouldn’t have any difficulty finding the rental companies which are located in the airport main terminal.
To determine which rental car companies offer the best vehicles across our three categories (Most Affordable, Best for Luxury, Best for Minivans), Travelmag.com has carefully researched the prices, availability, policies and customer reviews of the car rental companies operating out of OPO airport. Here are our findings.
Most Affordable: Hertz and Thrifty
With a lack of demand causing havoc in the market, you can pick up some extremely cheap rentals at Porto airport at the moment – on the dates we researched, there were cars being rented as low as €12 per day. Therefore, you may be tempted to go with one of the more recognised brands like Europcar, Hertz or Sixt. If there are just one or two of you then Thrifty, part of the Hertz family, had the Fiat 500 at under €15 per day, while Hertz itself, had the 4-door Renault Clio at just over €22 per day. It’s also worth noting that Hertz’s office in the airport is open from 6am to midnight.
Best for Luxury: Guerin and Alamo
Rub your hands! There’s a wide range of luxury cars on offer at Porto airport at some very cheap rates (however, parking one in Porto’s narrow streets might not be so easy). For this reason, we sought out small premium vehicles over larger ones. On our sample dates, we found Guerin’s Fiat 500X at a bargain €25 per day. Similar in size and shape to the Mini Cooper, the Fiat 500X is one of many ‘crossover’ cars on the market offering drivers a fun and stylish drive. If you are in a larger group, Alamo had the iconic and classic Audi A4 at €55 per day which is perfect for driving along the Douro river in style.
Minivan: Guerin and Enterprise
Stepping into the car rental market in any foreign country al-ways carries a certain amount of risk; that’s why we tend to recommend the more established car rental companies over ones you may have never heard of, especially when vehicles of considerable value are concerned. But if you are willing to take a chance, Turisprime had the Citroen C4 Gran Picasso at €39 per day while Guerin had the Renault Espace and the Renault Traffic at a little over €50. If you’re one of those people who prefer more established brands then Enterprise’s seven-seater Ford Gal-axy was up for rent at €65 per day.