Cheap Dublin Airport Car Hire: The Best Companies

Visitors to Dublin are catered for by a total of seven car hire companies located at the city’s international airport. Hiring a car in Dublin is a great choice for those keen to explore the rest of the country, with the city very much a gateway to a number of places of interest. The likes of Cork and Galway City are both less than three hours away by road, and popular Ireland landmarks including the 12th-century Drimnagh Castle and Johnnie Fox’s, a famous traditional pub in the mountains, are also easily accessible with a car.

An Aer Lingus plane at Dublin Airport emblazoned with the colours and players of the Irish Rugby team (Photo: _Illusion450_ via Flickr)

Car hire is made easy at Dublin Airport. Hertz, Europcar, Avis, Enterprise, Budget, Sixt and local company Dooley all have a presence both in the Airport Terminal 1’s arrivals hall and the multi-storey car park in Terminal 2. All of the cars available with each of these companies offer optional extras and adaptions on request, including child seats, satellite navigation systems and disabled hand controls.

Our car rental company search results

When it comes to car rentals, Dublin Airport offers something to suit every preference and budget. To help you make your choose, the team at TravelMag.com have researched all seven companies located at the airport and divided the results into three categories – Best value, Best for families and Best for luxury cars – based on cheapest rates, customer reviews, car fleets and company policies. You can view our findings below.

Best value: Budget

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Our searches soon found a clear winner in this category, with Budget offering the best value for cheap car hire without question. Not only do they live up to their name with excellent rates, but they also come with equally impressive customer reviews for overall service. The sheer choice of cars they offer means there’ll be something to satisfy all tastes, with an impressive four cars available for under £100 a week alone. As an added bonus, Budget operate during handily anti-social hours at Dublin Airport, with their rental desk open from 5.30am to 12.30am every day.

Best for families: Sixt

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In all of our research into airports across the world, we’ve rarely found a better deal for a large car than with Sixt at Dublin Airport. They offer the Renault Grand Megane for just over £230 a week during peak season, and for that alone we award them the crown in the ‘best company for families’ category. So you can put all the stress about packing lightly to the side – you’ll have all the room you need if you go with Sixt, thanks to the Megane’s vast boot space. Like Budget, Sixt’s rental desk also runs convenient hours, from 5am to midnight throughout the week.

Best for luxury cars: Hertz

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Hertz have a well-earned reputation as a more high-end provider of rental cars and their choice of luxury car hire vehicles at Dublin airport endorses this. If it’s a SUV you’re after, then you can pick the Nissan Qashqai, or if you’d prefer something a little lower and sportier, then what about the BMW 5-Series? As for add-ons, you could augment your car with a mobile WiFi rental, or even a Never Lost In-Car Navigation System. Hertz’s desk is open from 5am to 1am daily.