Nicaragua’s Augusto C Sandino International Airport (MGA) is the main civi-military public international airport in Managua, Nicaragua.
Nicaragua (Photo: Cordelia Persen via Flickr / CC B 2.0)
Picking up a car rental at MGA couldn’t be easier with a total of 14 car rental companies on site and only a short walk from the arrivals area. It’s worth noting that while some car rental agencies offer 24h services, most of them are open from 5am to 9pm.
To determine which rental car companies offer the best vehicles across our three categories (Most Affordable, Best for Luxury, Best for Minivans), TravelMag.com carefully researched prices, availability, policies and customer reviews of the car rental companies operating out of MGA. Here are our findings:
Most Affordable: Sixt
Not normally known as the most economical option, Sixt managed to fill our the top five cheapest rates at MGA on our chosen dates. Amongst its most economical options, it has the Hyundai Eon and Chevrolet Aveo, as well as a Suzuki Jimny – a versatile 4×4 that’s well suited to Nicaragua’s bumpier roads. Some reviewers complained about rather long queues when picking up their vehicles at the airport. However, in general, users were complimentary about their experience with many customers highlighting the cleanliness and the condition of its vehicles.
Best for Luxury: Sixt
Considering the country’s stunning coastline, colonial cities and abundant wildlife, you’d think that there would be plenty of suitable vehicles for rent to explore Nicaragua. Unfortunately, Nicaragua is a country that suffers from above average crime rates and, as is the case in many parts of Central America, a certain amount of caution has to be taken when driving luxury vehicles. This may help explain why we found so few premium cars for rent on rentalcars.com. The best of a relatively uninspiring selection was with Sixt who rent out the Toyota Fortuner, Toyota Prado and the Haval H2, an SUV that bears an uncanny resemblance to the Audi Q5 and as a result, is commonly referred to as the Chinese Audi.
Best for Minivans: Avis
In a similar way luxury cars can attract unnecessary attention, we can only assume minivans have the same effect. Avis does, however, have a few options for large families or groups of travellers. On the dates we selected, they had the 8-seater Suzuki APV and the 15-seater Toyota Hiace, both of which were being rented out at under $200 per day. Avis also comes with consistently excellent customer reviews and if that’s not reason enough to select them, their rental desk is open 24 hours a day throughout the whole week.