The most populous city in North Carolina, Charlotte is a major commercial hub with a modern centre, plenty of green public spaces, and a wide range of cultural venues. The city attracts large numbers of visitors each year, and is served by Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Which connects to several international and domestic destinations.
A view over the Charlotte skyline (Photo: James Willamor via Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0)
There are a large number of car rental companies dotted around the city, most of which can be found either in the central district or at the airport. If you’re planning a trip to Charlotte and would like to rent a car during your stay, we’ve done some research and picked out the best rental companies across three categories: Best value at the airport, best value in the city, and best for luxury cars.
For visitors travelling into Charlotte by air and keen to find a cheap car rental at Douglas airport, there are numerous rental desks located close by. For the best value, we’ve picked out Alamo and Enterprise, with both offering numerous mid-range cars at affordable rates. Alamo’s best deal is for a Mitsubishi Mirage, which is available for $195 for a week’s rental, with free cancellation and theft protection included. Enterprise, meanwhile offer a 5-seat Nissan Rouge SUV – ideal for families and those needing a bit of extra luggage space – for $227 per week. Both companies also have excellent customer feedback with scores of above 8.
Budget car rental in the city itself is also fairly easy to find, thanks to the presence of several rental companies around the central district. For this category, we’ve selected Avis and Hertz as those providing the best value. Avis offer a Ford Fiesta, which may not excite speed junkies, but is a perfectly reliable model that was available for $211 for one week during our online search. Hertz, often considered one of the more expensive rental agencies, were our second pick for best value in the city, thanks to the inclusion of a Fiat 500 for $267 per week.
If you’re happy to push the boat out and get yourself something a little fancier for your stay in Charlotte, the luxury car rental options here are plentiful. It may sound contradictory, but our first choice for the best agencies for luxury cars is Budget, who offer several high-end Ford people carriers, as well as a Lincoln MKZ sedan, with rates starting at $268 for a week’s rental period. Our second choice for luxury cars is, perhaps less surprisingly, Hertz, who have a Jeep Cherokee and a GMC Terrain among their fleet of premium cars, with prices from $329 per week.
