Can I rent a car in Spain and return it in Portugal?
Aug 8th, 2009, 05:12 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Can I rent a car in Spain and return it in Portugal?
I am having difficulty using on-line services to arrange car rental in southern Spain and returning it in Lisbon a week later. Should I expect a huge fee for dropping the car off in another country? I will be traveling in late September and staying near Gibraltar. I would appreciate your suggestions.
Aug 8th, 2009, 10:52 AM
#4
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,890
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Check with a bunch of agencies. Expect all to have a drop-off charge. It may differ by agency and by type/class of car you rent.
We did it the other way around once - rented in Lisbon, toured through Spain and returned to Madrid with no drop off charge - since we were returning a Spanish car to Spain. But I think this is much less likely th eother way around.
We did it the other way around once - rented in Lisbon, toured through Spain and returned to Madrid with no drop off charge - since we were returning a Spanish car to Spain. But I think this is much less likely th eother way around.
Aug 8th, 2009, 12:03 PM
#5
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,416
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
What nytraveler did isn't something you can arrange in advance. I presume the rental company happened to have a Spanish car that needed returning, and could do a deal.
Your choice is really to do two separate rentals. One in Spain, then train, bus or fly to Lisbon and rent another.
Your choice is really to do two separate rentals. One in Spain, then train, bus or fly to Lisbon and rent another.
Aug 8th, 2009, 01:19 PM
#6
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 2,420
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I looked into this Spring.. and gave up on the idea. Pricing nearly killed me.
We wound up renting in Madrid, doing a large loop out of Spain, down Portugal and ending in Seville where we dropped the car. Much more reasonable.
If I hadn't wanted to do Seville I probably would have just tried flying from Madrid to Lisbon on Vueling and picking up there.
We wound up renting in Madrid, doing a large loop out of Spain, down Portugal and ending in Seville where we dropped the car. Much more reasonable.
If I hadn't wanted to do Seville I probably would have just tried flying from Madrid to Lisbon on Vueling and picking up there.
Aug 8th, 2009, 02:04 PM
#8
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 800
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ditto what others said about a big drop-off fee.
However, we had the same luck as nytraveler albeit in Germany. We need to fly out of Vienna and we rented the car in Munich. Luck was on our side, as they had a car with Austrian plates that needed to be returned in Austria, so no drop-off fee for us. It does happen once in a while.
However, we had the same luck as nytraveler albeit in Germany. We need to fly out of Vienna and we rented the car in Munich. Luck was on our side, as they had a car with Austrian plates that needed to be returned in Austria, so no drop-off fee for us. It does happen once in a while.
Aug 8th, 2009, 05:33 PM
#9
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,890
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It works more often if the countries are immediately adjacent - and the country has a lot o rentals. Portugal has many fewer tourists than Spain so the chances of picking up a Portugese care in Spain are probably pretty slim.
