Hiring a Car at Malaga Airport

The cheapest quote I ever found for a week at Malaga airport turned into the most expensive hire of my life, because I did not read the fuel policy. They charged me for a full tank at their price, I brought it back three quarters full, and that was that. The headline rate is rarely the thing that decides what you pay.

There are 23 hire companies at Malaga airport. Nine have desks inside the terminal, the rest run a shuttle from a yard nearby. That single difference matters more than most people expect when you are landing with children and luggage.

Where the desks actually are

The car hire area is off the arrivals hall in terminal 2, clearly signposted, down a ramp to the lower level. If you have booked with one of the in-terminal companies you collect the keys there and walk to the car park.

Everyone else takes a shuttle bus. The off-airport companies are still within the airport grounds and the buses are frequent, but budget 20 to 40 minutes between clearing customs and actually driving away, more in August. The saving is usually real. The time cost is real too.

Who is where

Inside the terminal building:

• Autos Lido
• Avis
• Enterprise
• Europcar
• Goldcar
• Hertz
• Record
• Rent a Car
• Sixt

Off-airport, reached by shuttle bus:

• Aurigacrown
• Autolink
• Cargest
• Centauro
• First Car Group
• Global Car Hire
• Malagacar.com
• Marbesol
• Niza Cars
• Pepecar
• Tony's Rent a Car
• Top Rent a Car
• Yellow Car

Getting a decent price

Book well ahead if you are coming in July or August. Prices climb steeply as availability thins, and by midsummer the cheap automatics have gone entirely. If you need an automatic, a specific size, or a roof box, book it early and confirm it in writing.

Compare on a comparison site, then open the hire company's own website before you commit. The comparison price and the company's own terms are not always the same document, and the terms are where the money is.

Book child seats and any extras at the same time as the car. Companies do run out during school holidays, and turning up hoping is how you end up buying a booster seat in a supermarket.

The extras that decide what you actually pay

The insurance excess is the other one. Most companies hold a deposit on your credit card and the excess commonly runs well over a thousand euros, so check the figure on your own booking rather than assuming. You can either buy their waiver at the desk, which is where they make their margin, or take an annual excess policy from a third party beforehand, which is usually much cheaper if you hire more than once a year.

Most companies will not guarantee an exact make and model, only a category. If you genuinely need four doors, an automatic, or a boot that takes three large cases, say so at booking and get it confirmed.

Driving in Spain, the bits that catch UK drivers out

The drink-drive limit is lower than the UK's, and lower again for anyone who has held a licence for less than two years. There is no useful margin to work with here, so treat it as none at all.

Children travel in the back in a seat suited to their height and weight. Speed cameras are enforced properly, and a fine issued to a hire car follows you home: the company hands over your details and passes on an admin charge for the privilege.

You will also read that flip flops carry a fixed fine and that shopping must travel in the boot. Neither is a real offence. What the law actually requires is that nothing stops you controlling the car or seeing out of it, so an officer can fine you if your footwear slips off the pedals, not simply for wearing sandals. Current limits and penalties are published by the DGT, which is the only source worth trusting on this.

One genuinely useful habit: photograph the car from all four corners before you leave the bay, and again when you return it. It takes a minute and it has saved me an argument twice. If you decide against driving after all, the transfer options from the airport cover the train, the bus and what a taxi really costs. Worth knowing before you land: the rental desks sit in the Terminal 2 basement, not in the terminal everyone walks into, which the airport and airlines guide explains.