Some friends of ours flew into Alicante Airport yesterday and they had not pre-booked their car hire before hand. They fully expected to be able to hire a car upon arrival - as they always do.

Unfortunately they were unable to rent a car due to lack of availability of rental cars.

I have undertaken a search this morning, looking for a car to hire tomorrow and I have only been able to find one car from all the on-line broker sites that I tried. This car is with Victoria Cars but it isn’t a car as such, it is a hulking great big Mercedes van type thing that can take about 9 people. Not your average family car! (and more expensive)

If you are due to fly to Alicante Airport and you need to hire a car then I suggest to start your search now and get your car booked.

If you find that there are no cars available for you to hire then we recommend the following;

1 Firstly try pick ups at other destinations. For example there may be a smaller hire car company in the town you are staying in. You could try and organise this beforehand by searching on the internet. Or by using our directory of car hire companies at http://www.discover-alicante.com/alicante-car-rental-companies.html

2 You could take your chances and try and hire a car from the village / town you are staying in once you have arrived (not recommended but then you may not have any other choice). Try and pick up a copy of the Costa Blanca News or Roundtown News when you have arrived and look for local car hire companies that are advertising, or ask one of the Spanish locals if they can recommend a local car hire company.

If you now find that you could possibly be stuck without a hire car at Alicante Airport then we suggest you plan your journey in advance, so that you can at least get to your destination safely and quickly.

Alternative Transport Options

Buses

There is a bus called the C6 which leaves from outside the airport. This will take you into Alicante City itself. You can read more information about the Alicante Airport bus here.

Taxi

You could take a taxi to your destination - see here for more information about Alicante Airport taxis. If there is a car hire shortage I would expect taxi queues to be long.

Private Transfers

Or you could pre-book a private transfer - see here for more information about Alicante Private Transfer

Trains

No trains run from Alicante Airport. If you are travelling nationally (eg going on to Madrid or Barcelona etc) then you will need Alicante City’s main train station. You can use one of the above methods to get there. For further information about booking tickets and train times you should visit www.renfe.com.

The C6 bus will go via the train station.

If your train journey is more local then you can get the TRAM from just outside Playa del Postiguet in Alicante City. This can take you all along the coast of the Costa Blanca. The TRAM has an excellent website http://www.fgvalicante.com which includes maps of all the stops.

Things to think about before your flight

1 If you know you don’t have an Alicante Airport hire car then take as much information with you as possible about alternative transport options.

2 We also recommend that if you are staying self-catering and the supermarket is a cars drive away that you take along some food with you, or you stop en-route and pick some bits up!

3 Tourism Agency Of Valencia located at Alicante Airport is available on 0034 966 919 367. They may be able to offer you further advice and information.

I hope you are able to book your hire car.