Billyfergus

Recently flew into Malaga airport from Amsterdam. Was driving to Seville for football so plan was to stay at an airport hotel overnight as flight arrived late then head to airport in the morning, pick up rental car and drive to Seville - simple you might think.
It was not so anybody thinking of doing similar beware. My car rental was with Thrifty which is owned by Hertz so on arrival back at airport on the Thursday morning (via the metro/train) we followed the directions for the car rental section. Arrived at the Hertz cabin (there is no separate Thrifty one) only to be told that it was for car drop off only and to book the car out I had to first go to the office in the airport terminal. I did try to get there but this office is airside through security. I was not allowed to go through to the Hertz office as I did not have a boarding pass from that calendar day. I showed them the one we had for arriving the previous night and this was not good enough so no entry.

Went back to the Hertz return office, and explained ot the man and he told me he was very busy, come back in 30 minutes. Went back and he said he would call the lady in the Hertz terminal office and when he got through (I had tried earlier but could not get through) he told me she was busy but would try and come down within an hour. She eventually came down 67 minutes later. I got the car over 2 hours later than I planned - not the end of the world but not what I had expected.

So message is for anybody renting a car at Malaga airport, be exceedingly careful and be aware about this issue and certainly for me, never experienced anything like this in any other airport.

mreynolds767

Good to know. I imagine the setup is very convenient for those coming off a flight but in your less common case proved to be the exact opposite.

guv1976

I see that Thrifty (and Hertz, too) has a location at the Malaga train station. That might have been a better fit for the OP's particular situation.

farci

If you want to avoid driving through the city of Malaga, there are many car rental operators at Malaga airport who will either rent from an office in the car park or in the road that leads from the motorway to the airport without needing a boarding pass.

If the best deal is for an off-airport operator - sometimes cheaper - there is a shuttle bus stop adjacent to the railway station. Suggest using a consolidator who will offer competitive deals to suit your needs

tav1989

I wish I had read this thread earlier today as I had the exact same issue and never realised that a car collection office for all the major companies is airside - never have I heard or experienced this set up before ! Was in luck was on same day of arrival but had all the agro of rescreening bags and producing documents required . The signage is present but for those of us used to car rental companies office landside in arrivals it just did not register - lesson learned. As a footnote thrifty or as known as Hertz tried their best to upsell a bigger vehicle , more insurance at an astonishing rate ! Not impressed though the car booked was new and nice .