Car hire prices at Edinburgh Airport

Edinburgh Airport car hire typically costs £38 a day for a Compact car like a Nissan Juke, £34 for an Economy and £25 for a Mini when booking October 2026 travel about a month ahead. An Intermediate car, the Nissan Qashqai size, is around £43 a day. In the last 2 weeks before pickup, an Economy drops to £32 a day while an Intermediate rises to £46. Over the year, prices swing from £31 a day for a Mini in February 2027 to £115 a day for an executive car in August 2027. If your quote is higher, the price checker will show the best rate for your exact dates.

For October 2026 at Edinburgh Airport, you get the lowest rates within 2 weeks of travel, when an Economy car averages £32 a day compared to £34 a month before. Across the year, booking 9 months before your trip averages £62 a day for an Intermediate car, while waiting until 2 weeks before averages £45 a day, saving about 41%. If you have not booked yet, you have not missed the cheaper rates. Across the 395 airports we track car hire prices for, 48% of bookings on our sites happen within 16 days of pickup.

U-Save is the cheapest company at Edinburgh Airport for an Intermediate car, averaging £38 a day, but requires a credit card and holds a £2,000 deposit. U-Save does not yet have enough reviews for a score, while Alamo costs £52 a day and scores 91/100 from 71 reviews. Keddy by Europcar averages £46 a day from 582 prices and scores 85/100. Europcar is the dearest of the counters tracked, at £69 a day from 663 prices.

The cheapest company can cost you a longer queue or a bigger deposit, so check the review score and desk wait beside each car in the results before you book.

Alamo is the best-reviewed company at Edinburgh Airport, scoring 91/100 from 71 reviews with an average desk wait of 19 minutes. Alamo averages £52 a day for an Intermediate car, making it only £14 a day more than U-Save, which is the cheapest at £38 a day but does not yet have enough reviews for a score. Sixt follows Alamo on ratings with 88/100 from 135 reviews, averaging £55 a day from 2,722 prices. Green Motion scores lowest among rated counters at 73/100 from 213 reviews, with an average desk wait of 17 minutes.

Review scores are CarTrawler customers' own, from the last five months; the score and the desk wait sit beside each car in the results.

Edinburgh Airport deposits on your card range from £0 with Arnold Clark Car & Van to £2,000 with U-Save, and 6 of the 14 desks take a debit card. A further 1 desk, Sixt, takes a debit card for some cars only, while 7 desks refuse debit cards entirely. The deposit and payment rules are shown beside each vehicle, so filter for debit cards before comparing totals. Any optional extras charged at the desk appear beneath each car with their prices.

If you bring your own child seat, check your airline's rules first: most carry one free, some charge.

Watch out for steep security deposits and card restrictions at Edinburgh Airport, where 7 of the 14 desks refuse debit cards and hold up to £2,000 on a credit card. All 14 desks sit directly at the airport, so you will not need a shuttle transfer. Average desk waits vary from 2 minutes with U-Save to 24 minutes with National. Expecting a low deposit from the cheapest daily rates is an easy mistake, as the lower quotes often come with the largest holds.

Only 50% of prices at Edinburgh Airport are full tank out, full tank back, so read the fuel line under the car before you book.

For touring beyond the city, pick a Compact car like a Nissan Juke at Edinburgh Airport, which costs around £38 a day in October 2026. A Compact seats 5 passengers but holds only 3 bags, so a larger group will need soft bags on laps or an upgrade. An Intermediate car such as a Nissan Qashqai provides 4 bags of luggage space for £43 a day. Automatics make up 58% of cars offered, but an Intermediate automatic costs £12 more a day than a manual over the year, so check the gearbox before reserving. Electric cars account for 4% of what is offered, so you must book early to secure one.