Car hire prices at London Stansted Airport

A good price at London Stansted Airport in October 2026 is around £39 a day for a Compact car like a Volkswagen Golf, booked about a month ahead. A Mini such as a Fiat 500 is about £24 a day, while an Economy Opel Corsa is around £34. Leave booking to the last 2 weeks and that Compact drops to £32 a day. If your quote is higher, check your exact dates with the price checker.

For London Stansted Airport, booking late saves about 47%: across the year a Compact costs £50 a day 9 months ahead against £34 in the last 2 weeks. For October 2026, a Compact is £39 a day booked a month before your trip and £32 in the last 2 weeks. Booking 9 months before your trip would have cost more, so you have missed nothing by waiting. Across the 395 airports we track car hire prices for, 48% of our customers book within 2 weeks of pickup.

Dollar is the cheapest company at London Stansted Airport for a Compact car, at £33 a day on average from 528 prices over the last 12 months. Dollar requires a credit card for its £750 deposit, though its counter sits at the airport terminal and averages a 13-minute wait. For a desk accepting debit cards, Hertz costs £41 a day with a £200 deposit and an 87/100 score. Enterprise was chosen most often with 19 bookings, but at £45 a day it insists on a credit card.

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.

Dollar is the best-reviewed company at London Stansted Airport, scoring 89/100 from 41 reviews with an average desk wait of 13 minutes. Dollar is also the cheapest supplier for a Compact car, at £33 a day over the last 12 months. Alamo and National follow closely on reviews, each scoring 88/100 with desk waits of 27 and 22 minutes respectively. Enterprise averages a 12-minute wait, but does not yet have enough reviews for a score.

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

At London Stansted Airport, security deposits range from £50 with U-Save to £1,800 with Drivalia, and 5 of the 13 counters take a debit card. Another desk, Sixt, accepts 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 quotes. Any optional extras charged at the desk are listed under each car with their prices.

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

High card deposits and counter queues are the main traps at London Stansted Airport. All 13 desks are at the airport, but 7 counters require a credit card in the lead driver's name, holding deposits of £1,800 at Drivalia or £1,705 at Green Motion. Alamo averages a 27-minute wait at the desk, while Avis takes 10 minutes. Only 41% of prices come with a full-to-full fuel policy, so check the tank rules before leaving the terminal.

Only 41% of prices at London Stansted Airport are full tank out, full tank back, so read the fuel line under the car before you book.

A Compact car such as a Volkswagen Golf is typical at £39 a day at London Stansted Airport for October 2026. It seats 5 but takes 3 bags, so a full car means soft bags on laps. An Intermediate like a Nissan Qashqai provides 4 bags of boot space for £45 a day, while a smaller Economy Opel Corsa holds 2 bags at £34. Automatic cars make up 58% of what is offered, costing £9 more a day than manuals, while electric and hybrid models account for 7% combined.