Car hire prices at San Jose Airport, United States

For November 2026 at San Jose Airport, aim for around £37 a day for an Intermediate car, such as a Volkswagen Jetta, booked around a month before your trip. An Economy car, such as a Mitsubishi Mirage, averages £35 a day, while a Compact car, such as a Nissan Versa, averages £34 at the same lead time. In the last 2 weeks, the Intermediate car average rises to £43 a day, £6 more. Use the price checker to compare your quote with prices for your exact dates.

Across the year at San Jose Airport, Intermediate cars average £45 a day around 2 weeks before your trip, so you should not assume that booking early cuts the price. For November 2026, however, book around a month before: an Intermediate car, such as a Volkswagen Jetta, averages £37 a day then, against £43 in the last 2 weeks. Across the year, the Intermediate car average is £61 a day around 9 months before your trip, so you have not necessarily missed a cheaper price by leaving it later. Across the 395 airports we track car hire prices for, 65% of our customers booked within a month of pickup.

Avis, Budget and Thrifty tie as the cheapest at San Jose Airport for Intermediate cars over the last 12 months, averaging £42 a day; Budget accounts for 1,867 prices and Thrifty for 1,073. Budget and Avis require a credit card, while Thrifty accepts a debit card, so start with Thrifty if that is the card you plan to use. All 3 have airport desks; Budget and Thrifty score 76/100, while Avis scores 78/100. For an Intermediate car, Enterprise averages £43 a day over the last 12 months from 879 prices, £1 more than the cheapest companies, and scores 95/100 from 654 reviews with a 9-minute average desk wait.

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.

National is the best-reviewed company at San Jose Airport, scoring 99/100 from 268 reviews with a 4-minute average desk wait, so consider National if reviews and collection time matter more to you than price. National is not the cheapest: for Intermediate cars over the last 12 months, National averages £53 a day from 4,253 prices, £11 more than Avis, Budget and Thrifty at £42. Those cheapest companies score 78/100, 76/100 and 76/100 respectively, so compare their reviews before choosing solely on price. Europcar 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 San Jose Airport, deposits range from £0 with Europcar to £227 with Avis, but only 1 of the 10 companies accepts a debit card without restricting it to some cars, so check your card first. Thrifty accepts debit cards; Hertz, Dollar and Sixt accept them for some cars only, while 6 companies require a credit card. If you need to use a debit card, filter for it before comparing prices and check the deposit and card rule beside your chosen car. 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.

At San Jose Airport, check card restrictions and allow time for collection, because 6 of the 10 companies require a credit card and Budget's desk wait averages 27 minutes. If you are bringing a debit card, Thrifty accepts it, but Hertz, Dollar and Sixt accept it for some cars only, so check the selected car before booking. Thrifty's desk wait averages 24 minutes, compared with 4 minutes at National, so leave room between landing and any appointment. All 10 companies have airport desks, but that does not remove the queue.

Only 51% of prices at San Jose Airport are full tank out, full tank back, so read the fuel line under the car before you book.

For 4 people with 4 bags, choose an Intermediate car such as a Volkswagen Jetta at San Jose Airport: it seats 5 and averages £37 a day for November 2026 when booked around a month before. At that lead time, a Compact car such as a Nissan Versa averages £34 a day, but its 3-bag capacity means you need to pack lighter despite its 5 seats. A Fullsize car such as a Chevrolet Malibu averages £46 a day and seats 6, but still takes only 4 bags, so the extra seat does not buy more luggage space. Over the last 12 months, 100% of cars offered are automatic, so you can focus your comparison on size rather than gearbox. Hybrids account for 1% of cars offered and electric cars are not offered, so filter for a hybrid before comparing prices if that is a requirement.