Car rental prices at San Francisco Airport

San Francisco Airport car hire typically costs around $61 a day for an Intermediate, the Volkswagen Jetta size, when you book about a month before an October 2026 pickup. A Compact like the Nissan Versa is about $57 a day, while a Fullsize Chevrolet Malibu costs around $69. Leaving it to the final 2 weeks brings the Intermediate down to $54. November 2026 is the cheapest month on record at $59 a day for an Economy, while August 2027 peaks at $108 for a Fullsize. The price checker will show the exact numbers for your dates.

For October 2026 at San Francisco Airport, booking late saves about 33%: an Intermediate averages $61 2 weeks out against $82 9 months out. Across the year, prices drop steadily from $75 6 months before your trip to $63 around a month before your trip. If you have not booked yet, you have missed nothing by waiting. Across the 395 airports we track car hire prices for on our sites, 48% of people book within 14 days of pickup.

Budget and Enterprise are the cheapest companies at SFO for an Intermediate, both averaging $55 a day over the last 12 months. Budget comes from 1,748 prices and Enterprise from 727, but Budget strictly requires a credit card while Enterprise accepts debit cards. Enterprise does not yet have enough reviews for a score, whereas Budget scores 82/100. Alamo averages $63 a day across 3,575 prices and was chosen most often by our customers.

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 San Francisco Airport, scoring 93/100 from 62 reviews with an average desk wait of 24 minutes. It averages $63 a day for an Intermediate, making it only $8 more a day than the airport's cheapest suppliers. Budget is the cheapest scored company at $55 a day with an 82/100 score and a 12-minute wait. National holds 84 reviews but does not yet have enough recent scores published.

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 Francisco Airport, card deposits range from $0 with Europcar up to $299 with Avis, and 4 of the 10 desks accept a debit card. Another 3 desks take a debit card for some cars only, while 3 require a credit card outright. The deposit and card rules are displayed beside each vehicle in your results, so filter for a debit card before comparing prices. Extras charged at the desk are listed under each car with their price.

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

Card rules and counter waits catch people out at San Francisco Airport, where queues reach 30 minutes and debit cards are not accepted everywhere. While all 10 rental desks sit on airport grounds, 3 desks refuse debit cards completely and 3 accept them only for certain car categories. Queue times vary sharply between desks: Budget averages 12 minutes, but Sixt averages 30 minutes. Finding out your card is not accepted at the desk after a 30-minute queue is nobody's idea of a holiday.

Only 53% of prices at San Francisco Airport are full tank out, full tank back, so read the fuel line under the car before you book.

An Intermediate car, the Volkswagen Jetta size, gives you 5 seats and 4 bags at San Francisco Airport for about $61 a day in October 2026. A Compact car such as a Nissan Versa costs $57 a day and seats 5, but takes only 3 bags. If you need more space, a Fullsize car like the Chevrolet Malibu costs $69 a day and seats 6 with 4 bags. Every car offered is automatic, and none are electric or hybrid, so you will drive away in a standard petrol automatic without paying extra.