Car rental at Bilbao Airport (BIO) - compact terminal with all desks on-site. Compare deals for the Basque country, Cantabria and La Rioja.
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Sample prices for a 7-day rental. Final price, deposit and terms are confirmed on Localrent.
Desks in the P1 car park
All the on-site offices sit in the P1 garage opposite the single terminal at BIO.
No-deposit options
About a third of cars in Spain come with no deposit hold at pickup - look for the "No deposit" badge.
Full insurance
Zero-excess cover available on most cars - nothing taken from the deposit if something happens.
Free cancellation
Cancel free on most bookings, often up to 48 hours before pickup.
Most drives from here are motorway along the Cantabrian coast plus a few climbs inland. Pick by group size and distance, then compare the rates below.
Small & budget
Cheapest off the plane and easy on the N-637 into the city.
Automatic
In short supply at BIO, so reserve before you fly if you need one.
7-seater & van
Room for the family and the luggage on the run to San Sebastian.
Luxury
Start the coast trip in something larger. Deposits run higher on premium groups.
Bilbao Airport (BIO) has a single terminal, so there are no separate terminals to work out and no inter-terminal shuttle to catch.
The main rental desks sit in the lobby of the P1 car park, on level 0, opposite the terminal. The offices are connected to level 0 of the passenger terminal by an underground passage 100 metres long. From arrivals you take the escalator or lift down one level, follow the corridor through the tunnel, and the desks are on the right.
This is where the bigger names keep their offices and their cars, so you pick up the keys and drive straight out of the P1 garage. The pickup and return bays for rental cars are reserved and separate from the public parking.
Major suppliers at Bilbao Airport
The exact desk and pickup point for your booking is always confirmed on your rental voucher - check it before you land.
Some suppliers run from a branch off the N-633, about a kilometre from the airport, with a free shuttle. Those shuttles usually depart from Level 3 of the terminal. If you have booked one of these, go up to the Departures level and look for the branded bus opposite the building rather than waiting in the arrivals hall.
Payment and deposit
When you book you pay only a small upfront amount - usually 15-20% of the hire cost. The rest is settled at the desk on pickup. The deposit in most cases is fully refundable, and about a third of cars in Spain are handed over with no deposit at all - those are marked in the results. If you only have a debit card, pick a no-deposit rate or a cash-deposit option: nothing gets frozen on your card.
Have your voucher, passport, driving licence held for at least a year, and the booking card ready at the desk - it keeps the queue short. The terminal operates from 4:30 to midnight, and most desks close around 23:30, so if your flight lands late check the closing time on your supplier before you book. A missed pickup is hard to recover.
Inspect the car for existing scratches and photograph them before you drive off. The minimum age to rent is generally 21, and drivers under 25 usually pay a young-driver surcharge. Several suppliers, including Sixt, Enterprise and Avis, accept after-hours returns into a key box if you are dropping off before opening.
BIO is about 12 km north of the city, in Loiu. The N-637 links directly to the airport and connects you to the A-8 and the AP-8, providing east-west routes across the region and into France. The centre of Bilbao is roughly 15 minutes away; San Sebastian is about 75 minutes east on the AP-8; Santander sits around an hour west on the A-8.
Low-emission zone (ZBE) - good news for rentals
Bilbao has a low-emission zone (ZBE) in the city centre, enforced on weekdays. The good news: cars hired at BIO already carry the DGT environmental sticker the zone requires, so your rental can drive in with no extra paperwork. The fines target older or foreign-plated private cars, not your hire car. Check the windscreen for the sticker at pickup and photograph it.
If you plan to cross into France for the day, declare it when you book rather than at the desk - most suppliers allow it with prior authorisation, and it avoids a problem at the counter. When you return, fuel up before the airport as on-site prices are higher, then follow the "Rental Car" signs into the P1 garage and park in your supplier's bay.
The main desks are in the P1 car-park building on level 0, opposite the terminal, reached by an underground passage about 100 metres long. From arrivals you take the escalator down, follow the corridor through the tunnel, and the desks are on the right.
Some suppliers run an off-site branch with a free shuttle from the Departures level - your voucher states which.
Yes. Cars rented at Bilbao Airport already carry the DGT environmental sticker the zone requires, so you can drive into the city centre with no extra registration.
The fines only apply to older or foreign-plated private cars, not your hire car. Check the windscreen sticker at pickup.
The terminal operates from 4.30 to midnight, and most rental desks close around 23.30. Hours vary by supplier, so if your flight lands late, check the closing time on your chosen company before booking so your pickup is not missed.
After-hours returns are usually possible by key drop, sometimes for a small fee.
A credit card is not always required - it is needed to hold the security deposit. At pickup the supplier freezes the deposit amount on the card: the money is not charged and is released when you return the car undamaged.
To avoid a hold, choose a full cover or no-deposit rate - then a debit card is usually fine and there is no pressure to buy extra cover at the desk.
The deposit is an amount the rental company holds as a guarantee for the car. Road fines or damage can be deducted from it.
If the car comes back without problems, the deposit is released in full. It is a temporary hold on your card, not a charge.
It depends on the car class and the supplier - you can see the exact amount on each car's card.
You can set a maximum deposit in the filter and the catalogue shows only matching offers. The lower you set it, the fewer cars remain.
Yes. To see cars with no deposit, use the «No deposit» filter option. There are also cars with a small deposit or cash payment.
Note that "no deposit" means no hold at pickup, not no booking payment - a small upfront amount is still taken when you book. If nothing suits, contact our support team.
The deposit is the amount frozen on your card at pickup and released when you return the car undamaged.
The excess is the part of any damage you pay yourself even with insurance - anything above it is covered by the insurer.
In practice, damage is taken from the deposit up to the excess, so the deposit is often set to match it. A full, zero-excess policy removes both: you do not pay for damage and the hold is usually waived.
Cover comes in levels:
You see the available rates on each car's card when booking.
If you would rather not depend on the deposit and excess, choose the full rate.
Yes, some cars can be paid in cash - use the «Cash» filter option.
You pay a small upfront amount by debit or credit card when booking (usually 15-20% of the total), and the rest in cash at pickup in the terminal.
Yes, paying for the car with cryptocurrency is possible - contact our support team to arrange it.
Yes. In the search, set a pick-up and a drop-off point - for example collect at BIO and return in San Sebastian or Santander.
By default the car is returned to the same place you collected it.
Most are manual, as across Spain. Automatics are in shorter supply and cost more, so book one well ahead if you need it. The same applies to 7-seaters in summer.
You need a passport, a driving licence and the rental voucher - the voucher can be shown on your phone or tablet.
It states the final price with your chosen options and insurance, so the amount due at the desk will not change.
To hire through our rental companies you need at least 2 years of driving experience.
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