Car rental at San Sebastian Airport (EAS) - small terminal at Hondarribia, 20 km from San Sebastian city. Gateway to the Basque coast.
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Sample prices for a 7-day rental. Final price, deposit and terms are confirmed on Localrent.
One small terminal
All desks sit in the single arrivals hall at EAS - no shuttle, a short walk to the car.
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 driving here is the coast road and inland Gipuzkoa, with the odd cross-border hop. Pick by group size and how much luggage you have.
Small & budget
Cheap to run and easy to park in Hondarribia's old town. Fine for two people.
Automatic
In short supply at a small airport like EAS, so reserve one before you fly.
7-seater & van
Room for a family and the luggage on the run into San Sebastian or across the border.
Luxury
A comfortable pick for longer coastal drives. Deposits run higher on premium groups.
San Sebastian Airport (EAS) is small and easy to read. It serves San Sebastian but sits in the municipality of Hondarribia, with the runway running along the river Bidasoa right on the Spanish-French border. That border position is the whole point of renting here: one pickup covers the Basque coast and a quick run into France.
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.
The car hire counters are in the main concourse on the land side of the terminal, near the entrance and exit. Because EAS is compact, you walk from the gate to the desks in a couple of minutes with no internal transfers. Picking up here is straightforward, but the flip side of a small airport is that desk hours follow the flight schedule rather than running round the clock.
Suppliers at EAS
The exact desk and pickup point for your booking is confirmed on your rental voucher - read it before you fly.
Credit card or no deposit?
The desk normally holds a deposit on a credit card in the main driver's name. Travelling with only a debit card? Choose a no-deposit or no-deposit rate, where the full cover is in the price and nothing is frozen. We flag these rates in the results so you can pick one before you fly.
Bring your voucher, passport, a driving licence held for at least a year, and the booking card. At Enterprise, all drivers must be at least 25 to rent, though renters aged 21 to 24 can take smaller categories with a daily surcharge of 23 EUR. Inspect the car for existing scratches and photograph them before you drive off. If your flight lands outside normal desk hours, check whether your supplier offers an out-of-hours pickup - some airport locations do, usually for a fee and with at least a day's notice.
Out of the airport you are on the GI-636 within minutes. San Sebastian is about 23 km away, and the drive takes roughly 20 to 25 minutes by car. For the French border, you are almost on it already - Hendaye is across the Bidasoa, and Biarritz in France is around 35 km up the coast.
If France is in your plans, declare it. Suppliers require you to tell the branch you intend to leave the country and to get authorisation; driving outside the pre-authorised countries breaches the rental agreement. A cross-border note is easy to add at booking - a cross-border fee around 23 EUR may apply - just do not spring it on the desk at pickup.
San Sebastian has no city-wide low-emission zone of the scale you find in Madrid or Barcelona, so the drive in from EAS is not restricted for a hire car. Even where access rules apply, cars rented in Spain carry the DGT environmental sticker, so a rental can enter without extra paperwork. On return, fuel up before the airport as on-site prices are higher, then follow the car-rental return signs to your supplier's lot beside the terminal.
In the single terminal. The desks sit in the main concourse just after baggage reclaim, with the cars in a lot a short walk away.
There is no shuttle to an off-site branch. Your voucher names the exact company and pickup point.
Yes, but you must declare the cross-border trip when you book or at the desk and get authorisation. A cross-border fee of around 23 EUR may apply.
The French border is right beside the airport, with Biarritz about 35 km up the coast. Do not cross undeclared.
EAS is small and desk hours follow the flight schedule rather than running 24 hours.
If your flight lands outside normal hours, check whether your supplier offers an out-of-hours pickup before booking, as it usually carries a fee and needs a day's notice.
About 20 to 25 minutes via the GI-636, covering roughly 23 km. You are on the main road within minutes of leaving the airport.
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 EAS and return in San Sebastian, Bilbao or Vitoria.
By default the car is returned to the same place you collected it.
Most are manual, as across Spain. Automatics are available but in shorter supply at a small airport, so book one well ahead if you need it.
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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Need to add something? Write to us at info@carhire-es.com