If you’re looking to rent a car at Guanacaste Airport, Costa Rica, then this guide will tell you everything you need to know. Also make sure to read our “renting a car in Costa Rica” post for more detailed information and get our Costa Rica car rental discount!
Car Rental Guanacaste Airport
There are many car rentals in Liberia Airport, international and local.
You will see car rental counters inside the airport and those companies have stationed agents for tourists who want to rent a car upon arrival. A few companies that have an airport counter are the international ones like Budget, Enterprise and Alamo. Find the company you’re interested in and you can talk to their agent to check availability and prices.
If you decide to book the car, they’ll tell you where to meet the agent to take you to their airport office location to collect your car.
Travel tip: It’s best to reserve a rental car beforehand. This is mandatory in high and peak season, December to April as availability is extremely limited (to none during peak times). You generally get the best price online as well rather than when you are in person.
However, not all Guanacaste Airport car rentals have a counter. In that case, you will need to find your car rental agent after customs and immigration. The agent will then take you to their shuttle to bring you to their airport office to collect your car or help you with a reservation.
In our particular case, we have a partnership with Adobe Rent a Car, a Costa Rican car rental agency to offer discounts and freebies to our readers. Below you will read more about how to find the Adobe Rent a Car agent at Guanacaste airport.
Car Rental Guanacaste Airport Pick Up
In Costa Rica, many car rental companies offer a meet and greet and have an airport office for clients to collect their car as the international airports are too small and there isn’t a dedicated parking garage just for car rentals.
Once you exit customs (through the double doors where you cannot go back), you will be inside the airport check in area. Right through the glass doors straight ahead, you will see a group of people holding up signs. Go through the glass doors and look for the sign of the car rental company you booked with.
The car rental company will then shuttle you to their airport office to pick up the car and complete paperwork. Some companies charge for this shuttle, some offer is complimentary. With our partnership with Adobe, this meet and greet is complimentary.
Companies like Alamo offer a host service who will assist you in the pick up process.
Car Rental Guanacaste Airport Pick Up Video With Adobe Rent a Car
To help you feel more comfortable and secure about this process, here is a video we made of this pick up process with Adobe Rent a Car. This is ONLY for Adobe Rent a Car, no other car rental agency.
Don’t forget to get our Costa Rica car rental discount and extra freebies!
What to Know About This Pick Up Process
You will get a lot of people coming up to you asking if you want a taxi or car rental
Make sure you tell them no if you already booked a car beforehand. Some people may try to offer you a cheaper car if you tell them you already reserved a car. Some taxi drivers may tell you that you’re being ripped off and it’s cheaper to take taxis your whole trip. Or even offer to book it for you because they can get a cheaper price (You can read about other scams in Costa Rica to stay safe).
Ignore them and look for the agent wearing the company shirt and holding a sign with the company logo and your name on it.
If you booked a car at the baggage claim counters, then look for the car rental agent to get to the shuttle.
What happens if you don’t see your car rental agent
1. Find the airport help desk: If you checked out the whole group of people waiting outside and don’t see your company, go inside the airport and find the help desk. It’s near the arrivals area where you exit. Ask the staff they all speak English) if they can help you find them or get their phone number.
2. Call them: If you already have the phone number, you can ask the help desk if they can call the agency for you or to borrow their phone if you don’t have a working phone.
Car rental companies usually have just 1 agent holding the sign so they may have slipped out to use the bathroom or are with other clients taking them to the shuttle. Make sure to go outside and look around the crowd.
Don’t ask the other car rental agents as they may try to mislead you. Some agents have been known to steal clients even if they already made a reservation.
Returning Your Rental Car at Guanacaste Airport
For returning a rental car at Guanacaste Airport, it is the same process as pick up for nearly all car rental agencies. You’ll drive to their Guanacaste Airport office, drop off the car and the company will shuttle you to the airport.
If you have an early morning flight, Adobe Rent a Car and most car rental companies start receiving cars around 5 AM. If you need an earlier return, the best option is to return your car the day before and arrange a taxi or shuttle to the airport. You can watch a video and get more information on this early morning return at Liberia Airport here.
Renting a Car at Liberia Airport Upon Arrival
First, we do not recommend renting a car at Liberia Airport upon arrival during high season (December – end of April). This is because there is no guarantee you can get a car and rates are generally more expensive. You need to make a reservation beforehand to secure a car.
This is especially true during the peak and high season times which are Christmas and New Years, Easter week (Semana Santa), June July and August. Even people who try to book a car 2 weeks before these periods of time have a very difficult time finding one as cars go so fast!
If you are visiting in low tourism months such as May, September or October, you can rent upon arrival if you want to play it by ear. We still don’t recommend to do so because then you can’t comparison shop or read about car rental insurances but it is not as risky as high season when it comes to availability.
Adobe Rent a Car
With our partner Adobe Rent a Car, you can still get the Mytanfeet discount if you rent the day of. However, you must call them (18558611250 toll free or local at 506 2542-4800) and ask for the Mytanfeet rate when you are speaking with their agent.
You can also find the agent at the airport to go to their airport office. Again, make sure to ask them for the Mytanfeet discounted rate and extra benefits when you arrive at the office.
Save On Your Car Rental!
If you’re renting a car at Guanacaste Airport, make sure to get our Costa Rican car rental discount with Adobe Rent a Car. Mytanfeet readers get a car rental discount and extra benefits like 2 free drivers, free baby/booster seats, free prepaid SIM card, free cooler and much more.
Vince says
Do you know if Adobe allows renting the car in Liberia and returning it in San Jose?
Sammi says
Hi Vince, yes definitely, there is just an extra fee for picking up and returning at different locations.
rick says
Any advice – it looks like most rental companies close at 9pm and we land at 8:40pm?
Thanks!
Sammi says
If you are landing at 8;40 PM, generally the car rental companies will wait for you until you finish immigration and customs. Just make sure to let them know you are landing at that time and they will send an agent to pick you guys up from Liberia Airport.
Sarah Brice West says
Hi there! My family will be traveling during high season due to when we can come. We will arrive 12/31, and are thinking of flying into Liberia (as we desire to see Arenal area and Playa Conchal areas). You recommend not renting a car during this high season, but it is how we hoped to get around with our family and really a must. Can you tell me more? We are happy to reserve a car months ahead of time.
Sammi says
Hi Sarah, in the post I recommend not to rent a car upon arrival during Christmas. It is highly recommended to rent your car at least a month before to secure your vehicle, especially if you need a SUV because availability goes very quick during this time of year 🙂
Brett says
We are a group of 6 landing in Liberia Jan 23 for a week. Because of lack of luggage space in the SUVs, we plan to rent one of the large 9 person vans from Adobe for a week. We’ll be staying on Playa Junquillal, with some driving into Tamarindo and locally, but when we do our touring deeper inland, we’ll use a tour shuttle. My impression is that this type of vehicle should work ok for our purposes, would you agree?
Sammi says
Hi Brett, that should be fine. H1 are very common vans and many shuttle/tour operators use them. When you go down to Junquillal (if you’re going to the one south of Tamarindo), just go slow because that road is kinda hilly and unpaved but it should work. They’ve been smoothing that road over more so they should be doing that at the end of rainy season in January.
Chuck says
Booked a rental car with Adobe in Liberia. Very easy process. Just watch the video on this website and follow the process. The SUV we rented had a 54k on it but insides great shape and clean outside some minor scratches. Would recommend and would use again if we are able to come back
Sammi says
Glad you had a good experience with Adobe Chuck and thanks for sharing!
Sammi says
Hi Kim, in general it’s taken us maybe 30-40 minutes at LIR airport (including waiting for baggage) and we always try to get to immigration as fast as we can. If you just have carry ons, you’ll save a lot of time waiting for luggage and going through customs. There are several planes landing around the same time as yours so it’s best to get off as soon as possible so you can avoid getting stuck behind the people from other flights too (I think there are around 3-4 planes). I think you can make it in one hour if you can get out in around 30 minutes, the Adobe office is a 2 minute ride away and it takes about 15 minutes to do the paperwork and check the car.
I definitely agree that to go from Liberia to Monteverde, you should leave by 2:30 PM. It’s about a 3-3.5 hour drive and the section of the road once you turn up to the mountains is very bumpy, very curvy, no lights and can be dangerous in the dark so you will need to drive very slow.
Kim says
Thanks so much for this post and video. We are arriving in 2 weeks and have booked w adobe.
I’m your estimation/experience, how long will it take to get off plane, get the car, and be on the road? We plan to drive to Monteverde but our flight doesn’t land til 1:10. Everything I have read about that drive tells me I need to be en route BY 2:30 in order to arrive before dark.
Thanks for your insight!
-kim
yeison says
Hello S.Humphrey, there are many car rental companies in Costa Rica and most of them will do or say wherever to rent you a car. We haven’t heard nothing about a price decrease if you rent the at the airport but we have heard of people complaining that the guy outside the airport told them something and when they were picking up the car they came out with some “hidden fees”. Probably you already read that we recommend Adobe rent a car to our readers but for the last 2 years we have only heard good things no hidden fees and they can even deliver the car to your Hotel for free at the same price (Most of the hotels). I hope you enjoy your vacations and please let us know if you have any questions if you want to check Adobe rates click here: Costa Rica car rental discount
S. Humphrey says
Can you explain the difference in pricing for car rentals: renting a car at the airport vs. at the rental office or hotel etc. I read there is an additional charge of 10-15% /week if you get the car from Liberia or San Jose airports.
Thanks.
Vanessa Perez says
Hi! Do you have any videos or tips for a first time CR driver going from San Jose to Limon/Puerto Viejo?
Sammi says
Hi Vanessa! The road is very straight forward, and nicely paved. It actually goes through a large national park and you’ll go through the biggest tunnel Costa Rica has. It is about a 3.5 hour drive but sometimes can be slower because you get stuck behind big trucks so be patient. There are signs to Puerto VIejo everywhere but if you are nervous and would like to be sure, you can use the app WAZE. There are a few towns along the way like Guapiles to get gas, eat, etc.