It’s very easy to rent a car in Costa Rica but there are a few things visitors will need to research and coordinate themselves, particularly when it comes to pick up and drop off. Flight schedules can be erratic with very early morning departures and late arrivals so travelers need to know the details so the process goes smoothly.
One of the main concerns visitors have is when they have a very early morning flight and want to keep the car to drive to the airport. In those situations, it depends on the car rental company what they offer to their clients but many open around 5 AM to start receiving cars.
A very popular flight out of Liberia Airport is the 6:55 AM United flight. We’ve taken this flight many times and had to drop off our rental car at 5 AM in Liberia which you can read about in this post.
5 AM Early Morning Liberia Airport Car Rental Drop Off
Driving to the car rental agency
We rented from Adobe Rent a Car and their office is 6.8 kilometers (4.2 miles) from the LIR Airport on a paved road. They open their doors and start receiving cars around 4:50 AM. When we arrived at 4:55 AM, the lights were on and there was one Adobe agent already at the front desk, ready to help us.
The Adobe Rent a Car Liberia office is on a well paved road and at 4 something in the morning, we barely saw any other cars so it took us about 45 minutes driving from Tamarindo.
Free airport shuttle
We did the final check of the car and when all the paperwork was good to go, he helped put our luggage in their shuttle and drove us to the airport, about a 5 minute drive. Adobe has a free airport shuttle when you drop the car off at their office and when you arrive in Costa Rica as well.
We made a short video so you can see the entire process here. As you can see, it’s very easy! Also, LIR Airport is much less crowded than the SJO Airport so even though we arrived a little after 5 AM, around 5:10 AM and our flight was at 6:55 AM, we made it through check in and security with plenty of time to spare.
Dropping Off in San Jose
The Adobe Rent a Car San Jose office is the same procedure. The office is 3 kilometers from the airport and they open their doors around 4:50 AM to start receiving cars from clients. They also have a free airport shuttle to take clients to the airport from their office and depending on traffic, it can take around 10-15 minutes so make sure to arrive early enough.
Costa Rica Car Rental Tips
We wrote quite a few posts about driving and renting a car in Costa Rica which you can read below.
We also have an exclusive deal with Adobe Rent a Car to give our readers up to 20% off and lots of extra freebies. Click the button below to make a reservation.
Click here to get your Costa Rica car rental discount
We hope you found this post helpful and please don’t hesitate to leave us any questions in the comments below.
Amy says
What do people do if the flight is too early for a 5 am drop off? Are there taxi options in the area very early in the morning? Perhaps we could drop off the car the evening before and take a taxi to the airport?
Sammi says
Hi Amy, you can drop the car off the night before and then taxi/shuttle to the airport in the morning.
Heidi says
I’m so glad I found this post. We are flying out of Liberia on the 6:45 am United flight and have been driving myself crazy over whether or not a 5:00 am drop of for our rental was too late and if we’d risk missing our flight. I’ve been emailing all the rental companies to see if they can accommodate something earlier with no luck. I was beginning to think it was hopeless. Now I think I can breath a little easier. Thanks again.