Car Rentals at Richmond Vancouver International Airport

Vancouver International Airport handles around 17 million passengers per annum, and is the second largest airport in Canada. It is a hub for Air Canada, Air Canada Express and Transat, and is served by many other airline carriers as well. The location of the airport is on Sea Island, in Richmond, and Vancouver and the airport is part of the British Columbia region of Canada. The airport has been allocated the official code of YVR. Although there are taxi, train and bus services available from the terminals, many passengers choose to rent a car from one of the Vancouver Airport car hire companies. A private vehicle can be an excellent way to travel the city or countryside, and reasonable car rental rates are offered to passengers arriving at Vancouver Airport.

The airport of Vancouver receives flights from cities within Canada, from the United States and from other international destinations. The airport’s terminals are therefore arranged accordingly. There is a Domestic Terminal for flights to and from Canadian destinations, an International Terminal for U.S. and international flights and the South Terminal, which is used for a few regional airline carriers and other services, such as float planes, helicopters and corporate charter flights. The Vancouver Airport car rental companies are located nearby the Domestic and International Terminals, which are located alongside each other, but passengers arriving at the more remote South Terminal can use the free airport shuttle buses to reach the main terminal buildings.

The car hire companies of Vancouver Airport include Hertz, Avis, Budget, Europcar, National, Alamo, Thrifty, Dollar and Auto Europa. These companies have their rental counters in the parking garage just across the street from the main terminals, and are easily reached on foot from the arrival areas of both terminals. The majority of these companies are open from 05:00 or 06:00 in the morning to midnight or even 01:00 in the morning. Vehicles can be rented directly over the rental counters, or in advance (recommended) online. Enterprise car rentals are also available from Vancouver Airport, however, this is an off-site car rental company. The company has free shuttles which operate frequently between the airport and their location. Direct dialled phones for the shuttles are available at the car rental bus shelter in the Economy Parking lot.

The vehicles hired from Vancouver Airport are only selected by category, rather than by their specific makes and models, and come in a wide range of sizes. There is guaranteed to be a car small or large enough for your travel requirements. The categories containing smaller cars are Economy and Compact, and example vehicles are the Toyota Yaris, Toyota Matrix, Hyundai Accent and Hyundai Accent Sedan. The Suzuki Swift is also a popular smaller car hired from this location. Family cars include the Hyundai Elantra, Chevrolet Impala, Toyota Camry and Toyota Corolla, and they are slightly larger than the vehicles previously mentioned. The Chrysler 300 is a Premium car rented from Vancouver Airport.

Many passengers like to hire SUVs and Minivans from this location as well. For up to seven passengers, the Dodge Grand Caravan is ideal, as well as larger SUVs such as the Jeep Commander, GMC Yukon and Dodge Durango. These are all Fullsize or Premium SUVs. For five passengers, SUVs such as the Ford Explorer, Ford Escape, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Toyota Rav 4 are available. Various pickups and specialty cars may be for hire as well. Most of the Vancouver Airport car hire companies hire cars with an automatic transmission, but some with a manual transmission may be available as well. All cars, besides a few luxury models, have unlimited mileage, and breakdown assistance may be provided.

To rent a car from Vancouver Airport the primary renter and all additional drivers will need to be at least 21 years of age, and should be in possession of a valid drivers license and major credit card, such as American Express, Diner’s Club, Mastercard and Visa. The driving license should show a safe driving record, and may need to be accompanied by an International Driving Permit. In the process of reservation, decide if you will need the services of a one way hire from Vancouver Airport. One way hires allow the vehicle to be returned to a different rental location, either in Canada or even in the United States. If the car is to be driven to the U.S. it may be referred to as a cross-border rental. One way hire services and cross-border rentals may be more expensive.

Additional items of equipment can also be requested at the time of reservation. There are most often child seats available from the car rental companies, as well as satellite navigation systems and ski racks. Babies and young children should always be seated in a suitably sized safety seat when travelling on Canadian roads, and a GPS unit could be useful to all drivers. The units hired by the car rental companies are of a high quality, with colour touch screens and easy-to-use interfaces. They provide accurate directions in voice or visual mode, and come pre-programmed with points of interest. From Vancouver Airport, hand controls for disabled drivers may also be available for hire, and are usually free of charge. Hand controls are used on automatic vehicles, to operate the brake and accelerator pedals.

Driving in Canadian cities and between Canadian cities is quite easy, provided that the road rules are taken into consideration and that you are familiar with driving on the right-hand side of the road. The larger cities such as Vancouver and Toronto have streets in a grid-shaped pattern, which makes them quite easy to navigate. Never drink and drive, or talk on a cellular phone whilst driving, and always obey the speed limits, which are 50kph in urban areas, 100kph on open roads and 130kph on motorways and highways.

Make a reservation online with your favourite Vancouver Airport car hire company in order to receive the lowest car rental rates.