Car hire at Alicante airport, and what the excess really costs you
The price on the booking site is not the number that decides your morning at the desk. Three others do: the deposit they hold on your card, the excess you are liable for if the car is damaged, and whatever the desk tries to sell you when you get there.
This page is about the third number, because it is the one that costs money after you have already decided.
Three numbers, and only one was on the website
| What | When it hits your card | Typical size |
|---|---|---|
| Rental rate | When you book | What you compared |
| Deposit (the hold) | At the desk, blocked until you return the car | From a few hundred euros to over a thousand |
| Excess | Only if something happens | Same order as the deposit |
A rate of €12 a day with a €300 excess and one of €19 with a €1,500 excess are not the same product, even though both say «Alicante airport».
The card, before anything else
It has to be a credit card in the main driver's name, with enough limit to cover the deposit. Many suppliers in Spain will not take a debit card for that hold.
It is a common way to lose a paid booking: arrive with a debit card, or with a limit below the hold, and there is no car — and the booking is already paid.
The excess, in plain numbers
The excess (franquicia in Spanish) is the maximum they can charge you for damage or theft. On a small car it is commonly several hundred euros; on bigger cars, and on the cheap rates, it goes past a thousand.
The daily rate tells you almost nothing about it. This is the number that decides what one bad afternoon in a car park costs.
Three ways to deal with it
1. Accept it
You buy nothing and the company blocks the deposit. Fine if you have the limit and the risk does not worry you.
2. Reduce it at the desk
They lower the excess, sometimes to zero, at a price per day. It is normally the most expensive of the three, and it is decided in a hurry with a queue behind you.
3. Cover bought in advance
Added during the booking, from home, with no pressure. When it works out, the total ends up below the other two.
How to decide in two minutes: add (daily rate × days) + the cost of the cover and compare it with a low-excess rate without cover. The lowest total wins, even when it is not the one that looks cheaper per day. If the cover does not bring the total down, accept the excess.
Before you buy any excess cover, check four things
- Who you are buying from. Cover from the rental company and cover from a third party are not the same thing: bought from a third party, the usual arrangement is that you pay the excess at the desk and claim it back afterwards.
- What is excluded. Tyres, wheels, glass, roof, underside, wrong fuel, lost keys. Plenty of policies leave one of those out, and it is the first thing to look for in the terms.
- Whether it removes the hold or only pays you back. It matters for your credit limit during the trip: a reimbursement policy does not unblock the deposit at the desk.
- The ceiling and the claim window. A cap below your excess is not cover, and a window you cannot meet is a claim you lose.
Comparing excesses company by company is an afternoon's work. A comparison site shows the rate and the excess of each company for Alicante airport side by side — and that is where the two numbers you have to add up are visible before you decide. It is an affiliate link: if you book through it we earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
If something happens: keep the papers
- Pay whatever the rental company charges you at the desk, and keep every document: the damage report, the invoice, the receipt of the charge and the return contract.
- Photograph the damage and the dashboard before you leave the car park, not the week after.
- Claim inside the window the policy states, with those documents. The claim is decided on the evidence you send: what you can prove you paid is what comes back.
«No deposit» car hire at Alicante: what the phrase really means
Search suggestions for Alicante are full of no deposit and no credit card. What those pages usually mean is that you pay no deposit to the booking site — the hold at the desk is still taken, because it is the rental company's procedure, not the broker's.
What can genuinely change is the amount of the hold, or who ends up paying for the damage. A hire with no card at all is unusual, and it is not what those pages are usually selling.
Do you actually need the car?
Fair question, and the honest answer depends on your plan. Parking in Santa Pola is free everywhere and there is no pay-and-display at any beach, so a car here is not a parking problem. What it is, is a decision about the airport: the bus is cheap but runs a few times a day, and never on Sundays.
If you are staying in one place for a week, the car may be the most expensive way to do nothing.
Quick questions
What is the excess on a car hire?
It is the maximum the rental company can charge you if the car is damaged or stolen. On a small car in Alicante it is commonly several hundred euros, and on larger cars, or on the cheapest rates, it goes past a thousand. It matters more than the daily rate, because it is the number that decides what one bad afternoon costs you.
Is a "full coverage" bought online a waiver at the desk?
Usually not. Most policies bought in advance work as reimbursement: you pay the excess at the rental desk and claim it back afterwards. A waiver bought from the rental company itself is the other kind — it removes the excess on the spot, and it is normally the most expensive of the options.
Do I still need a credit card if I have bought cover?
Yes. The rental company keeps holding a deposit on the main driver's card, because that is their procedure, not the broker's. And many suppliers in Spain will not take a debit card for that hold.
How long do I have to claim on an excess policy?
It depends on the policy, and it is one of the first things to look for before you pay: every policy has a claim window, and a window you cannot meet is a claim you lose. The same goes for the ceiling — a cap below your excess is not cover.
Does an excess policy cover damage to another car?
Typically not. Third-party damage and injury are normally outside these policies, and so is the interior of the car unless a collision caused it. Read the exclusions before you decide, not after.
How much is the excess at Alicante airport specifically?
It depends on the supplier, the car and the rate, and it changes. The only reliable number is the one on the rate you are about to book. What does not change is the mechanism: the tariff, the hold on your card and the excess are three different numbers.
Compare rate and excess together
Both numbers for every company at Alicante airport, on the same screen. Add the cover only if the total still wins.
Compare car hire at AlicanteSome links on this page are affiliate links: if you book through them we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing above changes because of it. The mechanics of the excess — the deposit, the waiver sold at the desk, the reimbursement policy — are structural and do not change with the season; any figure for a specific rate does, and that is why we do not publish one. Every term we describe here has to be checked against the terms of the policy you actually buy, checked on 21 October 2026.