Cheap Car Rentals in Columbus

Columbus, OH, United States

5 Feb — 12 Feb

Same drop-off

Sun 5/2

Noon

Sun 12/2

Noon

Driver's age:

26-65Other

What is the cheapest time to rent a car in Columbus?

January

1,337,400 ₫

February

1,337,400 ₫

March

1,595,495 ₫

April

1,642,421 ₫

May

1,736,274 ₫

June

1,923,979 ₫

July

1,853,589 ₫

August

1,736,274 ₫

September

1,618,958 ₫

October

1,689,347 ₫

November

1,572,031 ₫

December

1,525,105 ₫

Currently, the cheapest month to rent a car in Columbus is January. The most expensive time to rent a car is June. The cheapest prices for each month are shown above, but prices will vary based on availability, how far out you book your rental car, and of course, car type.

Top rental agencies in Columbus

All major car rental suppliers in Columbus

Enterprise

8.5

Very good

192 reviews•11 locations

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Overview

Recent reviews

4.0

Mediocre|Jan 2023

Beware: There is NO connection between online reservations, the customer service center, and the local offices. I made 3 separate reservations at 3 separate locations. Each time the vehicle was confirmed online, confirmed ‘available’ by customer service, but actually out of stock at each location. The local offices were very friendly and excellent at trying to help me, but I ended up not renting the vehicle. Just make sure to call the local pick-up location DIRECTLY to see what’s available. Frustrating experience.

10.0

Wonderful|Aug 2022

The customer service rep was extraordinary!!!! She was polite, kind, happy, chatty and had a great smile. She made the whole experience excellent. When going out to get the car, the gentleman helped us find the right car and made sure we didn’t have to walk far being that my dad is disabled.

10.0

Wonderful|Aug 2022

Had a wonderful experience with dealing with pickup & dropped off. Just wish the van has windows that would open, has two-sided doors, and the bench-chairs has an adjustable backs for comfort. Otherwise, we've had a nice experience throughout. Thank you!

10.0

Wonderful|May 2022

everything went very smoothly

10.0

Wonderful|Apr 2022

Really appreciate

10.0

Wonderful|Oct 2021

A little more clean but other than that everything was great

1 out of 64

Alamo

8.5

Very good

107 reviews•1 location

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Overview

Recent reviews

10.0

Wonderful|Dec 2022

The counter agent was friendly, quick and a pleasure dealing with. The car choices were good and I didn’t feel like I got the “bait and switch” treatment I have received from others before.

10.0

Wonderful|Nov 2022

The customer service is outstanding

2.0

Poor|Oct 2022

Very unrealistic policies with respect to the use of credit cards. I got a new credit card which I had forgotten to call and activate the card. While at the Alamo counter in Columbus, the card after swipe did not go through. The bank immediately sent me a text and requested I call to activate the card. I showed the text to the Alamo staff and said I was calling to activate the card and will let her swipe the card once more. She bluntly refused, and I could not have the car. A complete mess of my entire plan. While we can understand the emphasis on the use of credit cards for car rentals, however, the company should be pragmatic to serve its clients better. Thank you

6.0

Okay|Feb 2022

Wish there were a vehicle similar to what was described at time of rental. Wish car was cleaner on pickup.

7.9

Good|Aug 2021

The first car I was assigned was too small. The associate changed me to a larger car (still in my reservation’s class) which worked out perfectly.

10.0

Wonderful|Jul 2021

Super easy to pick up and drop off, even at different airports.

1 out of 36

Hertz

7.6

Good

126 reviews•9 locations

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Overview

Recent reviews

2.0

Poor|Jun 2019

Nothing

I ended up with an Enterprise car

2.0

Poor|Jun 2022

The worsed car hire I’ve ever come across, plane was 30 mins late no one on the desk when we arrived on a Saturday evening 8.30pm so was stuck at the airport with not a clue what to do, a bus driver came to our rescue, by taking us to a nearby hotel. With the extra cost of over 300 dollars which wasn’t in our budget but had to be paid, unless I’m desperate I won’t be using Hertz again when we travel. The car was fine once we got it and no discount for getting it a day later ☹️

10.0

Wonderful|May 2022

The gentleman that processed the rental return was friendly and professional. A good guy.

10.0

Wonderful|May 2022

Great customer service at the counter

10.0

Wonderful|Apr 2022

Very easy to pick up and drop off. Staff was great and friendly.

4.0

Mediocre|Mar 2022

Hertz has the tendency to rent damaged cars. They check them with you when checking out. I now take pictures of the car before I leave. On this rental the return guy was saying 'there is a dent here' at which time I showed him the picture I took before I left the pick up location. This is not the first time they have done this. BEWARE!!

2.0

Poor|Jan 2022

They inspect the car and after that they try to make u pay for something you dont do it. And report as exident damaged with no proof

1 out of 42

Dollar

7.1

Good

133 reviews•1 location

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Overview

Recent reviews

10.0

Wonderful|Jan 2023

Better description of exactly what auto is available, other than that, good job

5.9

Fair|Aug 2021

The wait was long picking up…..drop off was easy

2.0

Poor|Apr 2021

Staff was not there at the time of my pick up no help on the phone when I called dollar corporate services. Staff was late opening on the second day when I went back to get my car. Not wearing facemask. Very bad experience!

Communications between dollar rental and carrentals.com, through who I made my reservation. More punctual and professional help both at the counter in person as well as online is needed.

2.0

Poor|Apr 2021

Nothing. They closed before 6 pm, my flight was late. No car to pick up. Rip-off.

They could make provisions for early evening pickup. Ie 6 pm

2.0

Poor|Mar 2021

We made a “reservation” for a Suburban. When we got there all they had left was a little 4 door car. We have 7 people in our family so that wouldn’t work. The man working was nice enough, but he told us when you reserve with a lower cost rental company it’s hit or miss. Sometimes you get what you want, and sometimes you don’t. He showed us a long list of people he had to call to tell them they didn’t have any cars available. I would not recommend renting from Dollar because there NO GUARANTEE that you’ll get what you reserve, or any car for that matter!

2.0

Poor|Mar 2021

They should have notified us that they close at 2pm and that, they would not be able to rent us a car. Their sign says go upstairs to the 2nd floor and someone will help you. Then upstairs it says we close at 2pm. So we had to pay double what our original reservation was and book with Hertz there on the spot.

1 out of 45

Budget

6.4

Okay

157 reviews•7 locations

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Overview

Recent reviews

6.0

Okay|Aug 2022

The drop off signage needs additional work as it was very difficult to figure out where to pull in our car and the person checking in early in the morning was very unprofessional to us as we didn't know where to put the car, seems you didn't want to walk the extra 50 ft to get the car

6.0

Okay|Aug 2022

When I got to the location I was set to pick up at I was told my only option for a car was a pick up truck. I was renting a car that would be gas friendly for my little road trip. Luckily the clerk was able to get me to another location who was able to help me. Upon waiting for my car another person walked in who had made a reservation online and was told they didn’t have a car for her. Just seemed very unorganized.

2.0

Poor|Jul 2022

The Budget counter at CMH said we were in the wrong place and that the place where we should be was NOT at the airport. It was too late to go to the other place but fortunately Hertz had cars available and we were able to get a car where we were. TERRIBLE customer service!!

4.0

Mediocre|Jun 2022

Hood of car was left open , had to pull over on high way to close it so it wouldnt cause me to crash . Filled the tank to full and they still charged me for gas smh . But other then that the car was fine

2.0

Poor|Jun 2022

Can’t remember a time when i was treated so poorly, so unprofessionally. Though i had confirmed reservations , there were no cars available when i arrived. The agent at the counter would not even make eye contact, just continually repeated they had no cars. They made no attempt to notify me of the situation nor explain situation. I will not use Budget, or Kayak again.

6.0

Okay|Jun 2022

Better instruction on how to drop off rental car

1 out of 53

Thrifty

7.5

Good

74 reviews•1 location

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Overview

Recent reviews

8.0

Very good|Jul 2022

Great service, nice location. The car had Steering drift to the left, and I could never get the cruise control to work. Bluetooth to the phone was inconsistent; sometimes it worked, other times it didn’t. Not major issues but the steering issue could have been a safety issue.

8.0

Very good|Sep 2022

Went smoothly. Car was clean and ready at pickup.

8.0

Very good|Jul 2022

Would be nice if they could give you a brief run down, other than here are the keys

10.0

Wonderful|Mar 2021

Whole process smooth

Line at desk to check car out

10.0

Wonderful|Oct 2020

easiest/fastest rental and return I have ever had!

nothing

2.0

Poor|Oct 2020

There was no refund on the rental, even though the charge was fraudulent. It caused me to have to manage the situation with my bank.

1 out of 25

Avis

7.3

Good

40 reviews•7 locations

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Overview

Recent reviews

2.0

Poor|Sep 2022

The person that attended at the counter was pretty bad. I rented two cars, one for a colleague of mine and one for myself. He forced to me to pay a second driver on my colleague's rental in order to put his car under my credit card. On the second car, he tried to get me to sign a different price (much higher by the way), than the one that my reservation said. Once I showed him y reservation then he brought down the price exactly to my original reservation with the click of a button. Also, he refused to add my rewards member number because he didn't add it in the beginning. Terrible experience!!!

2.0

Poor|Jul 2022

Avis had no cars available. The reservation I made through Kayak was considered a request only. I was called one hour before the scheduled pick up time and the Avis car rental person notified me they had nothing to rent to me. I was left stranded. Thanks Avis and Kayak! #winning

8.0

Very good|Jul 2022

I selected this particular Avis location to rent from because Kayak indicated that the truck I wanted was at that location...but when I got to the office the next day to pick it up, they said that they don't have any trucks! They put me into an SUV which turned out to be big enough for my needs but could have been a disaster.

10.0

Wonderful|Jun 2022

I liked the staff very friendly with a big smile.

2.0

Poor|Jun 2022

Needed a minivan and was not given a minivan making our trip incredibly difficult.

8.0

Very good|May 2022

The wait for the shuttle to the rental car center at CMH was RIDICULOUS. Massive amounts of people waiting for shuttles. Had to take a taxi to the rental car center! Once there, line at the counter was at least 25 people long. Only TWO agents working for THREE rental companies. After that, the experience was superb. CMH has really messed up by putting rental cars off site.

1 out of 14

National

7.2

Good

14 reviews•1 location

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Overview

Recent reviews

10.0

Wonderful|Jun 2021

car was great. Hyundai Accent. staff helpful.

its getting pricey to rent a car

10.0

Wonderful|Apr 2022

Customer services was top notch. Andrea from National was great - very friendly and gave her business card in the event anything went wrong. Pick up and drop off were both easy and enjoyable.

10.0

Wonderful|Jul 2021

Much better price than other vendors.

7.9

Good|Jul 2021

National was just fine in terms of all the pick up/drop off functions, I'd use them again. But currently the price for a car is way out of proportion. It could have been due to the July 4th weekend, but I'll start looking for alternatives when I can!

4.8

Mediocre|Sep 2020

I waited two hours to pick up a van . They didn’t even appreciate my time saying thank you so much or didn’t even give me discount for it. I didn’t the reservation and still they didn’t have a car ready for me . Not happy with service at all . Please let me know if you want to talk to me . My email address is puspadhital92@gmail.com

At least give a customer discount if they waited couple hours . Oh also , car condition was poor . Looks like they didn’t do an alignment in while and brakes were making a wired sound .

2.0

Poor|Aug 2020

Poorest management and the stuff needs more training

1 out of 5

Car Rental FAQs

Which car rental company is considered to be the best in Columbus?

Taking our users’ ratings and reviews into consideration, Enterprise (8.5 rating), Alamo (8.5 rating) and Hertz (7.6 rating) seem to be the best rental car companies in Columbus.

What are gas prices like in Columbus?

The average gas price in Columbus is 22,525 ₫/liter over the past month, costing you anywhere between 1,013,609 ₫ and 1,464,101 ₫ to fill up a car’s gas tank.