Car Rental at Bologna Airport (BLQ): No Deposit, No Credit Card and Full Insurance

Bologna Airport (BLQ) is about 6 km north-west of the centre of Bologna, next to the junction of the A1 and A14 motorways, and it is the airport for Bologna, Modena, Ferrara, Ravenna and the drive to Florence. For one week in November we found 836 rental offers from 33 companies here. Ten of the 14 companies we recommend have their desk in the terminal, four send a shuttle, and 12 of the 14 accept a debit card. This guide to car rental at Bologna Airport covers each of the 14 companies we recommend, debit and Revolut cards, deposits, late arrivals, prices by month, Bologna against Rimini, and what to know before you drive into Bologna, Ferrara or Ravenna.

Data last verified: October 2026. Written by Simas Krasaitis, founder of Autorentwiz and former head of car rental at ADCRent.

Short on time? The key facts:

• Desks: 10 of our 14 companies are in the terminal, on the ground floor. Centauro, Record go, SRC Rent Car and ECH pick you up by shuttle
• Debit cards: 12 of the 14 accept them, including Locauto (no deposit, only a 0,01 EUR card authorisation), Maggiore (200 EUR on small cars), and Alamo, Enterprise and National (500 EUR). Sicily By Car and ECH take credit cards only
• No deposit: Locauto (only a symbolic 0,01 EUR card authorisation), with a debit or credit card. With their own zero-excess cover, Record go blocks 0 EUR and Centauro 40-276 EUR, and both accept debit cards
• Revolut: none of the 14 companies lists cards from online-only banks as accepted
• Automatics: 57% of the offers in our search were automatics
• Late flights: no desk is open 24 hours. SIXT, Flizzr, Hertz, Thrifty and Maggiore work until 23:59 every day
• Prices: November is the cheapest month (about 13 EUR a day on average), September the most expensive (about 40 EUR)
• Bologna old town: a ZTL from 07:00 to 20:00 every day. Park outside it, or buy the 6 EUR day ticket before you drive in
• Free consultation: message us on Messenger and our car rental experts will compare all 14 companies for your dates, card and landing time. You get the same discount as when you book through our search

Bologna has a long list of rental companies: 41 are rated by verified renters at this airport, and 33 had offers in our November search. To make our list, a company needs a rating of 8.0 or higher from verified renters at this airport and a separate score of 8.0 or higher for its staff here. Sixteen companies passed both, and 14 of them had offers in our search. Europcar, Avis, Budget and Keddy did not pass. Ten of the 14 have a desk in the terminal, and four have offices outside the airport and a shuttle. Our car rental in Italy page compares Bologna with the other Italian airports.

Company	Rating	Hours	Card	Deposit	Travel abroad
Alamo	8.9	08:00-23:00	Debit or credit (not Maestro)	500 EUR	29 countries, free
Locauto	8.8	08:00-23:00	Debit or credit (not Maestro)	No deposit (0,01 EUR card authorisation)	29 countries, free
Enterprise	8.5	08:00-23:00	Debit or credit	500 EUR	29 countries, free
Hertz	8.5	08:00-23:59	Debit or credit (not Maestro)	700 EUR	15 countries, 30 EUR
Maggiore	8.5	08:00-23:59	Debit or credit (not Maestro or Visa Electron)	200 EUR on small cars, 300-550 EUR on mid-size cars, about 1,400-1,500 EUR on vans	26 countries, 28.80 EUR
Flizzr	8.3	08:00-23:59	Debit or credit (not Maestro)	about 510-1,070 EUR	22-26 countries, 50 EUR
National	8.3	08:00-23:00	Debit or credit	500 EUR	33 countries, free
Sicily By Car	8.3	08:00-22:59	Credit only	200 EUR	Not allowed
SIXT	8.2	08:00-23:59	Credit on the cheapest rate, debit on a dearer rate	300 EUR on the credit card rate, about 530-1,620 EUR on the debit card rate	17 countries, 50 EUR, debit card rate only
Thrifty	8.1	08:00-23:59	Debit or credit	700 EUR	13 countries, 30 EUR

Company	Rating	Hours	Card	Deposit	Travel abroad
Centauro	8.4	07:00-22:59	Debit or credit (not Amex or Maestro)	990-1,500 EUR, 40-276 EUR with its own cover	4 countries, 98 EUR
Record go	8.4	08:00-22:00	Debit or credit (not Amex)	900-1,600 EUR, 0 EUR with its own zero-excess pack	Not allowed
SRC Rent Car	8.3	08:00-21:59	Debit or credit on small cars, credit only on vans	800 EUR on small cars, 2,000 EUR on vans	Not allowed
ECH	8.0	08:00-22:00	Credit only	750 EUR, 1,250 EUR on vans	Not allowed

At Bologna, Locauto asks for no deposit, only a symbolic 0,01 EUR authorisation on a debit or a credit card at pick-up, with no extra cover needed. Maggiore blocks 200 EUR on small cars, also on a debit card, and Sicily By Car 200 EUR on a credit card. SIXT blocks 300 EUR on its cheapest rate, which needs a credit card. Two shuttle companies go lower with their own zero-excess cover, which costs more per day: Record go drops from 900-1,600 EUR to 0 EUR, and Centauro from 990-1,500 EUR to 40-276 EUR. Alamo, Enterprise and National block 500 EUR. The highest are at SRC Rent Car (2,000 EUR on vans), SIXT on its debit card rate (up to about 1,620 EUR) and Record go without its own cover (up to 1,600 EUR).

Bologna has one terminal, and most rental desks are on its ground floor, as the Bologna Airport website shows. For Alamo, Locauto, Enterprise and National, leave the arrivals gate: their office is a few metres away on the left. SIXT and Flizzr share a desk: from arrivals, walk straight towards the exit, and after about 30 m it is the third desk on the left. For Hertz and Thrifty, follow the car rental signs. Maggiore and Sicily By Car also have desks in the terminal, and Maggiore says a representative will contact you before you arrive. The four shuttle companies work like this:

• Centauro is on Via della Salute 62 in Calderara di Reno, about 1.5 km from the terminal. Leave by the main door, turn right and walk about 100 m to the meeting area. The shuttle runs every 15-20 minutes
• Record go is at the same address, Via della Salute 62. Leave the terminal, turn right to the check-in box office, and the GO1 ParkinGo and Record go shuttle stop is just after it. The phone numbers are +39 351 9011960 and +39 051 4682846
• SRC Rent Car is on Via Fratelli Rosselli 9, about 1.6 km away. Call +39 051 0066605 after you collect your bags, and the shuttle reaches arrivals in 4-5 minutes
• ECH is on Via Marzocchi in Calderara di Reno, about 3 km away. Leave arrivals and call +39 352 094 8321 for the free shuttle

Autorentwiz tip: about 3 in 10 of the Bologna pick-ups our customers ask for are at 20:00 or later, some close to midnight. No desk at Bologna Airport is open 24 hours, and the latest close at 23:59. If your flight lands in the evening, choose a company whose desk is open well after your landing time, and add your flight number to the booking. Send us your landing time on Messenger, and we will check which companies are still open when you land.

At Bologna the desks keep the same hours every day of the week. SIXT, Flizzr, Hertz, Thrifty and Maggiore work until 23:59, and Alamo, Locauto, Enterprise and National until 23:00. Sicily By Car and Centauro close at 22:59, Record go and ECH at 22:00, and SRC Rent Car at 21:59. Centauro opens at 07:00 and the others at 08:00, so an early morning flight means waiting. If your flight is late, Centauro holds your car for 12 hours after the booked time, Record go for 6 hours and ECH for 2 hours. Most others hold it for about an hour. Add your flight number to the booking.

The Enilive station on Via del Triumvirato is about 1.2 km south of the terminal, on the road from the airport towards the city, so you pass it on the way back to the airport. Fill up there, because most rental conditions ask for the same fuel level you started with, and the refuelling charge at the desk is much higher than the pump price. We could not confirm its opening hours, so check them on Google Maps before a late return. The Api station on Via Aldina 65, about 1.4 km from the terminal, is listed as open 24 hours.

Yes. Twelve of the 14 companies we recommend accept a debit card: Locauto (no deposit, only a 0,01 EUR card authorisation), Maggiore (200 EUR on small cars), Alamo, Enterprise and National (500 EUR), Flizzr (about 510-1,070 EUR), Hertz and Thrifty (700 EUR), SRC Rent Car (800 EUR, small cars only), Record go (900-1,600 EUR), Centauro (990-1,500 EUR) and SIXT. SIXT takes a debit card only on its dearer rate, with a deposit of about 530-1,620 EUR, while its cheapest rate needs a credit card.

Sicily By Car and ECH take credit cards only. Some companies want a credit card for certain cars: at Hertz the Audi Q3, at SRC Rent Car the vans. Centauro also blocks a separate fuel deposit at pick-up. At the desk you need a physical card in the main driver’s name, and Alamo, Locauto, Hertz, Maggiore, Centauro, Flizzr and SRC Rent Car do not take Maestro. Our guide to renting a car in Italy with a debit card explains what the desk checks.

The companies we recommend at Bologna that publish their card rules all list cards from online-only banks, such as Revolut, as not accepted, and Sicily By Car takes credit cards only. In our November search, the only deals with no card needed at pick-up were five small cars at Icaro, paid in full when you book, from about 232 EUR a week with no deposit. Icaro is rated 7.4 at Bologna, below our 8.0 line, so it is not on our list. Otherwise you need a card from a traditional bank in the main driver’s name. If Revolut is the only card you have, send us your dates on Messenger before you book, and we will check whether a no-card deal is available for them.

Locauto asks for no deposit at Bologna, only a symbolic 0,01 EUR authorisation on a debit or a credit card at pick-up. Record go blocks 0 EUR and Centauro 40-276 EUR, but only with their own zero-excess cover, which costs more per day. Both accept debit cards, and both are reached by shuttle. In our search, Record go cars with this pack cost from about 204 EUR a week. Next come Maggiore at 200 EUR on small cars, on a debit or a credit card, and Sicily By Car at 200 EUR on a credit card. Our guide to saving money on car rental shows how to weigh the deposit against the price.

At Bologna the excess, the part of any damage you pay yourself, was about 1,200-3,000 EUR on most offers in our search. Locauto and SRC Rent Car had the lowest, from 1,200 EUR on small cars. Hertz went up to 3,900 EUR on SUVs, and Maggiore had the highest, 1,955-4,760 EUR, so its low deposit comes with a high excess. You can cover it in two ways.

Full coverage added online when you book costs less per day, but the desk still blocks the normal deposit, and if something happens you pay the company and claim the money back from the insurer. The company’s own cover, sold at the desk, costs more but removes the excess on the spot and can cut the deposit, as with Record go (0 EUR) and Centauro (40-276 EUR). If you already bought full coverage, you do not need the desk cover as well. Our pick-up tips show how to film the car and what to check at pick-up.

Each company at Bologna sets its own age and licence rules, and premium cars often need an older driver. These are the rules in the rental conditions of our 14 companies, read in October 2026. Send us the driver’s age on Messenger, and we will check which offers allow it.

• Minimum age: 18 at SIXT, Flizzr and SRC Rent Car; 19 at Alamo, Locauto, Enterprise, Maggiore, Centauro, Record go and Sicily By Car; 21 at Hertz, Thrifty, National and ECH. This is for small cars. Premium cars need 27 at Alamo, Enterprise, National, Locauto and Sicily By Car, and 21 at Maggiore and SIXT
• Young and older drivers: at 12 of our 14 companies, drivers under 25 pay a young driver fee, and at Sicily By Car drivers under 23. The conditions do not state the amount, except at Record go: 76.65 EUR for a 7-day rental, paid at pick-up. ECH rents up to age 80 and Sicily By Car up to 82, and Centauro charges a senior driver fee over 75 and ECH over 76
• Licence held: at least 1 year at most companies, 2 years at ECH, and 3 years at Alamo, Enterprise and National. For premium cars, Locauto and Sicily By Car ask for 3 years, and Maggiore and SIXT for 2 years
• EU or EEA licence: Italian law does not require an International Driving Permit (IDP). A licence issued in an EU country is valid in all EU countries, as Your Europe explains
• UK photocard licence: Italian law does not require an IDP, as gov.uk confirms. The conditions of Locauto, Record go, Sicily By Car and SIXT still ask a UK driver for one, so bring an IDP if you book with them
• Other licences from outside the EU and EEA: Italian law requires an IDP or an official Italian translation with your licence (Art. 135 of the Italian Highway Code). Hertz and Thrifty accept licences from the USA, Canada, Australia and some other countries without one, but we still advise you to bring an IDP because of the law

Across all offers, car rental at Bologna Airport costs about 26 EUR a day on average over the year. November is the cheapest month at about 13 EUR a day, about half the yearly average, and September the most expensive at about 40 EUR, with July almost the same at about 39 EUR. August, at about 29 EUR, costs less than June, July or September here. Most rentals at Bologna last 5 or 6 days, 7 in July and December, and 8 in August.

Daily average across all offers at Bologna Airport for each pick-up month, data from October 2026. Prices move every day.

Season	Months	Average per day	What to expect
Low	November, February, January	about 13-18 EUR	The lowest prices of the year
Shoulder	March, December, October	about 20-24 EUR	Good value outside the holiday weeks
High	April, August, May, June	about 29-32 EUR	Spring holidays and the summer weeks
Peak	July, September	about 39-40 EUR	The most expensive weeks of the year

Our November search found these starting prices per day by car class. The cheapest small cars started at about 5 EUR a day, a small SUV cost about the same as a medium car, and vans with 7 or more seats started at about 29 EUR a day.

Automatics are easy to find at Bologna: 57% of the offers in our search were automatics. Among our companies, the cheapest were a Renault Twingo at ECH from about 67 EUR a week, with a credit card, and a Toyota Yaris at Centauro from about 76 EUR, which also accepts debit cards. In the terminal, Maggiore had an Opel Corsa automatic from about 121 EUR and Locauto a Volkswagen Polo from about 123 EUR.

Autorentwiz tip: 73% of our Bologna customers who told us their card type have only a debit card. At Bologna 12 of our 14 companies accept one, so the card rarely rules a company out, but the deposit changes a lot: Locauto takes no deposit, only a symbolic 0,01 EUR authorisation, Maggiore blocks 200 EUR on small cars, and Alamo, Enterprise and National 500 EUR, while SIXT blocks about 530-1,620 EUR on its debit card rate. Send us your dates and card type on Messenger, and we will compare the deposits for you.

Bologna Airport is about 123 km and 1 hour 17 minutes from Rimini on the A14. Rimini Airport is on the coast, about 8 km south of Rimini’s historic centre, so it is closer for the beaches of the Riviera and San Marino. Bologna is closer for Bologna itself, Modena, Ferrara and Florence.

What we compared	Bologna (BLQ)	Rimini (RMI)
Debit cards, of the companies we recommend	12 of 14	SIXT and Flizzr at the airport, Locauto, Noleggiare and Keddy in Rimini city
Where the desks are	10 of our 14 in the terminal, 4 by shuttle	5 at the airport, 3 in Rimini city
No deposit	Locauto (0,01 EUR card authorisation), at the airport	Locauto (0,01 EUR card authorisation), in Rimini city
Average price per day, November and July	about 13 and 39 EUR	about 23 and 40 EUR
Cheapest month	November, about 13 EUR	March, about 20 EUR
Drive to Rimini	about 1 hour 17 minutes	about 15-20 minutes to the city

If you only have a debit card, Bologna gives you far more choice at the airport, and in our data its prices were lower in 10 of the 12 months. Only in March and September was Rimini cheaper. For a beach holiday on the Riviera, Rimini saves you the drive, and our Rimini Airport guide covers the companies there. If your trip is mainly about Florence and Tuscany, also look at our Florence Airport and Pisa Airport guides. From Bologna Airport, Florence is about 1 hour 22 minutes away on the A1.

The airport is on the north-west edge of Bologna, next to the junction of the A1 and A14 motorways. The A1 runs north-west to Modena and Parma and south across the Apennines to Florence, the A14 east to Ravenna and Rimini, and the A13 north to Ferrara. All the motorway routes have tolls: about 10 EUR to Florence and about 8 EUR to Rimini. In Bologna itself, many smaller streets have a 30 km/h limit, and the ring roads and main roads 50 km/h. If you spend your first days in the city, you do not need the car yet: the Marconi Express monorail links the airport with Bologna Centrale station in about 7 minutes, from 05:40 to 24:00, for 12.80 EUR one way.

Piazza Maggiore is about 11 km and 25 minutes from the airport. The old town of Bologna is a restricted traffic zone (ZTL) from 07:00 to 20:00 every day, with cameras at the gates, and it is free to enter outside those hours. A day ticket costs 6 EUR and is valid until midnight, and a 4-day ticket costs 15 EUR. You must buy the ticket before you drive in, because it cannot be added afterwards.

The ticket does not cover Zona T (Via Rizzoli, Via Indipendenza and Via Ugo Bassi), where cameras work 24 hours. If your hotel is inside the ZTL, ask it in advance to send your plate number to the City. A ZTL fine is 84 EUR plus about 13 EUR in costs. Parking on the blue lines in the old town costs 2.90 EUR an hour and is free on Sundays and holidays. The park-and-ride car parks are cheaper: Tanari on Via Tanari costs 0.60 EUR an hour, and Certosa on Viale Gandhi is free.

Ferrara, with the Castello Estense in its centre, is about 50 km and 45 minutes north of the airport on the A13. Modena is about 40 km and 42 minutes away on the A1, and the Ferrari museum in Maranello about the same. Parma is about 1 hour away.

Ravenna, known for the mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale, is about 85 km and 1 hour 5 minutes east on the A14.

Florence is about 106 km and 1 hour 22 minutes from the airport on the A1, which crosses the Apennines between Bologna and Florence. From 15 November to 15 April, the provincial roads around Bologna and the state roads in Tuscany require winter tyres or snow chains on board. The rules for the A1 motorway are set separately, so check them before a winter drive and ask for winter equipment when you book.

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