17 Car Rental Brands at Cairns Airport (CNS)

The staff at the store were very nice, and both pickup and drop-off were highly efficient. Simba's local car rental service is reliable, affordable, and the vehicles are in great condition.

Reviewed: Oct 4, 2025

Quite suitable for the Cairns market.

Reviewed: Aug 28, 2025

Outstanding service and car rentals

Reviewed: Oct 12, 2024

A great car rental experience.

Reviewed: Oct 4, 2024

Terrible car provider, should be avoided! They provided us with a brand new car, which was nice. Unfortunately I scratched a bit the rim. In the contract, it's clearly written that a rim scratch is $195. They took our $500 bond and also took around $320 directly from my bank account w/o my consent. Pure scam.

Reviewed: Oct 1, 2024

The car rental company provides a free airport shuttle bus, which is very convenient.

Reviewed: May 25, 2025

Excellent service from the rental company

Reviewed: Feb 17, 2025

Efficient, no upselling, transparent

Reviewed: Feb 8, 2025

No

Reviewed: Oct 8, 2024

Although there is no branch at the airport, the shuttle bus location instructions are quite clear. However, you'll need to communicate via phone, which requires some basic English skills.

Reviewed: Oct 2, 2024

Great and fast. Online check-in in advance made the car pickup very quick.

Reviewed: May 11, 2025

We booked a Land Cruiser but end up we got a KIA at same price. It is not a good experience at all! We should get a Highlander at least .

Reviewed: Sep 3, 2024

Top quality car and service. A little difficult with locating the car park for drop-off. Instructions could have been shared beforehand. Really good experience overall.

Reviewed: Jan 15, 2024

When we arrived to cairns we needed to wait for more than an hour for the Avis stuff to Give us the car We order sedan and got hatchback which was very small for our luggage and space for our kids When we asked for our order they said that is not what we order and that we need to add more money

Reviewed: Mar 14, 2019

Very convenient and efficient

Reviewed: Feb 14, 2019

Very satisfied, they even upgraded me to an SUV for free. The car was very new.

Reviewed: Apr 4, 2025

Reviewed: Feb 17, 2025

My expectations were definitely met. I want well prepared vehicles that are clean. I got this and no issues.

Reviewed: Jan 13, 2024

The staff were very friendly and cheerful, thumbs up!

Reviewed: Mar 18, 2025

No

Reviewed: Mar 1, 2025

The counter staff were very pushy on insurance upsell. He tried to convince me that my travel insurance and CC insurance would not cover my excess. He then went on to tell me that if I was in an accident I would have to pay the daily rate while the car was off the road and my insurance would not cover it. I didn't believe so I called the call centre, and they confirmed this to be true. I won't be using them again for this reason. The other issue was that I could not inspect the car properly due to rain and there was no where under cover to park.

Reviewed: Feb 18, 2025

Very satisfied.

Reviewed: Feb 16, 2025

The overall service is acceptable, but you need to call the store for a pick-up from the airport. The pick-up location requires a short walk outside the terminal.

Reviewed: Feb 10, 2025

Excellent

Reviewed: Mar 18, 2025

Excellent. The car was very clean and new. The paperwork was processed very quickly, and this car model is very easy to drive.

Reviewed: Feb 20, 2025

The lady at the Cairns pickup location provided excellent service, carefully explaining everything and informing us about roadside assistance.

Reviewed: Feb 8, 2025

Total unflexibles Personal

Reviewed: Jan 1, 2025

Ford Puma was extremely frugal on fuel and easy to operate.

Reviewed: Sep 20, 2023

The store is easy to locate, staff are friendly, and both pickup and return processes are quick and straightforward.

Reviewed: Mar 3, 2025

Pretty good

Reviewed: Feb 8, 2025

Parking by the Brisbane seaside requires payment, otherwise you'll risk getting a fine. A 1.5-hour penalty costs 74 AUD.

Reviewed: Aug 21, 2024

Everyone was so nice and professional

Reviewed: Aug 7, 2024

Fantastic customer service at the counter from the lady and two guys there. The car was good and the whole process easy. The only let down was we were waiting in the international terminal desk for ages before reading a sign on the Euro car desk saying pick up was in domestic. Wish Alamo had a sign up. Wasted 30 mins of time

Reviewed: Mar 3, 2024

Satisfied, refunded money for early return.

Reviewed: Feb 7, 2025

Due to a change in plans I needed to retun the car ealy to Cairns on Sunday 25th Feb meaning I am owed a refund for the unused days. I was told at the counter that an updated invoice would be genrated via email. That has not happended at this point. I would like to request a car hire refuen for the unsed days. I was due to return the car on Wed 28th Feb so am owed three days charges.

Reviewed: Mar 11, 2024

Customer service was excellent, process was easy and smooth and car was perfect for our needs.

Reviewed: Aug 30, 2023

Great car, roomy with all our luggage and luxurious. Highlight though staff at Cairns and Proserpine who were superb, helpful, friendly and a credit.

Reviewed: Mar 23, 2023

Provided upgrade which was a Hyundai which turned out to be a good vehicle although older than expected.

Reviewed: Jul 15, 2022

Satisfied

Reviewed: Feb 6, 2025

Reviewed: Jan 16, 2025

The counter is right next to the baggage carousel at Cairns Airport. Very convenient. Booked a RAV4 but got a brand new Kia, and it was a diesel version with great power. The interior was very clean.

Reviewed: Dec 25, 2023

Pleased with service

Reviewed: Nov 22, 2021

Left mobile phone holder in car, called straightaway but Thrifty staff did not find it. Very disappointing. So what happened to our holder???

Reviewed: Nov 9, 2021

Very quick and easy.

Reviewed: Feb 5, 2025

Terrible experience, car was extremely dated with over 140,000kms on it. Panels looses, car drove terribly and had a constant tick. When I arrived constant expectations that I pay more and put more money on hold. All in all the car was a piece of sh#t that wouldn’t be worth more than $2000. Staff not helpful and will never use Jucy again.

Reviewed: Jun 25, 2023

Car was beaten up with lots of scratches and dents. Depot was a long way from airport and the shuttle's timing wasn't good, ie a lot of flights are quite early but the service doesn't start until around 8.30-9 I think

Reviewed: Jun 19, 2023

after hours service could be better

Reviewed: Jan 13, 2023

staff you had at cairns depot were excellent car was clean

Reviewed: Dec 6, 2022

Very good

Reviewed: Jan 13, 2025

Exceeded expectations

Reviewed: Aug 22, 2024

Very good

Reviewed: Jan 18, 2024

I oredered a Suziki Swift and got a Suburu Forester. I insured based on a Swift with no windscreen cover. Chip on Forester windscreen which has intelligent eyesight. I am yet to discover what/if this will cost.

Reviewed: May 31, 2021

Good service

Reviewed: May 16, 2020

We did not receive the correct vehicle that we booked and were forced to use a Mazda CX-5, which did not have enough space for the four of us with the baby car seat installed. Additionally, we were charged extra for the baby car seat, even though I had already paid for it through QEEQ. We were also pressured into purchasing insurance, as they threatened to charge a $200 withdrawal fee if we declined. As someone who works for the ACCC, I found it concerning to be treated this way by an Australian company, and I felt harassed. I have already lodged a complaint against this company for their unethical sales practices. The staff were unhelpful throughout the experience. It may be worth considering if partnering with ACE is truly beneficial for your reputation. I will be in touch soon to provide further information for our investigation.

Reviewed: Nov 5, 2024

Made everything easy and were very friendly.

Reviewed: Jul 14, 2024

Great service. Friendly staff. Free upgrade

Reviewed: Jun 13, 2023

Ace were fantastic, from transfer to the car to pick and the instructions for drop off was easy.

Reviewed: Jul 28, 2022

Car was a Hertz car, was a new RAV4 Hybrid so was better than I was expecting. Staff were friendly but had to be bused to the city location to pick up, although we could return at the airport directly Been waiting for a copy of the rental agreement for over 2 weeks

Reviewed: May 29, 2021

I would easily go through Apex again, I had no issues at all. Very simple process, great staff.

Reviewed: Oct 24, 2024

Excellent

Reviewed: Jun 29, 2024

Very nice car suited for city driving and long trips. Not good on the hills needs more grunt. But it was easy to drive and very comfortable over long distances.

Reviewed: Mar 28, 2024

Very satisfied

Reviewed: Feb 25, 2024

Extremely happy with car and service. Will definitely book through them again

Reviewed: Sep 17, 2023

Very satisfied

Reviewed: Jul 4, 2024

Very good.

Reviewed: Jun 26, 2023

Great once we got the cat -but you cannot contact anyone - they don’t answer the phone. We were delayed to get to pick up car and for 24 hours tried to call and no one answered the phone. Very stressful and unhelpful. No way to make contact with them to ask help and advice. We needed to talk to a person in cairns and we couldn’t.

Reviewed: Mar 9, 2019

The car was in good condition.

Reviewed: Feb 9, 2020

The staff had a very positive attitude!

Reviewed: Apr 3, 2019

The staff had a good attitude, waiting time was acceptable, and they were patient.

Reviewed: Aug 13, 2018

Fantastic staff great service, very happy.

Reviewed: Nov 27, 2019

We were very impressed with the location and the ease of our booking!

Reviewed: Nov 27, 2019

Atlas was amazing, their Customer Service Representative-Javie was amazing, one of the best I have ever met, he did everything fast and with easy and he went out of his way to help and make our experience pleasant and we were extremely happy with everything.

Reviewed: Oct 24, 2019

Everything is good except on one day in Cape tribulation , the car didn't start when we finished and try to go back to our hotel at 4:30 PM. There is no service in the area. Luckily a tourist took us to the restaurant to use the land line and we call road assistant and they order a tow truck to help us. At 5:30 PM , suddenly the car can start and we cancel the tow truck. We were scare because it was getting dark and it was a long way to go back. We still do not know what was wrong with the van, but finally everything is OK

Reviewed: Aug 10, 2019

I waited a red shuttle at pick-up point for more than 15 mins. I wasn't happy with that. By the time I got my car, it was already 7:45am. My schedule became very tight because I had to get on the ship by 8am and I nearly missed it. Please think about how to organise for picking up a customer having a booking from 7am.

Reviewed: Jun 28, 2019

The Navi didn't work. A map to show exact drop off point and location of Petrol stations near the airport would be really helpful

Reviewed: Jun 13, 2019

Easy rental, no hidden costs.

Reviewed: May 10, 2019

Hyundai I30 was supplied instead of the expected Corolla. Very impressed with the Hyundai. Perfect for our needs and very fuel efficient. Would happily do it all again.

Reviewed: Mar 21, 2019

Reviewed: Aug 2, 2017