Car hire at OR Tambo International Airport

The car rental counters at OR Tambo are grouped together rather than scattered, and the collection bays sit alongside them in the parking structure across from the terminals. Follow the car rental signs from arrivals. It is a short indoor walk rather than a shuttle ride.

Allow 30 to 60 minutes between landing and driving away. The morning European arrivals bank and the late evening arrivals are the two busiest windows, and queues at the counters build quickly when several wide bodies land together. Having your booking reference, licence, passport and credit card ready in one hand shortens it noticeably.

On return, follow the car rental return signs on the airport approach. Give yourself an extra 30 minutes on top of your normal airport buffer, because the return lanes back up during the afternoon peak and you still need to walk back to the terminal, check the vehicle in and get the release.

This is the one airport where nearly every brand on this site is present. Counter positions get reshuffled from time to time, so use the signage on the day rather than a remembered layout.

OR Tambo usually gives you the best rate in the country for the same vehicle group, simply because so many fleets compete in one building.

These figures come from Discover Cars and Cheapflights. Most are national, not OR Tambo International Airport quotes. A "from" price is the cheapest car found on the day; an average includes bigger cars and longer rentals, which is why the two sites differ so much. Discover Cars puts December at about R474 a day against about R387 in September, so holiday dates cost more.

Airport rentals carry an airport surcharge or concession fee that city branches do not. Even so, the deeper competition at OR Tambo often leaves the total lower than a suburban branch, so compare the full quote rather than just the daily rate.

Two roads carry almost all rental traffic out of the airport. The R24 heads west towards Johannesburg and joins the N12 and N3. The R21 heads north to Pretoria and south to the N12. Both are fast, well signposted freeways.

Set your navigation before you move off, not at the first robot. The airport approach roads loop, and it is easy to end up back at departures.

Gauteng's urban e-toll gantries stopped billing in 2024, so these freeways are not tolled. Conventional toll plazas do apply once you leave the province on the N1 north, the N3 to Durban and the N4 east, so keep a card or cash in the car.

If you are heading into Johannesburg after a long haul flight and would rather not drive immediately, the Gautrain runs from the airport station into Sandton, and you can collect a car from a Sandton branch the next day.

Approximate one way driving times in normal traffic:

For a Kruger self drive, leaving OR Tambo before mid morning gives you a comfortable arrival at the gates well inside opening hours.

• Photograph the vehicle before you leave the bay, including wheels, bumpers and the windscreen. The parkade lighting is poor and small chips are easy to miss.
• Check the fuel policy. Full to full is the norm, and the closest filling stations to the airport get busy at return time.
• Ask where the vehicle is permitted to go. Cross border travel into Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini or Namibia needs written authorisation arranged in advance.
• If you land late, confirm your counter's closing time. Not every brand staffs the desk around the clock, and a late booking that nobody is there to release is a bad first hour in the country.
• Keep the rental agreement in the car. It is the document that proves you are entitled to be driving the vehicle.