Landing at YQB on boarding day: ride, don’t rent
If the airport and the ship are the whole day, skip the car. The cab is one fixed fare for a cab-load, while a one-day car comes to about C$47 and still has to go back to a desk — none of which sits at either terminal.
Collect at YQB if
- You land a day or two early and want Charlevoix
- The Île d’Orléans or Montmorency fills the day before you sail
- You’ll come back to YQB anyway, to fly home
Ride instead if
- You land on sail day
- A weekend return would hit a closed town desk
- Four of you fit one cab with the bags
One YQB rental day against the cab, the bus and your line’s transfer
Two of you, one rental day from YQB. Type your own quote and your line’s transfer price into the rows.
The rental, line by line
The base is Discover Cars’ “from $38.60” for YQB, read Oct 2, 2026; its page didn’t say which dollar, so we treat it as Canadian and you should type yours. GST and QST are in, as the hub lists them. The airport fee starts at 0% because nobody publishes one; type your quote’s. Fuel covers about 10 miles (our 10.5-mile route, rounded) at 30 mpg and GasWizard’s Québec City price. A car returned at a town desk rather than YQB may count as a different return location, so ask what that adds.
On those assumptions the car is about C$47 for the day, fuel included — and the cab is a flat fare, not a per-head one.
At two, the Port’s C$41.40 already comes in under the car. A third or fourth passenger adds nothing to the cab as long as the bags fit one trunk, while the bus adds C$3.85 a head.
What the receipt hides is the hand-back — you’d need a desk near the ship that’s open before boarding, and on a weekend those are few.
The fare conflict between the Port and the tourism office is laid out on the decision page, figure by figure.
Six rental brands, one hall across from baggage claim
Collecting at YQB is a short walk from the bags — nothing about it is built for cruise passengers.
All six companies (Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, National and Thrifty) are on the ground floor of YQB’s administrative building; Enterprise calls it the Rental Car Facility, across from baggage claim, and Avis parks its cars just outside.
Avis, Budget, Hertz Sun–Fri 8 AM–midnight, Sat 9–9; Enterprise Sun–Fri 8–11:59 PM, Sat 9–9; National lists returns midnight–7 AM by key slot.
That’s a long day by Québec standards — every town desk we read shuts by 5.
Airport list: Avis 418-872-2861, Budget 1-800-268-8970, Enterprise 418-861-8820, Hertz 418-871-1571, National 418-877-9822, Thrifty 418-871-1573. Save the one you booked.
Avis, Enterprise and National take keys in drop boxes after hours, per their pages. Hertz asks for prior arrangement, so tell the counter at pick-up if you’ll be back late.
Our routing has the drive to Terminal 84 at 23 minutes and Terminal 30 at 25, both free-flow. The Port puts the terminals 20 minutes from the airport.
The YQB airport fee we couldn’t find printed, and why our calculator starts at zero
Hertz’s YQB terms name an airport fee. Nobody we read prints the number.
Neither YQB nor any brand page we read publishes an airport fee for YQB; Hertz’s terms name an Airport Concession Fee Recovery and a Seasonal Tires Fee without amounts. The calculator starts the YQB fee at 0% — type your quote’s.
We’d rather start at zero and say so than borrow a percentage from another airport. Your quote will name it.
Look for the fee by name on your quote — it may read as a concession recovery, not a tax.
National’s YQB page: extra drivers C$10 a day, drivers 21 to 24 C$20 a day, and Canadian debit cards not accepted.
For a 21-year-old driver on a four-day trip, that young-driver line is C$80 on its own, our arithmetic — a fee, not a rate, and taxed on top.
Bring a credit card — the debit-card rule is National’s, and the other brands publish their own, which we didn’t check.
Discover Cars’ $38.60 at YQB, with no currency named
A search result, not a price for your dates, and its currency is the first thing we couldn’t pin down.
Discover Cars showed YQB rentals “from $38.60” a day (a Nissan Versa through Thrifty) on Oct 2, 2026, with an average of $75; what we read didn’t say which dollar, and it may show US visitors US$.
Its Québec City page, last updated Sept 5, showed “from $26.09” in Canadian dollars, with pick-ups at YQB and Hertz on Côte du Palais.
One page names its currency and the other doesn’t, so we couldn’t settle which dollar the $38.60 is. If you browse from the US, check the symbol on the total before you compare.
Read as Canadian, $38.60 becomes about C$44 a day with both taxes, our arithmetic, and a week about C$311.
At the $75 average it shows, one day is closer to C$86. A “from” price is the floor of a search, not your minivan.
Deposits and Full Coverage move the total too. Our Discover Cars review covers both.
RTC routes 76 and 80 from YQB, and the change neither one spares you
Québec City’s airport has a bus. It doesn’t have a bus to the ship.
Route 76 links YQB to the Sainte-Foy bus and train stations in under 30 minutes, and on to routes 800 and 801 downtown; route 80 runs downtown via the Les Saules terminus. Neither is a one-seat ride to the Old Port.
An RTC ticket machine near airline check-in takes Visa, MasterCard, Interac Flash, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
So the bus works — with a transfer, and your bags on your lap.
We didn’t time the walk from the last stop to the gangway.
The 2026 fares are tabled on the decision page. For one or two light packers with time, it’s the low-cost option; with a family’s suitcases, skip it.
A 10 PM landing, a Saturday flight and the counters’ closing times
The counters keep long hours, but not around the clock, and Saturday is the short day.
Princess’s flight guideline for Québec covers voyages that overnight here and sail at 5 PM on day 2: the latest arrival it lists for day 1 is 10 PM.
That 10 PM arrival leaves about two hours before Avis, Budget and Hertz close on a weekday. On a Saturday it doesn’t work at all, because the counters whose hours we read shut at 9.
Book the pick-up for the next morning if your flight lands late on a Saturday — or take the cab and collect a car later.
Delays happen, and a reservation held at a counter that has closed doesn’t help anyone — call the brand if the flight slips.
Search YQB for the days the car actually drives
If a car belongs in the trip, it’s for the days around the cruise, not the ride to it.
Search YQB for those dates, then a town desk, and compare totals with both taxes in. The after-cruise page covers collecting on the day you dock.
- Pick-up: YQB counters
- Drop-off: YQB or a town desk
- Taxes and fees itemized before you pay
- Free cancellation until 48 hrs out
YQB counters and the ride to the terminals: questions
Which car rental companies are at Québec City airport?
Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, National and Thrifty, all on the ground floor of YQB’s administrative building, across from baggage claim.
What time do the YQB rental counters close?
Avis, Budget and Hertz list 8 AM to midnight Sunday to Friday and 9 AM to 9 PM Saturday; Enterprise closes at 11:59 PM. Avis, Enterprise and National take keys in drop boxes after hours.
How far is Québec City airport from the cruise terminals?
About 10.5 miles and 23 minutes to Terminal 84 on our free-flow routing, and 10.8 miles to Terminal 30. The Port says 20 minutes.
Is there an airport fee on a YQB car rental?
Neither YQB nor any brand page we read publishes one. Hertz’s terms name an Airport Concession Fee Recovery without an amount, so check your quote’s fee lines.
Is there a bus from YQB to the Port of Québec?
Not directly. RTC route 76 runs to the Sainte-Foy stations, where it meets the 800 and 801, and route 80 goes downtown via Les Saules; neither reaches the Old Port without a change.
Can you rent a car at YQB with a debit card?
Not at National, whose YQB page says Canadian debit cards aren’t accepted. The other brands set their own rules, so bring a credit card.
More on renting around a Québec City cruise
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