Renting A Car In Kyiv: My Experience With Budget

This week I’m “liveblogging” my trip to Ukraine. Unlike traditional reports, these posts will be shorter and more frequent.

My appointment with the art dealer was two hours south of Kyiv, which required a choice: Uber or rent a car. I chose to rent a car with Budget, which turned out to be a smart choice.

Renting A Car In Kyiv – My 2023 Experience With Budget

Kyiv Boryspil International Airport is currently closed to commercial traffic due to the ongoing war with Russia. It was the site of a prolific battle early in the war and the airspace over Ukraine is currently not safe enough to support commercial air travel.

Thus, when it came to renting a car I turned to city rental offices and was pleasantly surprised to find that Budget had an office in Kyiv. Not only were rental cars available, but they were cheap too: only $40/day for a small car with automatic transmission.

I took an Uber from my hotel to the car rental office, which was located on the west side of town, about 20 minutes from the center.

Pulling up, I found a pair of auto dealerships and a Harley Davidson motorcycle dealership but saw no Budget office. I went into the Skoda office where a kind woman also had no idea where Budget was, but asked if I had a telephone number. I did and she called the office for me.

Turns out the office was located above the Harley Davidson dealership. I was directed there where a man would meet me downstairs.

I found the right place and was brought upstairs to an office with Budget Rent A Car signs all over.

There, just like anywhere else in the world, I filled out the rental agreement and my credit card details and license were requested (a 1000USD hold was placed on my card).

There was an extra step: I had to sign an additional form pledging not to go into a conflict area and assuming punitive financial responsibility if I did.

After the paperwork formalities were complete, I was handed a blue folder with proof of registration and told to keep it safe.

Then, I was brought downstairs to the car…a Hyundai.

Even though my Capital One Venture X credit card includes rental car protection, I paid an extra $20 for full-coverage directly from Budget. Even so, we did an inspection around the car, which had already seen its fair share of wear and tear.

And then I was off for a two-hour drive down to a little village called Trushky.

Next: my drive south