Every service in our comparison asks for the same three things — a valid licence, a credit card, and proof of age — but the exact rules by nationality trip up more renters than price ever does.
Renting a car in Dubai comes down to three requirements that apply regardless of which service you book with: a valid driving licence, a credit card in the driver's name for the deposit or excess hold, and meeting the minimum age (usually 21, sometimes 25 for larger or premium vehicles). Where it gets more specific is the licence itself, and that depends entirely on your nationality.
If you hold a licence from the GCC, the US, UK, most EU countries, Australia, Canada, or a handful of other approved jurisdictions, your national licence is valid on its own for tourist rentals — no International Driving Permit (IDP) required. If your licence isn't on that approved list, you'll need an IDP alongside your national licence, arranged before you travel; it can't be issued inside the UAE.
Age requirements vary more than most renters expect. The legal minimum to drive in Dubai is 18, but rental services almost universally require 21 as a baseline, and premium or luxury tiers often push that to 25. If you're booking on our Luxury ranking, check the specific age floor for the vehicle tier you want — it's the single most common reason a luxury booking gets rejected at pick-up.
The credit card matters as much as the licence. Almost every service holds a deposit or an insurance excess against a credit card in the driver's name — a debit card is rarely accepted as the sole method, even for services that don't charge an upfront deposit. If avoiding a large hold on your card matters more than anything else, our No-Deposit ranking covers the two services in our comparison that don't require one, though note they still need a credit card on file to secure the insurance excess.
Insurance terms are worth reading before you sign, not after a scratch shows up. Every rental includes basic third-party and collision coverage, but the excess — the amount you're liable for before insurance kicks in — varies by hundreds to thousands of dirhams between services and vehicle tiers. This is exactly what our insurance transparency score measures across the 8 services we compare, and it's weighted differently in each of our eight rankings depending on how much it matters for that use case.
One document requirement that surprises first-time visitors: you'll usually need to show your return flight or a hotel booking confirmation at pick-up, since most services want proof you're not planning to keep the car past your visa validity. If you're arriving straight from the airport, our Airport ranking covers which of the 8 services actually have a desk at your specific DXB terminal — not all of them cover all three.
Finally, if you're a UAE resident rather than a tourist, the rules shift: you'll typically need your Emirates ID and UAE driving licence rather than a foreign one or an IDP, and some services (particularly ones offering monthly or lease-style contracts) will ask for a salary certificate or trade licence for longer commitments.