Jeju Airport Arrival & Renting a Car

2017-06-08 · Updated: 2026-08-11 · Original (Korean)

This article was translated from the original Korean post with AI assistance. Read the original Korean post →

Dark night sky and illuminated city night view seen through an airplane window — We've arrived in Jeju Island!!!

The three of us—a mother and her two sons—were incredibly excited upon arriving in Jeju, dreaming of immediately enjoying the local food and the ocean. However, Jeju's rental car system had other plans. Because the airport is so congested, all the rental car companies have reportedly moved their vehicle pickup locations outside the airport. It's too far to walk, so you have to take a shuttle bus, and the frequency of these buses is directly proportional to the rental price. In other words, the more you pay, the faster the bus arrives. Since we rented from one of the cheapest companies at the airport, our bus only came once every 30 minutes. Thanks to that, we kicked off our Jeju trip shivering in the cold.

Zone 9 sign in a dark parking lot at night with a bus parked next to it — Staring at this Zone 9 sign, I thought our Jeju trip was going to end before it even began.

Large bus with the words Jeju Rent-a-Car lit up in LED on the front — Finally arrived!!!

Since it was a small company, I was worried they might try to charge me for scratches I didn't cause, but nothing like that happened at all. I really need to fix this paranoia, but it's hard to shake off after getting ripped off here and there while traveling. It's definitely hard to reach them by phone, and the shuttle bus between the airport and the return location takes forever to arrive. However, the man handling the rentals and returns explained everything well and was very friendly, and there were no issues with the car itself. Because the price difference is so huge, I highly recommend booking a cheap rental car through a discount site.

Pot filled with various seafood including crab, clams, shrimp, and octopus — A seafood stew that looked spectacular on the outside but tasted just okay.

We set off at 6 PM, but it was well past 11 PM by the time we arrived at the hotel. Even factoring in the time we stopped to eat, it took a really long time. I was driving a Kia K5 (a mid-size sedan), which is the largest car I've ever driven, and it was my first time driving a rental. I drove completely on edge the whole way, which is why we arrived so late. Ugh, I haven't even done anything yet, but I'm so exhausted.