Hi there, I am looking for the best deal in hiring car from major car rentals (AVIS, Budget, Thrifty etc) in AU and NZ. Currently the best discount I found is through RACQ membership (Thrifty). Entertainment Book offers less discount. I would like to check with Ozbargainers if there is better option? Thanks.
Cheapest Way to Hire Car in AU and NZ
peuwayaqdq on 01/07/2017 - 06:48
Comments
I used them a few years ago and they were pretty hopeless. The lady in Auckland wrote down the wrong depot (we had a paper copy of the contract of course) in Christchurch for us to leave the car at and we almost missed our flight because they refused to accept the car when we went to drop it off! I had the damn contract and they flat out refused.
God that's not good at all. I would be picking up and dropping off from AKL airport so should hopefully be good. You've put doubt in my mind now though. :/
I checked their site and their price are almost the same as Thrifty with RACQ discount. I would be more comfortable going with Thrifty in that case.
bayswater aka nobirds is pretty good value. Still cheaper after those discounts on the other guys. iirc hiring is a bit more expensive at the airport.
car next door is a service you can try. But it isn't a major car rental company. I've never used car next door.
Apex Car Rentals are an NZ business with NZ and AU operations. They are cheaper than the mainstream rentals, though with a minor inconvenience of being just outside the terminal (they pick you up in a shuttle).
The major draw is that they don't have the crazy excess fees that other mainstream operators have; even then I always chose the zero excess option and relax knowing I won't have to pay any cent should anything happen. I have used them many times in Brisbane, but have no experience with any of their other operations.
I've used Apex twice from Sydney airport. No trouble at all.
I don't believe that there is a single best discount. The discount codes vary a lot on location, type of car, length of rental, etc. I usually try all the discount codes I have access to and see which offers the best deal at the time. Some discount codes offer a free additional driver or no charges for extra kms, some do not. Hertz usually comes out the cheapest, sometimes Avis or Europcar. Budget or Thrifty hardly ever comes out the cheapest from my experience.
And where do those discount code usually come from? Apart from company's deals, I can think of only RACQ and Entertainment book.
I'm planning a family holiday to NZ next month and have settled with GO Rentals.
You can also add GORENTNOW as a code for a 5% discount.
For 1 week a 2017-2015 Toyota Corolla is around $170. They aren't based at the airport (AKL) but are a quick shuttle to their depot.
I'm interested to see what else everyone has used. A good car hire comparison website I like was https://www.drivenow.com.au/car-hire/new-zealand