• Anais

    Member
    December 5, 2023 at 9:04 am

    My recommendation is to get a smaller car for the narrow twisty roads.

    They ‘upgraded’ us to a truck and it was a nightmare!

    We ended up using a small offshoot of Europcar and it’s was easy in every other aspect.

  • Dimitri

    Member
    December 14, 2023 at 6:08 pm

    I used Bargain Rental Cars and it was fine.

  • Chet

    Member
    December 17, 2023 at 6:15 am

    They’re all pretty good – note that the major brands are generally at the terminal and the smaller brands need a shuttle transfer.

    Do make sure you use a US site to book, eg Kayak or Booking.com because booking direct is a rip off!

    I live in NZ and I always book through a US aggregator which saves me hundreds of dollars.

  • Rocky

    Member
    December 19, 2023 at 10:43 am

    We used Avis for our longer rental…it was fine.

    Got a rate of NZD $15/per day with AARP discount code (anyone can join, don’t have to be retired).

    No issues.

    We also used Cityhop for a 1 day rental.

    It’s kinda like Zipcar where you can rent by the hour, day etc and pay by distance and you can return it without refilling gas as long as it was above 1/4 tank etc.

  • Pamela

    Member
    December 29, 2023 at 10:17 am

    I’m currently using Apex and the rental included the ferry fee from Wellington to Picton.

    I picked it up in Auckland and will drop it off in Christchurch.

    I chose the full coverage option.

  • Isaac

    Member
    January 3, 2024 at 10:56 pm

    I used Avis and did a one way rental from Auckland to Wellington.

    Had a good experience.

  • Keagan

    Member
    January 15, 2024 at 11:17 am

    We used Hertz and it was just as easy as renting from them in the States.

  • Margaret Weller

    Member
    February 4, 2024 at 10:04 pm

    We used GO Car Rentals last time we were there and they were great.

    We’re going with Avis when we’re there in Feb since they allow their rental cars on the interisland ferry.

    I think GO might as well, I can’t remember.

    But I found a great price with Avis.

    I’ve had good experiences with Avis in the US, and a bad one with them in Ireland, so we’ll see how it goes this time.

    However, if it would work with your itinerary and time of year in NZ, I highly suggest getting a motorhome for your time there.

    We had such a blast in one last time (we had a rental car for a few days and then a motorhome for the rest of the time) and love the freedom it gives you to change up your itinerary whenever you want.

    We’re still too much in the summer season when we’re there in Feb, so costs were way too high for this time, but if you’re there during either shoulder season, you should look into it.

    We used Wilderness Motorhomes and loved them.

    There are a bunch of companies down there to book through.

  • Nannie

    Member
    February 17, 2024 at 11:11 pm

    Currently have one with Alamo and pick up was great, even got an upgrade to a larger car.

    Apparently most people want a smaller car.

Log in to reply.