Hertz - Any tips for using #1 points in Australia?

I'm beginning to plan for a family trip to Australia next year. We'll be driving around for a few weeks. I see that I can use my #1 points for rentals in Australia, and it seems to be a pretty good deal: 2500 points (which works out to about US$110/week, based on what these points cost me in the Discover America promo). I also see that you don't have to return to the same location, which is nice because I believe you're limited to one coupon per rental. Presumably, I could string together a series of one-way rentals to cover our trip.

But there also seems to be a downside to using points in Austalia. A lot of the locations seem to limit you to 700 free kilometers per week. I understand that this restriction is common in Australia on car rentals. Yuck. 700 kilometers a week? 700 free MILES per week would be pretty lousy, but kilometers? In a big country like Australia? Give me a break. And each addition kilometer is a hefty 21 cents.

On the otherhand, I see some Hertz locations DO offer unlimited kilometers on their free rentals. But these locations also seem to have drop charges, so stringing along one-way rentals could be tricky.

Anyone do this before -- and has anyone figured out any loopholes? We're likely to be driving in the Northern Territory and Queensland. Alternatively, is there a better deal with Hertz (or other companies), perhaps with a code, that provides unlimited kilometers? Thanks.

Most car rentals in Australia have one of three kilometre allowances:

Unlimited
Generally from larger cities, their metropolitan/downtown locations and their airports, e.g. SYD, MEL, BNE, ADL, PER, HBA, LST

200 km per day
Generally from smaller locations, or for prestige cars, such as Audis and Mercs, from larger locations. It should be noted that with the exception of the prestige cars, this allowance isn't that common anymore.

100 km per day
Remote locations. What constitutes remote is decided by the car rental companies and does not necessarily equate with what most Aussies (or anyone else, for that matter) would consider remote! The biggest example of this is DRW, which is considered remote, even though it is a large city and the capital of the Northern Territory! In fact, the whole of the Northern Territory is considered remote by car rental companies. Surprising, the larger cities of Tasmania (HBA and LST) are not, as detailed above, even though they are probably similar size to DRW! This probably relates to the distances travelled more than anything.

It should be noted that there are companies that do sell unlimited km cars through the majors such as Thrifty, Europcar and Avis. One is ntstandby com.au. I think I've previously posted details of this, if you want them. Cost is much higher and often not worth it.

Thanks AdMEL. Yeah, I poked around with various Aussie locations and I can confirm that the kilometer rules work exactly as you state using No. 1 points. As I do plan to visit the Northern Territory, I'll have to come up with a strategy to maximize my miles and minimize my cost. It seems like I can rent a car in an "unlimited mileage" city and drop it in a "100K" city and generally avoid a drop charge. Before I buy my airline tickets, I'll have to look at this closely.

Without knowing your plans, a couple of other things to be aware of:

Whilst you can often pick up a car from an unlimited km location and drop it into a limited km location without a drop fee, this is not always the case - usually a drop fee applies for shorter rentals. Also, with most, if not all companies, you cannot take cars into Northern Territory or Western Australia from other states, or to Tasmania from the mainland.

Happy to answer any more queries you have.

I rent from Hertz but I also check other agencies.

We went to Tasmania a few years ago and I shopped around. The best deal was renting from Hobart and dropping off in Launceston with Budget. That option was alot cheaper than renting either in Hobart or Launceston and dropping in same location.

We picked up from Hobart City and dropped off at Launceston Airport. We flew to/from MEL using Virgin Australia. For 8 days for a midsize (for some strange reason, the midsize was cheaper than even the smallest car). We ended up with a very low mileage automatic Nissan Tilden (in USA, that is the Nissan Versa).

It was less than $200 AUD for 8 days. Very inexpensive and unlimited mileage. Granted one can not put alot of KM's in Tasmania but we did. We drove all around the island.

One may have to "think" outside the box to find the deal. I think it may be alot more challenging with the Northern Territories with the KM limitation.

The Northern Territories is the only Australian state I haven't been to. I should have gone in 2001 when our US dollar bought over 2 AUD.

Whilst you can often pick up a car from an unlimited km location and drop it into a limited km location without a drop fee, this is not always the case - usually a drop fee applies for shorter rentals. Also, with most, if not all companies, you cannot take cars into Northern Territory or Western Australia from other states, or to Tasmania from the mainland.

I'm assuming that if Hertz.com "prices" such an itinerary as being unlimited miles and no drop off fee -- like taking a car from Brisbane to Darwin -- they "allow" it, right? I do see that the vast majority of one-way rentals into the Outback have crazy drop-off fees (like $1000).

As I said, it looks like you have to be VERY strategic if you want to try to do this. I'm wondering if there's a way around the 1-week rental limitation (my recollection is you can't use 2 #1 coupons in the same rez) and the fact that the high cost of petrol makes long-distance Australian driving less practical.

I was thinking about a 1 week redemption from Perth but driving to national parks and would like a Toyota Rav4. The award says:

Weekly Rentals
1 Free Week Rental

Car Classes A, B, H, C, S, D; Standard Fleet - Economy, Compact (Man & Auto) Intermediate, Standard & Fullsize

2500


Specialty Vehicle 1 Free Week

Car Classes P, E, T; Specialty Fleet - Premium - People Mover & Wagon

5000

--
They do not mention SUV, is that considered a specialty vehicle or a full size?

Also, what happens if you need the car for 11 days? Do you use the voucher for 7 days and pay the extra in cash?

I was thinking about a 1 week redemption from Perth but driving to national parks and would like a Toyota Rav4. The award says:

Weekly Rentals
1 Free Week Rental

Car Classes A, B, H, C, S, D; Standard Fleet - Economy, Compact (Man & Auto) Intermediate, Standard & Fullsize

2500


Specialty Vehicle 1 Free Week

Car Classes P, E, T; Specialty Fleet - Premium - People Mover & Wagon

5000

--
They do not mention SUV, is that considered a specialty vehicle or a full size?

Also, what happens if you need the car for 11 days? Do you use the voucher for 7 days and pay the extra in cash?

Economy through Premium are standard vehicles. Luxury, SUVs, and minivans are considered Specialty vehicles. If you book for 11 days on a 7 day award, they will charge it to your card and you can pay with cash when you return or leave it on the card.

Economy through Premium are standard vehicles. Luxury, SUVs, and minivans are considered Specialty vehicles. If you book for 11 days on a 7 day award, they will charge it to your card and you can pay with cash when you return or leave it on the card.

I would leave it on the card, by cash I meant money as opposed to points. So there is no way to extend the one week award with points? We'd probably have to go with a standard, I don't think I can get enough points for the SUV. I'm using E-rewards, might have a go at Discover America if it happens next year.

Can I at least use a discount code for the extra days like the Amex PLT?

Or we could try to break the trip Perth-Kalgoorlie, Kalgoorlie-Perth and do 2 awards?

Without knowing your plans, a couple of other things to be aware of:

Whilst you can often pick up a car from an unlimited km location and drop it into a limited km location without a drop fee, this is not always the case - usually a drop fee applies for shorter rentals. Also, with most, if not all companies, you cannot take cars into Northern Territory or Western Australia from other states, or to Tasmania from the mainland.

Happy to answer any more queries you have.
Wow, pick up in Perth city and drop off in Kalgoorlie city has $500 drop fee! That's more than the cost of 2 weeks Perth pick up and drop off!