frankcoton
Feb 6, 09, 10:56 pm
I am trying to make car rental reservations for our trip in May. We are visiting 3 areas Ayers Rock, Cairns, and Sydney. I am trying to get the best rates possible and do not have any preference for what company we use. I am finding that many of the discount codes for Avis, Hertz etc do not work for OZ.
Also I have noticed a limit of 100 km per day for Ayers Rock. I am getting rates around $75/ day for pickup at AYQ. Would I be better using travelocity or another third party website? I would appreciate any info on what car companies or travel websites you used. Also if you have any discount codes (Hertz, Avis) that work it would be appreciated.
BearX220
Feb 7, 09, 10:58 am
Not sure why you would rent a car in SYD -- the traffic is terrible, the train system excellent.
A rental in CNS is quite justifiable IMO because there are lots of good daytrips to do. I ran a Sidestep.com survey of prices for a May three-day rental from the airport, and an Avis economy car is US$30 / day, which seems quite good to me... Hertz $36... or an AutoEurope standard car (Camry / similar) is $26. We'll be in CNS ourselves in July and haven't yet decided what to do about car rental... if we want one for the day I think we'll just have our hotel get one for us on the spot.
AYQ will be more expensive because you're in the middle of nowhere and there is not much competition. That said, I just ran the same Sidestep survey for AYQ and Hertz comes back at US$45 for an economy car, $55 for a standard, which seems like a screaming deal to me. If you are doing a short stay to have a look at Uluru you might be better advised to have a taxi + driver take you around. If you are doing a longer stay (and getting a room at Voyages) you will find that everything is blessedly expensive anyway and the price of your car is the least of your worries.
P.S. Just my bias based on past experience, but stick to Hertz or Avis. Life is too short, etc.
G-day,
Try http://www.vroomvroomvroom.com.au/ they offer Avis, Herts, Budget and others. I have found them very good on price.
Ray