Hertz - New Zealand Car Rentals

G'Morning,

I am going to rent a car in New Zealand for several weeks in December (vacation). I will be PC by the time I pick the first rental up.

I have reserved a car (Group F) from Auckland Airport to Wellington and a second car (Group H) from Picton to Christchurch. I assume I can refuse an upgrade if offered, or accept if its truly an 'upgrade'.

Does anyone have any suggestions for discounts, tips or tricks to get 'more' from the experience? I read in the other posts, that I won't get award points in NZ.. even after giving them thousands in revenue... is this still true?

On the south island, I have rented the smaller AWD SUV - does anyone see the need for a 4x4 or, on the other hand, maybe even a 'downsize' to a full size car (F)?

I chose not to take advantage of the drop-off, crossover, pickup offer for the inter-island ferry, in order to have a couple car-less days on the exchange.

Car Types:
(Group F) Ford Falcon Futura or similar; Full-Size, 4-5 Door, Automatic, Air
(Group H) Ford Territory AWD or Similar; Premium Wagon/Estate Automatic Air
(Group M) Toyota Prado VX or similar; Premium, SUV, Automatic, Air

I drove around the South Island in a Mitsubishi Lancer in Oct. 2001 and had no problems. Unless you're planning to go off paved roads, you shouldn't need AWD.

A 4WD could be fun, but is definitely not necessary. I camped out of a Toyota Camry for a week & a half on South Island.

This may help as well - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hertz/774340-renting-hertz-new-zealand-read.html

I also went around the south island in a Mitsubishi Lancer a couple of Decembers ago and had no problems. The one unusual aspect of the car rental - and this was with Alamo, not Hertz - was that the car provided was the most dinged car I've ever rented and two hubcaps fell off within 30 minutes of taking the car out. People do take cars off of paved roads, so I'd recommend carefully inspecting the vehicle for any damage before leaving the airport.

Thanks, all, appreciate the input. I played with codes, etc.. and my CDP (alone) is still the best deal.. but I will keep checking for new offers.

Does anyone know if I can use my points for the north island rental? I should have more than enough for a week by then... assuming 600 pts per day.