kapitman

Hi fellow FT'ers!

45 days from take-off for my biggest trip ever, to OZ/NZ. We will not be getting a rental car in Sydney, but are planning on one in Cairns (3 days) and must have one in Queenstown (4 days).

Any suggestions on better rental car places for either location?

Tips on discounts?

Tips on driving on the other side of the road? (this will be my first experience with that!!!)

Also...this may be a stupid question, but is the steering wheel on the passenger side (US Speaking)

Found one company called Omega in Queenstown who seemed to have a decent deal but not used to older rental cars (used to new..is this a common practice) also the offer a cell phone for 4 bucks a day but no detail on what that includes....any ideas?

Thanks gang!!!

number_6

The cars are RHD (right hand drive), so yes the steering wheel is on the other side. Some of the controls are reversed too (you'll quickly have the cleanest windwhield in town as the turn signals are reversed with the wipers on most cars).

Easy rule when driving: driver is on the side of the car away from the curb! If you are next to the curb and it isn't a one-way street, you are on the wrong side of the road!!!!

The major rental companies use new cars (usually less than a year old); 2nd or 3rd tier rentals use older cars, most are in good shape but some are not. You take your chances. Personally I've always used Hertz or Avis and been happy with the result, it isn't more expensive after all the fees and they don't get you for "abnormal tire wear" or chipped paint like some other agencies have been known to do.

marty74

All the usual hire companies are in Cairns (Avis, budget, hertz, europcar, redspot) and have new cars. Cars hired from the airport have a daily surcharge added to the bill, so you can save some money if you pick up and return one in the city. It's a $20 taxi ride or less in a shuttle bus to the CBD.

Good luck and enjoy your holiday. !

JPat

We had a very good experience using Omega for almost a month in November 2009. The car was older but was well maintained. No issues with agency upon return of both cars.
Would recommend them for NZ!

Are you US based? Be careful with depending upon your US issued credit card providing rental car insurance. Amex does not provide their automatic CDW in 'wrong-side' drive countries like Oz & NZ. I managed to locate a Visa card from Charles Schwab which did but don't think that that card is available any longer....

SFOSpiff

Credit cards are pretty inconsistent on this. I had one card that provided CDW in almost all countries except Israel and Ireland (but allowed other left-side-drive countries). I would probably not recommend skipping CDW entirely, since the risk of a kangaroo jumping in your path is real.... unless you're me, then you can drive hours across deserted outback territory and not see a single one.

Also don't forget (many Americans do) that automatics are fairly uncommon elsewhere, so if you can't drive a manual, be sure to make specific arrangements. Speaking of which, while the steering wheel and the road are reversed, fortunately the pedals are not. That would be a headache to get right.

I hate to be negative, but I'm afraid I can't really recommend Hertz in Australia. I've used them all over the world, but in Oz they don't seem to have their act together. Twice I've gone to the counter and said, e.g., "I have a reservation for John Smith" and they checked me in as something vaguely similar, like "James Soames" which was a real pain to sort out. In one case, it ended up voiding some poor guy's prepaid voucher. One airport Hertz location also managed to charge some completely different amount to my card vs. the return paperwork they had given me.

I used Avis to rent a car in Carnarvon to drive off into nowhere, and was pretty happy with them.

number_6

I've used Hertz dozens of times at SYD/MEL in the past decade and they have been excellent every time ... better cars and service than at US Hertz locations. But my name isn't Smith so they've never confused me with someone else (giving them the rental confirmation number helps, too). At least at Hertz manual is rare (only a couple of car categories are manual, 90% of their cars in Oz are automatic, even for compacts). Many years ago manual was a lot more common, but (sadly) no longer.

Scrooge McDuck

That is indeed true. However, the wipers and the direction indicator switches are usually switched! It is always a nice experience if you want to indicate a right turn and wipers start.

mtkeller

I must have been extremely lucky that the car I hired in Cardiff had the turn signal and wiper controls where I expected them. I know my sister-in-law was not so lucky in Ireland. Did OK driving manual in rural Wales, but I've decided to go automatic for Australia. It's one thing when you've got a car full of people to help you watch out for things, but quite another when driving alone.

Scrooge McDuck

Reminds me to the British guy I met a long time ago in NZ who asked me if my car was also assembled wrong, i.e. wipers and direction indicators being interchanged. I have the feeling that all cars in Europe have the same set-up, in contrast to the cars in down-under.

Driving on the wrong side of the road, i.e. the left side is the right side, is not that complicated. One gets used to it pretty quick. The main trick for us drivers on thre right side of the road is to use the middle-lane as an idicator.

carm2011

I just booked Hertz car rental (Nov. 6-9) for Cairns yesterday using their Global 20-30% CDP (go to their website, special deals then international) and paid $26.95/day, which worked out to $40-something per day including taxes/fees. I've been doing a lot of price shopping and I haven't found anything that comes close to that. CDW would be extra. The Hertz Sale ends at the end of September. Their Gold Member points program is also free right now ($60 waived).

kapitman

Hey do you have the code? I just looked and dont see a deal like that under OZ/NZ

AdMEL

Rental cars in Australia come with comprehensive insurance that covers that covers damage to and theft of the rental car (commonly called CDW or LDW), plus third party legal liability for damage to other vehicles and property, plus injury to people other than the driver. Cover is several hundred thousand or more, depending on the state.

There is one catch - there is a large excess/deductible for damage to the rental car and third party property/vehicles - $3,300 for Hertz from non-airport locations (Cairns is 16% higher), plus a further $2,200 (+16% if from Cairns Airport) if no other vehicle is involved. It costs approx. AUD$25-50 per day to reduce the excess to a few hundred dollars or eliminate it altogether.

You need to a #1 Club Gold member. However, as previously mentioned, they waive the $60 fee to join. It's clearly visible on the Hertz website.

AdMEL

Most cars in Australia and NZ (Australian, Japanese and Korean, to name the most common makes), have the indicators on the right and the wipers on the left, given we sit on the right side and rive on the left.

As you would be aware, countries where they sit on the left and drive on the right have the indicators and wipers the other way around.

Lazy European manufacturers move the steering wheel but do not swap the indicator and wiper stalks. Given the commonality of European cars on our roads, it's quite common and you get used to it. This also occurs in the UK, hence your mates comments (European cars are very common there!). Clearly he is more used to European cars where the manufacturers have been lazy!

AdMEL

kapitman, a couple of comments:

I drove on the opposite side of the road for the first time about a year ago in the US (from SFO) - I was worried about how hard it would be (I've been driving for 20 years), but I got used to it reasonably quickly! And that was driving a Camaro with extremely poor visibility out of a dark car park at SFO straight onto the freeway at 70 mph! Talk about a baptism of fire! Tried to convince my travel mate he should drive first, but he wouldn't bite! (I'd convinced him we should drive a Camaro and I'd booked it!). Apart from having to remind each other to move over a few times, we shared driving over 5,000 miles without incident.

I've just come back from Cairns with the same mate - we hired a car for 4 days from Avis. It was a near Commodore SV6 (large sports sedan, you might know it a Pontiac G8) that had 7,500 km on the clock - cost AUD 255 for 4 days on a corporate rate with 1 free day. Standard rate was about AUD 330. I prefer to hire from the large well known companies - newer cars with less problems.

carm2011

Thanks AdMEL! I'll do some research with my credit card CDW policy before we leave on our trip. I know that my policy has a $0 deductible although we would have to pay for everything in advance and be reimbursed after the fact. I don't want to get stuck in any strange loop-holes.