tips on car rental in Newfoundland?
 

Hi -- I'm planning a trip to Newfoundland in late August, and looking into car rentals. Everything I find has a per-km charge. Does anyone know if it's possible to get unlimited kilometers for a car rental there, or does everybody charge by the km?
Any suggestions on cheap alternatives would be welcome. Thanks.

well, it's not too big an island so those charges may not add up as quickly as you think :)

Do you have a corporate program? We use Hertz and part of the agreement is no per mile/Km charges in North America. If you don't have a corporate affiliation you might look on the CAA website for help ( they are the AAA) of Canada.

have fun. the people there are the nicest ones in the world!

Even within a corporate discount program (e.g. Avis' AWD), mileage limits can vary with car class. For example, a test booking on Avis for YTT (using my AWD) shows that the class E cars (4dr) have unlimited mileage, while the SUV is limited to 400 free km. Comes in handy, esp if you're travelling to Labrador.

Have fun, and don't forget the half-hour time zone!

how about some details of your trip? i'm thinking about hooking up w/brother [who is moose hunting] & using his truck to go to st. pierre/miquleon? for the 5th ttc "country" in north america...also considering renting car in halifax & visiting new brunswick but 1st have to find whether the maritimes are 1 province or more. mt next goal is feet down in all provences...thanks

The Maritimes are Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. In my opinion, you must go to Halifax and Cape Breton ( an island off Nova Scotia). New Brunswick is the least impressive- again, in my opinion. Prince Edward Island is great- there is a bagpipe college. There is a bridge from Nova Scotia to PEI . If you fly into Halifax you can drive to Cape Breton or PEI. From Cape Breton you can take a ferry to Newfoundland.
have fun!

with apologies to lmermaid for going off topic....thanks njvj for the info, i can now plan the trip to include pei....

Actually, the "maritimes" excludes the last one. The term "Atlantic" is inclusive.

I only count 4. Which is no. 5?

I have rented cars in Halifax, Saint John and St. John's (the latter being in Nfld), all had unlimited mileage. Normally I go with Hertz, but as a back-up use Avis.

3 cheers to terenz for knowing that the Maritimes do not include Nfld :)

Oh yeah, Newfoundland is not that small an island - worry about mileage on a car. It can take 7 or 8 hrs to drive across Island, unlike PEI where you can go in 1 - 2 hours.

The bridge is slightly faster than the ferry to PEI but not nearly as nice. The ferry gives you nice views of the St. Lawrence etc.

I used to live in Halifax and traveled throughout the region, if you want some specific information, PM me and I would be happy to point you in the right direction.

Safe travels.

Alaska is counted seperate from the lower 48.

Still part of the U.S., not a seperate, independent country unless you want to assume all the lower 48 states are individual countries.

Thanks for the tips everyone!

After checking all the major sites, and our corporate agreements, none of which offered unlimited mileage for our dates/car type we decided to go with www.wheelsabroad.com which ended up being cheaper than booking directly, even with unlimited mileage. Got a nice big SUV to fit 4 people and lots of stuff too.

Trip details: we're two couples traveling together, spending 4 nights in St Johns, then driving across the province to Gros Morne national park, for 3 nights, then back to St Johns and flying home to Boston. Other than reservations at bed&breakfast accomodations in St Johns and Gros Morne area, we would be interested in suggestions! We're up for day-hikes and moderately outdoorsy active activities (but none of us has a lot of expertise in any one outdoor sport...ie any good sea kayaking for beginners that people can recommend?)

Thanks again!

terenz...the travelers century club counts [for its "countries"] in north america mexico, us, canada, alaska, & st pierre/miquelon[i'll have to look up the spelling] french islands off the coast of newfoundland. there is a separate list for central america & carribean.... so, i think i'll work out the details and get the 5th tcc country + 2 more canadian provinces in sept..thanks to maple leaf for the in put.

Recent suggestions for car rental in Newfoundland
 

Hoping to take the girls there this June. All my research shows that the car rental companies all charge for km's in Newfoundland. Anybody with some recent experience with companies that have the km's included?

Wow! A five year old thread bumped. I am moving this to the FT Canada Forum for current discussion.
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Last year while researching a trip to Newfoundland -found that Budget in St John's had unlimited milage. Believe me -try and find an unlimited car -we were stationed in Newfoundland for 18 months and to get from one side of the island to the other is quite a toot -But it is a beautiful island with great people.:)
good luck