Car Rental Company
 

Hello,
I will be traveling North then South Island Dec. - Jan. (3 weeks).
Any recommendations on car rental companies. So far Apex at about $1000. which includes the $180. ferry crossing, unlimited KM sounds high to me, but includes ferry and allows me to turn the car in at Christchurch. My own car ins. does not cover me in NZ. Do you think the rental car co. ins. is enough?

Other ideas on companies?
Thanks, Terri

Hi Terri -

We've used several car rental companies in NZ and never had a problem with any of them. We used APEX on our most recent trip, and my only complaint with them was their attempt to charge my credit card in USD instead of NZD without my permission. Many businesses are guilty of this practice these days - they try to sell it as a service, but in the end, it costs the consumer more because the business uses their own conversion rate, which is typically quite a bit higher than the credit card/bank rate.

Otherwise, APEX was great and the best priced rental we could find for our travel dates.

We've also used National, Budget and Nova.

Car rental prices in NZ are high - you can save a bit of money by renting an older vehicle (such as through APEX or ACE)

Regarding insurance - if you have a platinum Visa card issued from a US bank, you may be covered in NZ and OZ - even for the excess (deductible). Check with your credit card company.

doesitringtrue:

My wife and I rented from APEX and had no problem. It was several years ago.

At that time we paid with our credit card in $NZ, there was never any mention of $US. We paid this when we picked up the car, not in advance. That was one of the features that attracted me to APEX.

We spent a lot of time on the south island and the windshield wipers rubber looked like one would fail. I was concerned that I might damage the windshield so I stopped at the Nelson office and they replaced the blade, no hassle. The vehicle was a used one but so is mine [now] back home so what is the difference?

We picked up our car in Christchurch, turned it in at the ferry and collected another [same model] in Wellington to end up leaving it in Auckland for our return home.

On our first trip we rented and took the car on the ferry thinking it would be simpler to not unpack the vehicle.

In reality, taking the ferry with no car was very easy. We dropped the car at the ferry in Picton at their designated spot, left the keys in a slot at their desk, no attendant, and phoned from there to tell them that the car was returned. No problems.

When we dropped our luggage at the door way to the ferry terminal, my wife waited with the luggage cart [airport style] while I parked.

In the terminal we checked our bags no different than at an airport except no hassle with security. On arrival we retrieved our luggage and went to the APEX booth right there.

Our pick up in Wellington went smoothly. Our drop off in Auckland also went smoothly with efficient and courteous staff who drove us to the air terminal.

All went well. I would not hesitate to use the drop and pick up at the ferry terminal and save the crossing cost of the car.

APEX also arranged our ferry tickets. As we are seniors, we got the senior rate through APEX. Had we ordered it on our own in advance from Canada we would not have qualified for the much better cost.

We were very satisfied with APEX.

Hope this is of help.

Woodie

Booking from Budget's US web site for a November trip, Christchurch to Queenstown, we got approximately the same price as from APEX for a similar car. APEX has a number of older/smaller cars that Budget does not offer, so you can end up with a much lower price.

Jucy offered a much lower price, but was less specific on what you would get and wanted a deposit if you are not buying their insurance.

doesitringtrue:

I neglected to mention about the insurance.

As we were taking the car for most of the two months trip, and in consideration of our relaxed living style, I opted to not take the insurance.

The cost of insurance for our extended period came too close to the benefit of the deductible so that it became more of an advantage to carry the risk myself. I would have paid nearly as much in premium as the benefit of the deductible.

Added to the financial calculation was the fact that we did not travel during heavy traffic times. We were never in a rush to get to work. I prefer to avoid work. We were mostly in the country where the traffic is less dense.

We had no timetable other than reserved accommodation so we were not pressed to be anyplace at a given time.

Considering these factors, as I stated, we did not take the insurance and had no problems.

If you multiply the daily insurance charge by 365, you will see how much more you would pay for this rental insurance than your regular auto insurance at home.

Another note. I do not expect great satisfaction from credit card insurance offers and do not depend on them. They have a limit of 28 or 30 days rental coverage so if you are considering that option, perhaps you can rent on two cards for two contracts each for a different period being concurrent. Perhaps your wife and yourself. I am not sure how the credit card companies would fight this but I suggest using two different bank cards.

Woodie

Re charging your card in US$ rahter than the local currency. THis is recent option available with the latest terminals. THere is a choice of 17 currencies +NZ$. THe rate is set by the bank, the retailer has no control over this. THe rate used is the current daily rate, plus any fees. It is the same as would be used if your CC company were processing your card on that day.
Where it can come unstuck is if your currency is rising or falling against the local currency. If it's falling you are better to lock your charges in before it drops further. It's a simple way to speculate on the currency market.

I respectfully disagree with vcba - every time we've been subjected to dynamic currency conversion, it's been to the advantage of the business in question. We compared the charges made by APEX using their rate and the charge made by our credit card company - same date, minutes apart, same $ charge - the APEX charge was significantly higher than we were charged through our credit card. And yes, we factored in the exchange rate on the date of the charge.

I've been dealing with DCC for a few years in several countries, and not once has it proven to be to my advantage.

What bothers me most is that APEX (and others) often don't bother to give the consumer a choice, they just assume you want to be charged in your own currency. That's just wrong IMO.

Sorry to hear that Melnq8. I must admit I have never researched this from the customers perspective, but our terminal has DCC capability, and I can assure you that whoever gets the benefit from any overcharging it certainly isn't us. If we charge $100NZ our account is credited $100NZ, regardless of which currency it is processed in. I believe we have a slight reduction in fees for DCC transactions, (from 1.5% to 1.25%), and I guess this is factored into the transaction somewhere.
I fully agree that you should be asked before you are charged in a different currency. Actually we no longer use the facility, as the offer is usually met with a blank stare, followed by a long and involved explanation about the relitive benefits (or otherwise). Much easier to process the transaction in NZ$ and be done with it.

Good to hear vbca; maybe DCC will quietly go away.

Hi All,
Thank you for all the great information!

So, about the credit cards. How do I respectfully ask how companies/establishments are charging my credit card? For instance do I ask or state my request.
Do I assume restaurants and or accomodations will charge NZ dollars?
i.e. "Please charge in NZ dollars." Or "Do you charge my credit card in NZ dollars?"
I want to be a pleasant/kind, traveling Floridian. Thanks again, t

You simply say 'please charge my credit card in local currency' when you give the rental car agent your card. And then you make sure they did before you sign the credit slip.

If they refuse to do so (I've never had this happen, ever, but I've heard it happens in Europe) just note on both copies of the the credit card slip 'local currency not offered' and take it up with your CC company upon your return home.

If they tell you the cash register/computer/whatever automatically charges in the currency of the country the credit card was issued (unlikely), ask for a manual override or to speak to whomever can perform one.

It may seem like a hassle at first, but if you sit down and actually compare the price difference, you might find it well worth the effort.

I've never had a problem with restaurants, etc charging in anything other than local currency.

I HAVE had airport duty free shops, hotels (in Singapore mostly) and some rental car companies try to charge in the currency of my home country (US). Retailers/businesses are supposed to give you the choice, but sometimes they just assume, and that's when things go awry.

And FYI - I once saw it happen in a clothing store in the US - the clerk told the customer in front of me that she'd be charged in Canadian dollars instead of US dollars - I had to bite my tongue not to launch into my DCC is evil speech.

I realize the initial poster has already completed their trip but....
you may try emailing the companies you are interested in directly.
I booked a 10 day one way rental with Omega and got a pretty good rate ($32/day). It also has a free exchange of cars going from Picton to Wellington which saves the ferry expense for the auto. (You must have 5 days on each island for this perk). The rate on their website directly was $39, Expedia and other web searches that I use here in the US were much higher.
It never hurts to ask nicely, I didn't beg or threaten.

Wow, Thank you everyone!
Hey OhioRob,
No I haven't traveled yet. I depart Florida on 12/29/08 and return 1/26/09.
Hey what a way to spend the 50th Anniversary of my arrival on Planet Earth, right!
I am going to check out Omega. So far leaning toward Apex.
Thanks again All, Terri

doesitringtrue:

We rented from Apex in Christchurch, drove the south island and left the car in Picton for another in Wellington which we dropped at the airport in Auckland for our return home.

It was a snap. Luggage check in was like at an airport without the hassle. Not only did we save the money of taking the car on the ferry, but we got a better ferry crossing price and the same make and model once we arrived.

The terminal in Wellington have the cars right there, not much different than walking out of an airport terminal to a parking lot and picking up your own vehicle.

We found Apex good to deal with. When we collected our first car, they made the ferry reservation for us. We got a senior citizen discount for the ferry that was not offered to foreigners on the internet, I guess when Apex ordered that ticket, they were not foreigners! So we benefited in this way as well.

I liked the idea of a used vehicle as it had scratches already on it. The one's I put on were not lonely. As well, I felt more like a local than with a new rental, not that New Zealand is a worry spot.

Have a great trip. All of ours to New Zealand were wonderful.

Woodie

try your way rental, they are very cheap, their cars are second hand budget ones. I have used them twice and found them excellent. You have to telephone them once you are at the airport and they come and pick you up and take you to the car place, [email protected]

Cheers Kate

<< The terminal in Wellington have the cars right there, not much different than walking out of an airport terminal to a parking lot and picking up your own vehicle. >>

This is where we rented a car yesterday. We rented from Europcar for 39 NZD per day, unlimited km.

Woody