Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rentals from local firms start at around $30 per day for the smallest option. It's obvi-
ously cheaper if you rent for a week or more, and there are often low-season and week-
end discounts.
Affordable, independent operators with national networks include the following:
a2b Car Rentals
(
0800 545 000;
www.a2b-carrentals.co.nz
)
Ace Rental Cars
(
0800 502 277, 09-303 3112;
www.acerentalcars.co.nz
)
Apex Rentals
(
0800 939 597, 03-379 6897;
www.apexrentals.co.nz
)
Go Rentals
(
0800 467 368, 09-525 7321;
www.gorentals.co.nz
)
Omega Rental Cars
(
0800 525 210, 09-377 5573;
www.omegarentalcars.com
)
Pegasus Rental Cars
(
0800 803 580, 03-548 2852;
www.rentalcars.co.nz
)
Transfercar
(
09-630 7533;
www.transfercar.co.nz
)
One-way relocation specialists.
MOTORCYCLE
Born to be wild? NZ has great terrain for motorcycle touring, despite the fickle weather in
some regions. Most of the country's motorcycle-hire shops are in Auckland and Christch-
urch, where you can hire anything from a little 50cc moped (aka nifty-fifty) to a throbbing
750cc touring motorcycle and beyond. Recommended operators (who also run guided
tours) with rates from $80 to $345 per day:
New Zealand Motorcycle Rentals & Tours
(
09-486 2472;
www.nzbike.com
)
Te Waipounamu Motorcycle Tours
(
03-377 3211;
www.motorcycle-hire.co.nz
)
Insurance
Rather than risk paying out wads of cash if you have an accident, you can take out your
own comprehensive insurance policy, or (the usual option) pay an additional fee per day
to the rental company to reduce your excess. This brings the amount you must pay in the
event of an accident down from around $1500 or $2000 to around $200 or $300. Smaller
operators offering cheap rates often have a compulsory insurance excess, taken as a
credit-card bond, of around $900.
Most insurance agreements won't cover the cost of damage to glass (including the
windscreen) or tyres, and insurance coverage is often invalidated on beaches and certain
rough (4WD) unsealed roads − read the fine print.
See
Click here
for info on NZ's
Accident Compensation Corporation
(ACC;
www.acc.co.nz
) insurance scheme (fault-free personal injury insurance).
