Mutually beneficial relationships are wonderful assets in life, and that’s exactly what’s happening here.
A rental car company needs to relocate one of their vehicles to another branch. They can either pay an expensive truck to move it, or — yes, this is where you come in. You can sign up to move their vehicle from A to B. Fly into one airport, out of another. Win, win.
This is actually quite a simple process.
1. Find a rental company that does car relocation and sign up.
I signed up with Transfercar easily. Transfercar is a rental company aggregator, and you won’t know the direct rental company until after your booking is approved. You must hold an English driver’s license or an approved translation of one (find that here) and be over 18 years old (for some rentals, 21 years).
You can also look into rental companies directly, such as:
2. Check availability, dates, locations, and all details for your rental.
All of this information should be on the page. If you can’t find the answer to something, call or email before booking. A few things to look for:
- What are your points of pick up and drop off? Car relocation assumes you’re doing a one way journey, of course. I flew into Queenstown and out of Auckland, and these were my exact pick up and drop off points. Other common cities are Christchurch and Wellington. Smaller cities like Dunedin, Picton, and Invercargill are rarer listings, but do exist. The pick up was a short walk in the parking lot of the Queenstown airport, and the drop-off extremely close to the Auckland airport. Check where yours is so you can make arrangements if necessary.
- What days are included for free? It’ll vary from 1 to 7 days usually, depending on the distance between your two cities. I had 7 days since Queenstown and Auckland are quite far. Sometimes you can add more days for an extra cost.
- Are paid days available? My rental was very flexible: I could add up to 10 days for an extra $25 NZD/day, and ended up adding 6 days. This varies widely — some rentals don’t have any flexibility or paid days to add, so be sure to check.
- TIP: I didn’t have to add these extra days right away when I picked up the car, but this could vary entirely by rental company so make sure you ask upon pick up. Also be sure to ask if the amount to add on days will remain the same. Initially, when I called to add on more days, they wanted to charge $35 NZD/day. It was fixed without any issue, though, when I mentioned my contract stated $25/day.
- Is fuel included? Mine came with 1x free tank of fuel (return empty); this is common. The rest of the fuel you will need to pay for.
- Is the interisland ferry included (if going from South to North Island)? Since I was going from Queenstown to Auckland, this was applicable, and mine didn’t include this cost (many don’t). It was $247 NZD for one sedan and two adults. Transfercar has an article here. It was an easy process.
- How many KMs included? Mine was unlimited. If your rental has flexible paid days to add and you plan on driving longer, keep this in mind.
- How about insurance? A standard insurance with a deductible of $2,000 was included for free, and that was fine for me, as I always book with my Chase Sapphire Reserve card that acts as primary insurance up to $75,000. Please note it does not cover personal liability (damage you cause to other cars, property, or people).
- Is there a deposit? $750 NZD pre-authorization on a credit card was required for mine. This was refunded quickly without hassle at drop-off in Auckland.
- What if I need to cancel? Look at the cancellation fee. Transfercar noted any cancellations must be made directly to the rental operator and in “My Transfer Cars” area in the Transfercar account to avoid being charged a $100 cancellation fee. This will vary by site.
3. Request a car — at least 3+ days before you arrive, ideally more.
My request was approved within 24 hours, and I was assigned a Nissan Tiida with Ace Rental Cars. Had a lovely experience with them. The person who helped me was pleasant and recommended a great site called BookMe for discounts on various NZ activities.
4. Pick up your car, and… enjoy!
It’s a quite straightforward process. Just make sure all of the details are understood beforehand. Have fun!
Here are some of my favorite spots in New Zealand I explored while cruising along.