Tag: Cheap Rides

Your guide to travelling on a budget

Even on a limited budget, you can still have a great holiday with your friends or family. You just need to put a little bbqbeachextra thought into every dollar you plan to spend.

Here’s some tips that can guide you while planning a vacation without breaking the bank.

Go on a local holiday

Why not check out some of the local attractions. Sometimes some of the most beautiful places are right in your back yard. You don’t always need to go and book expensive plane tickets. Instead have a ‘staycation’. Go hiking, have a movie night or a barbeque with family and friends. Another great idea is to have night-time picnics: something that’s great on hot summer nights.

Take a road trip

Another example of an inexpensive family vacation is taking a campervan or car and going on a road trip. Here is where relocation vehicles such as Transfercar’s free rental car listings come in handy. They are free and often come with a tank of gas, insurance and ferry crossing if relevant.

sandyfeetAvoid peak seasons

If you’re set on going overseas you can still make vacationing on a budget possible by avoiding peak seasons. Most airlines usually have very high rates during particular months of the year, so you should refrain from booking flights during those times.

Book Early

You’re more likely to save money by booking flights and accommodation early.

Book Online

Often discounts and the best deals will be offered for booking online.

Subscribe

Subscribe to travel related newsletters or websites so that you know about sales before they happen. Often, you can sign up for promotional emails as well. If you sign up for these, the companies will email you with discounts and deals.

Package deals

Book your flights and hotels together. Package deals will save you money.

Fees

Make sure you keep an eye on extra fees when making bookings. More times than not, cheap deals will be compensated with extra fees.

Buy food at the supermarket

Avoid spending large amounts of money on takeaway food and use the best weight loss pills which help as natural appetite suppressants to avoid cravings and save money on food. Buying at the supermarket will not only save you money but will be much better for your health.

Happy and safe travelling!

Transfercar’s itinerary for the ‘Big Day Out’ New Zealand & Australia! January 2011

The Big Day Out

It’s the event of the year for many hard core party goers! People come from all over the world to witness a gathering of extraordinary musicians and some of the hottest and heaviest artists in the world today.

Melbourne, Goldcoast and Sydney are all sold out with Sydney planning its second event. Auckland tickets won’t last long as many will be lining up to see the 34 bands banging out their tunes on the multiple stages within the venue.

For all our Transfercar drivers, keep an eye out for our free relocation cars and campervans heading to event locations around this time!

Transfercar’s suggested itinerary:

  • Request a relocation vehicle in advance for both journeys there and back if you can
  • Have a 5 day holiday cruising in a free car or campervan as you travel to and from the “Big Day Out” near you
  • Arrive at destination – Drop off vehicle
  • Taxi to the event – Taxi to your hotel (SLEEP)
  • Take your new transfercar home/or fly/bus/train if you are feeling a bit jaded!!

Links to the full lineup:

Auckland Fri Jan 21 (MT SMART STADIUM Maurice Rd Penrose. Gates open 11am) Lineup

Gold Coast Sun Jan 23 (GOLD COAST PARKLANDS Smith St Southport. Gates open 11am) Lineup

Sydney Wed Jan 26 & Thu Jan 27 (SYDNEY SHOWGROUND Showground Rd Sydney Olympic Park. Gates open 11am. Event closes midnight) Lineup

Melbourne Sun Jan 30 (MELBOURNE FLEMINGTON RACECOURSE Epsom Rd, Flemington, Melbourne. Gates Open 10.30am) Lineup

Adelaide Fri Feb 4 (ADELAIDE SHOWGROUND Rose Tce Wayville, Adelaide. Gates Open 11am) Lineup

Perth Sun Feb 6 (PERTH CLAREMONT SHOWGROUND Graylands Rd Claremont, Perth. Gates Open 11am) Lineup

Rugby World Cup Car Rental Fever

New Zealand Rental car companies have joined the multitude of Rugby World Cup hopefuls as the hype and anticipation of this global sporting event continues to rise.

With the RWC looming ever closer (9 September – 23 October 2011), rental car companies are pushing for customers to book cars and campervans early, touting the issue of lack of car availability due to the estimated 85,000 international visitors expected to arrive in New Zealand specifically for the event.

This is a good sign for Transfercar as many visitors are expected to travel around the country during this time with a number leaving their cars at major airport locations. These cars and campervans will need to be relocated back to their place of origin and we will be there ready to fulfill this need…..

For those interested, here’s the RWC schedule:

Auckland

09 September 2011 NZL – TGA
17 September 2011 AUS – IRE
24 September 2011 NZL – FRA
25 September 2011 FJI – SAM
01 October 2011 ENG – SCO
15 October 2011 WQ1 – WQ2
16 October 2011 WQ3 – WQ4
21 October 2011 LS1 – LS2
22 October 2011 WS1 – WS2

Christchurch

10 September 2011 ARG – ENG
11 September 2011 AUS – ITA
18 September 2011 ENG – EU1
25 September 2011 ARG – SCO
01 October 2011 AUS – EU2
08 October 2011 WPB –
09 October 2011 WPA – RUB

The concept of getting from A to B

Getting from A to B can be a bit tricky if you don’t have your own means of transport. This goes for all travellers without weels, whether they’re locals, international or national visitors. After all, if you don’t own or have access to a car or bike, how are you going to get from let’s say Wellington to Auckland? Or even more challenging, Katikati to Lumsden, Great Barrier Island to Napier?

Just stay put where you are? Or go walking? Or put your thumb up and go hitch-hiking?

A website dedicated to hitch-hiking culture, digihitch.com, says the “simple, unplanned and spontaneous act of sharing transport” has been around as long as there has been transportation. But hitch-hiking in its purest sense – thumbing rides from passing motorists – followed the invention of the car in the late 19th century. It became common in the war years, when soldiers hitched rides, and entered the realms of popular culture with Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road in 1957.

Literature, films and music have often played on the fears surrounding hitch-hiking. Tales of lost hitch-hikers and hitch-hiker murders possess a power like no others.

New Zealand is still wondering what happened to Mona Blades, the 18-year-old who disappeared without a trace when hitching on the Napier-Taupo road in 1975.

And what about the unfortunate German backpacker Birgit Brauer? Her trip, and with that her dream, ended tragically in October 2005 when she was found under the towering redwoods in Lucy’s Gully, near New Plymouth. She loved New Zealanders’ down-to-earth attitude and believed she was safe hitch-hiking.

Times have sure changed and with this in the back of your mind, why take the risk of hitch-hiking? Surely a lack of transportation can be solved otherwise?Well, dear backpackers, students and all other travellers, there is an alternative to consider.Listen.

Lots of savvy backpackers have over the years already called or surfed the sites of rental car companies in pursuit of ‘one-way’ deals. But arranging this takes time, not to mention effort and can be very frustrating as you often miss the boat with rental company’s ‘one -way’ deals.

The idea of relocating cars is really quite simple and not new or innovative. There already exist websites in other countries (USA, Norway and Denmark) that specialise in relocating rental (or private) cars. However, up to recently such service didn’t exist in New Zealand.

Now, rentals, whether these are motor homes, bikes or cars, tend to accumulate there where a branch doesn’t need them to be. The car fleet moves in one direction according to the flow of tourist and companies spend a lot of money transporting unallocated cars between branches.

And this is where you as a traveller without wheels come in the picture. Why not pick up a car at point A, drive it to point B and voila: you are where you want or need to be, and the car is where the rental company needs it to be.

So, a simple concept with the added plus of a win-win situation for you and the rental companies.

New to New Zealand is http://www.transfercar.co.nz/; an online relocating service that offers free use of rental cars to travellers. And that’s you, right?

Check it out, organise a ride and have a safe journey from your A to B.