Rentals | Transfercar Blog

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

On the road

My name is Brian and I am one of the founders of Transfercar. I have written this article series to help people who are thinking of relocating a car, camper van or motorhome for the first time via Transfercar.

This is the third and last article. The first part in this series explains what a relocation car is on what it means to be a relocation driver, and the second article explains how to find and book a relocation.

On the road

Day 1, our flight was scheduled to 6.40 am and we arrived Chrichchurch on time 8.00 am. On arrival we called the rental car company and they picked up us from the airport for free. It is a good idea to arrive early to get the most out of the first day.

crayfish shop The relocation motorhome was ready to go, but first we had to sign a normal rental agreement (just as if you rented a vehicle under normal circumstances). Standard insurance was included in the relocation deal, but we still chose to upgrade the insurance to full cover. The additional insurance was $25 per day – no excess and a peace of mind but it is totally optional. Before getting on the road, the friendly staff of Jucy gave us a tour of the vehicle including how to operate the shower, kitchen and power.

Around 9 am we were on our way to Picton via Kaikura – approx 330 km. First stop was Kaikura to have fresh Crayfish at Nims’ Bin at State Highway 1. It was a fantastic day and absolutely gorgeous to sit on the beach in the middle of the winter.

Day 2, we drove around the Marlborough Sound before crossing to Wellington at 2.30. The weather forecast predicted gustily wind, but luckily it turned out to be North Easterly with gave us a smooth crossing. In Wellington we stayed overnight at a public car park at Victoria Heights. We woke up in the middle of the night because we thought someone was trying to force their way in only to find out the next day that the rumble was an earthquake – 5.2 in magnitude. In a motorhome that feels shaky. our camper van

Day 3, we drove from Wellington to Napier over Greytown and Dannevirke. We found this little neat tea-house in the middle of nowhere serving high-tea in good old English fashion (sorry for those living in Greytown but it is in the middle of nowhere). We arrived Napier around 5 pm after about 5 hours driving from Wellington. Weather was beautiful the whole way and very mild 21 degrees.

Day 4, from Napier we took the inland route to Taupo, where we stayed overnight at a parking lot nearby the lake before returning to Auckland the next day. No earthquake this time but just a beautiful view over the lake. In New Zealand you are allowed to stay overnight at most public places (variation of rules may apply to different districts – see for instance camping policies for Tasman District), but the problem of course is that lack power supply and disposal of wastewater and rubbish. Therefore it is advisable to stay at a dedicated campground every now and then to put fresh water on the campervan and empty wastewater. You don’t get far with only 80L of water in the tank. Top 10 Holiday Parks are located throughout the country and they charge between $14-$22 per person per night including the campervan.

Day 5, we returned at Auckland Airport at 3.30 pm. We had a great trip and spread out the driving equally on 4 days. One day normally goes with crossing the Cook Straight. Bear in mind that these campervans are not race cars. They can be difficult to get up to 100 km/h and it does take longer time to get from A to B than a standard vehicle. Normally we covered 70-80 km per hour depending on elevation and traffic.

For 5 fantastic days on the road our total expenses looks something like this for 2 people:

Jetstar	$90
Ferry for passengers	$100
Diesel 1,400 km	$160
Top 10 Holiday Park (optional)	$80
Additional insurance (optional)	$125
Total cost	$555

This is the third and last article in the article series about relocating with Transfercar. The first part in this series explains what a relocation car is on what it means to be a relocation driver, and the second article explains how to find and book a relocation.

How to get a relocation vehicle?

My name is Brian and I am one of the founders of Transfercar. I have written this article series to help people who are thinking of relocating a car, camper van or motorhome for the first time via Transfercar.

How to get a relocation vehicle – preparation and planning

transfercar-frontpage The first thing is to find a relocation car at www.transfercar.co.nz that suits your travel requirements. The table of available relocation cars on the front pages gives a good overview of what is available. Pay attention to the free extras column that tells you what is included in the relocation deal. The more things included the better for you as a relocation driver. Normally the rental car companies include ferry and standard insurance with the relocation car. From time to time the rental companies also add petrol vouchers or a free tank of petrol. Often this applies to urgent relocations. The available column tells you the earliest pick-up date and latest drop off date. It does not mean you can have the vehicle during the whole period. The number of days you can have the car for free is specified in the details that can be viewed by clicking anywhere on the row of the relocation you are interested it. Most rental car companies allow between 4-7 days for a relocation between Christchurch and Auckland.

To request a relocation car click the Drive it free!-button. Your request is send directly to the rental car company and they will accept or reject your request within 12-48 hours. Sometimes they receive several requests for the same relocation. So if your request is not accepted, don’t despair – just request another one! Until you get accepted the whole booking is a ‘blind process’. You will not be told who the rental car company behind the relocation is until you have been accepted by the rental company.

I requested the motorhome approximately 7 days prior to the date we preferred to pick it up. Our request was accepted within 12 hours and we received a confirmation email from Transfercar and later on we also got an email from the rental car company – In this case it was Jucy Rentals. I called up Jucy to organize the exact pick-up time and drop-time. The rental car company also schedule the ferry crossing for us. In our case Jucy covered the cost of the ferry for the motorhome and we had to pay for passengers – $50 per person when booking through the rental car company (otherwise it is $58 with Interislander)

After having organized the relocation, we booked flight tickets with Jetstar – $39 (without luggage) and $49 (20k allowance) per person. Alternatively try Grabaseat or virginblue – you just gotta love love the competition 🙂

The eclipse of human behaviour

Slowely but surely ‘it’ is coming- and New Zealand won’t be far off I bet. From fingerprint identification that is. Your thumb -or any finger on your two lovely hands for that matter- will be your most precious asset when renting a car or campervan in the near future.

Yup, it looks like we have finally arrived in the era where your authorising signature -and with that your word-is not sufficient anymore. The dawn of a new age where a photocopy of your identification doesn’t do it anymore like it use to in the ’80’s and ’90’s is upon us. And what about the good old creditcard? Nope, you will be needing ‘the goods’: Your passport or driverslicense, you prettiest signature and your fingerprint in order to secure a rental vehicle in -for now- The Netherlands and England.

As it turns out, these overseas rental companies suffer substantual losses of around the €350.000 anually. Why? Because people apparently feel the need to thrash the rental car they are using or simply steal it to be never seen or heard of again. And despite the fact the offenders sign a rental agreement and have their passport or drivers license copied- they are untraceable when it counts. Particularly when they are overseas visitors. In England this annual ‘damage’ figure is, thanks to the introduction of the fingerprint identification system, slowely reducing. However, this number is still persistently on the rise in the Netherlands. And so ever since October this year, Schiphol Airport has joined the fingerprint identification-team as well. No thumb-no car in the Low Lands and the country of the famous stiff upper lip.

Will this fingerprint identification march for New Zealand?-perhaps. After all, rental cars get thrashed here as well-or conveniently pinched if that suits the ‘program’ of the traveller better. And that’s a shame. Because this globally spread human behaviour is truly an embarrassment and a quite unnecessary one at that. And with the current global economy an investment like this will be the last thing rental companies are waiting for. Especially since the tourism industry is already noticing a decline in tourists visiting the country.

So come on you rental car users, play nice, play fair-don’t thrash (or steal) your rental.

Rental Road Rage

It happens to the best of us. Everybody has had at some stage in their life a mild or-in my case- a severe case of road rage overcoming them. Especially in summertime. People are hot and bothered in summertime. Things get untidy when people are hot and bothered.

And I admit- I’m guilty as hell. I bet you too. In the silence of your car- or perhaps out loud with lots of certain ‘finger activity’ and flickering headlights if you’re really over it- abusing our rental-car-road-users-from- abroad. It happens in every country, because as soon as humans go on holiday, they give their brains a brake a bit too literally.

So the rental car road users are the ones that do it. They are the ones that push all your wrong buttons and they are the ones that will make you run late for that career defining presentation. Not the local touring its own country-because he knows. And the fact that you left home 10 minutes too late has got nothing to do with it either- it’s THEM.

And please don’t get me wrong- all countries love their visitors and tourists dearly. They really do. But when you’re the local, they are the ones on holiday and they are the ones in a happy-people-relaxed-mode. We’re not. We’re already latent shitty when we walk out the door in the morning. Because the sun is shining and we’re going to be locked up in that office all day. We’re in the stressed-out-running-too-late-for-the-bloody-meeting-mode. And we all know that this mode does not mix well with a rental-road-user-from-abroad sitting in front of you doing 30.

So for the sake of national bloodpressure, the quality of the tourist’s holiday and the overall sanity in any country, signs will need to go up in the international arrival halls of airports.

And this is what they will read:

Thou shall not drive 20 k’s per hour where you’re allowed 80.
Thou shall not be indecisive and fiddle around on the road.
Thou shall not suddenly stop in the middle of the road because you have seen a Kodak moment.
Thou shall not drive painfully slow on curvy roads to then Nascar race the straights so you can’t be overtaken.
Thou shall not attempt to parallel park your rental vehicle fifteen times in a row when it is painfully obvious to the ten waiting teeth-grinding other drivers it ‘ain’t gonna fit’.
Thou shall not park your rental vehicle on the wrong side of the road or, whilst visiting cities, park on designated permit parkings.
Thou shall not randomly camp overnight in your rental vehicle on the side of the road, beaches or my driveway for that matter.
Thou shall not multitask in your rental vehicle whilst driving-you can’t drive, read a map, sing along with the radio and take photos at the same time.
Thou SHALL pull over for faster road users to overtake you.
Thou SHALL drive on the correct side of the road. Your campervan might seem huge to you, but they did take the size of average cars in account when they made the road so there’s no need to drive in the middle of it.

Follow these 10 commandments while renting a vehicle on holiday and the world will be a better place.

Be smart when renting or relocating vehicles

There are unfortunately a handful of…..let’s say unsavoury rental companies in New Zealand-a few more than a handful world wide obviously-that spoil it for the good ones. Mind you, there is a vast majority that handle ‘situations’ professionally (like the companies on this website), but some kinda..don’t.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, or more specific the Consumer Issues Branch, often deals with complaints about rental car companies. Particularly from travellers:

“These travellers have since returned home to their respective countries only to be greeted by a credit card bill with additional charges by rental companies for damages to the car. Damages these travellers say did not happen while they had the car in possession.” (March 2008 Newsletter Ministry of Consumer Affairs)

Cue to: It’s-your-word-against-theirs-drama.

It happens to the best of us: To my next door neighbour last year in Australia, in January this year to my brother in Belgium and, I suspect, to a whole lot more travellers world wide.

But, when renting a car you can protect yourself from any unwanted bills afterwards. And this is rather easy to do so too.

It might seem a bit over the top or even paranoid to you, but taking a couple of photos of your rented (or to be relocated, mind you)ride before and after each trip doesn’t hurt anybody. Particularly photographing any current damage(s) before driving away into the sunset. And, of course don’t forget to point out these existing damages to the rental company while you’re picking the car up. Even when the employee says: “Nah, that’s sweet” -as they usually phrase it here in New Zealand- persist and have it put on paper anyway and get a copy of it. You’re not being painful -well, maybe a little bit- but you’re just covering your ass, nothing wrong with that.

Now, when you drop your rental off at the designated point of no return, it’s best to get someone from the company to give it a final inspection and literally -yes, LITERALLY-sign it of as, again, ‘sweet as’. And while you’re at it, get a copy of that ‘sweet as’.

However, this is easier said than done as many travellers are droppping the car off outside office hours. Probably because that’s the whole concept of backpacking (or travelling in general for that matter); postponing and avoiding by all means the ‘office hour life’. But apparently early flights or late night flights have got something to do with it as well. So it would be a good idea to go with a reputable company that has staff available that’s willing to stick around for 24 hours a day for when you -emotionally-part ways with your rental set of wheels.

Please note that most of New Zealand’s rental car companies are a member of the Rental Association of New Zealand, and you can rely on them to treat you fairly and ethically. But should a company -where ever this might be on Mother Earth- act dishonourably (a.k.a ripping your off), then there are some rights you may have which could be useful to know.

The two major credit card companies, Visa and Mastercard -with whom travellers have a hate/love relationship-have outlined terms and conditions with regards to the rental charge backs.

So read them and know what can and can’t be done: Visa and Mastercard

And, as they would say in the States:”For God sakes, take those photos of the damn car will ya”