Australia car hire

[Ruralite]

Looking to hire next March for 3 weeks, probably pick up MEL & drop off SYD or BNE. Any recommendations from anyone please? Via Qatar MMB been quoted around £960 for a Qashqai with unlimited mileage (plus £102 add on for full insurance coverage although I have Amex Platinum so should be covered for that anyway) and a similar price with Ace car rental came up on a screen scraper. I’ve no idea if that is a good price or not and how far out I need to be booking a car for the best price/option? Don’t hire cars regularly and never been to Oz before either so another question: To visit Uluru & Alice Springs how long is needed & where to stay? Seems you can go from one to the other either by transfer/tour or day trip in some cases. Any tips appreciated. Thanks

[Adder]

It’s best to treat Uluru and Alice Springs as two separate destinations – they look close together on a map but are 5ish hour drive apart on a road that quickly gets monotonous. Never been to Alice but I would imagine a couple of days is plenty unless you are planning to do lots of walking out in the MacDonnell ranges or similar. Just be aware there have been reports of crime/social disorder in Alice recently. Uluru can be seen in a day but for a fuller experience I’d suggest 4/5 days is ideal, and make sure you get out to Kata Tjuṯa as well. Uluru has its own airport (AYQ) you can fly to from Sydney/Melbourne and the only accommodation is in the resort town of Yulara (everything from a campsite to 5 star luxury depending on your budget, but all priced at a premium as it’s the only option). No public transport but car hire options were reasonable and it’s all sealed roads. It will be hot in March so you’ll want to plan to be out early to avoid the worst of it (and the flies).

Alternatively you can drive/get a coach from Alice to Uluru but that gets expensive in time if not money.

For car hire if certainty is important to you I’d book at that price; even better if a refundable rate is available and keep checking in case it drops. I’d expect to pay around A$75 a day, so it might come down a bit but the one-way fee adds a lot.

[Amy C]

I’ve also been looking at Aussie car hire a lot in past week. If that £960 is for 3 weeks and inc one way rental you’re doing well. I’ve been quoted over 4k for one ways that are only a week! But that was mainly Western Australia. I’m flying to AYQ to spend 3 nights at Uluru before flying out again to either CNS or MEL, prob the former. From what I hear Alice Spings hasn’t much to recommend it and is a bit rough.

[Annie]

We are doing parts of this trip in March too. We are getting off the Ghan in Alice and driving to Uluru. We wanted a 4WD to do the mountainous shortcut via Kings Canyon but can’t get one that will allow a one way rental.
We’re flying out of Uluru ( airport is still called Ayres Rock ) back to Sydney.
Note that the flights to Sydney operate direct only 5 days per week, not Tuesdays and Saturday if I remember well and the ones via Cairns on those days are triple the price.
Also note that Uluru resort has a minimum 3 not stay at most of their places.

Our Australian friends booked a car for us for a week in Melbourne and it’s showing as three times the price of booking with Avis here, using BA of course for the extra driver. I need to make sure I’m comparing apples with apples.

Have been told that East Coast Rentals are the best in the cities but they don’t cover the top end.

[Ruralite]

Thanks everyone. Yes I’m getting some extremes in car hire quotes too which is why I wanted more info, from around £750 for a Yaris or similar with a search via Qatar’s site/Kayak to figures of 4 – 4.5k if I check direct with providers like Avis. It made me wonder if some were too cheap & therefore totally unreliable! I think I’m just going to spend some time over the bank holiday doing a proper trawl & book something that’s acceptable with a cancellable rate if possible in case it reduces later. It looks like, at the moment anyway, with the one way add on the Qashqai at £960 is a good deal for 3 weeks unlimited mileage.

[Annie]

@kaconym. Yes I have, it’s quoting me for ordinary cars but not 4WD. I’m wondering if it’s too far ahead for that.
Prices are eye watering, might be cheaper for one of our group to drive back to Alice and fly from there.

[phantomchickenz]

When booking, make sure you select Melbourne, Australia, and not Melbourne, Florida like I did!

[Hbommie]

Annie wrote:

@kaconym. Yes I have, it’s quoting me for ordinary cars but not 4WD. I’m wondering if it’s too far ahead for that.
Prices are eye watering, might be cheaper for one of our group to drive back to Alice and fly from there.

Had a good deal earlier this year, £500 with Hertz one way BNE to SYD for 4 weeks. The 4 weeks were the key as shorter rentals were more expensive. A bit of fiddling with city locations v airports may help also. I have a booking next year in Perth, half the price picking up from the city and a small drop off fee at the airport to make it convenient.

[Ruralite]

Yes I noticed the Melbourne Florida @phantomchicke nz!

I’ve tried a city location rather than airport hire, which would actually be more convenient for pick up when we move on, as we want a few days in the city to sightsee and recover from the flight first of all without paying to park a car we’re not actually using. Funnily enough city location is the one that has mostly either brought up ridiculous sums or just said not available. Maybe I’m too far ahead and should wait a couple of months and try again 🤷‍♀️