Are you taking the family on holiday within Australia this year? With cheap regional air fares and big distances to cover, it doesn't always make sense to drive your own car to your interstate holiday destination.
If you are travelling with the extended family or are going away with the grandparents in tow, you won't all fit in one regular sized car rental. In which case, you might be wondering how to get around once you get there.
Here are some of the pros and cons of your car rental options.
Hire a single large vehicle
Many car rental companies will keep some bigger vehicles on their books and you could consider hiring a minibus or SUV. The main advantages of this are that you only pay for fuel and insurance for one vehicle. It can be more fun all travelling together and if going out in the evening, only one person has to be the designated driver.
Not all hire car companies rent vehicles that seat more than five, however, so you may have to shop around. Also, not everyone is confident enough to drive a larger car, so you will need to make sure at least one other person in the group is comfortable in the role of holiday driver.
Hire a couple of smaller cars
Hiring two smaller cars allows greater flexibility, if different people in the group want to spend their time doing different things. Sometimes the hire cost of a van can be quite expensive and two economy vehicles will work out at a cheaper daily rate. The longer the hire period, the cheaper the daily rate becomes, so do your comparison calculations according to the length of your stay. You will need two drivers, however, and smaller cars might not have the luggage capacity of the larger vehicle.
Use a driver service
You could use a professional driver and a hired mini-bus to move your group around. With room for everyone and the ability to be dropped at one spot and picked up at another, this can make life very simple. The obvious drawback to this arrangement, of course, is the price. A perfect plan for holidays in Bali or Thailand, but highly expensive for domestic holidaying, so you will need to balance the cost against the convenience.
Remember, even in these days of online booking for everything, you can still call a local car hire firm and ask their advice. Once they have an idea of your group's size and requirements, they can tell you what would be the cheapest and easiest rental option.
Share4 June 2015
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