Tuesday, June 08, 2010
One way car rental in Australia
I picked up a used copy of Bill Bryson's In A Sunburned Country from Spectator Books last weekend. Now, I want to go to Australia. One thing I've always wanted to do is drive across the country from Sydney to Perth, preferably in an Australian V8 sedan. But look at these one-way rates. Crikey!
Might be better off buying one at the start and selling it on the other side.
ReplyDeleteThat is one of my favorite books. I actually hiked a part of the Appalacian Trail after reading,"A Walk in the Woods". Bill Bryson has a habit of making even the most trivial topic interested to me. Australia is on my list of most wanted places to travel.
ReplyDelete@F1O: I was just thinking that. I think I'm just going to take the train instead and maybe a short trip in a rental car.
ReplyDelete@MattC: I saw that Woods book in bookstores for ages but never picked it up until recently. Now, I'm hooked. He is seriously funny.
I think if you ring the hire company you can get a better price than that. The websites are often inaccurate when there are special circumstances like one-way rentals. When are you going to Australia?
ReplyDeleteAlso, why would you want to drive across Australia?? I know it sounds romantic but seriously, it's 5,000kms of desert. Better to do short drives like the Great Ocean Road and fly the rest.
ReplyDelete@Andrew. Oh, I don't know if I'm going yet. Just daydreaming.
ReplyDeleteIt's not all desert but even the desert part you'd find amazing. Do it in a camper van. You'll love it.
ReplyDeleteThose aren't even V8s, or Australian. I second the buy suggestion - try the local second hand car websites (drive.com.au, carsales.com.au, etc). You can get fairly cheap campers too (Wicked campers), but they are small, slow vans.
ReplyDeleteAlternative is indeed the train - also a few thousand $, but a great experience. Less independence though.
If you stop by Canberra, you can have a drive in a German V8 - a 6.9L one :)
@Lukas: Thanks for the tips. If I'm ever in your neck of the woods, I'll definitely let you know!
ReplyDelete@John L and @Lukas: When you rent cars in Australia, is it usually unlimited mileage, or do rental car companies also charge mileage as extra?
ReplyDeleteIt varies, but in at least some cases there are mileage allowances - something like 100km free, and then you pay for any extra, either beforehand (in anticipation) or after the fact.
ReplyDeleteDefinately something to check for a cross-country drive, but at the same time I would think a "pickup SYD dropoff PER" would be a bit of a hint to the rental companies.