Holiday Autos

[kiwi2768]

Looking to hire a car for five days in March - pick up at MEL on a Monday evening, drop off at MEL on Saturday midday. Holiday Autos is by far the cheapest at AU$160 for a Corolla. All other prices from the car hire companies are $207+ for a Corolla/Yaris/i20. Is there anything I should be aware of before I book via Holiday Autos?

 

[kiwi2768]

Never mind, I just locked eyes on Hertz's 15% off ad Its only a $16 more than Holiday Autos.

 

[AdMEL]

It looks like they use Ace (acecarrentals.com.au). I don't know much about Ace, but a couple of things to note:

- Ace is off airport (Holiday Autos website doesn't make this clear, but some of the higher priced cars show 'Airport Terminal Pick-up', which the $160 Corolla does not), so you'll need to get a shuttle bus;
- Ace website shows $30 extra outside of 8am-5pm - Holiday Autos website doesn't seem to show this, so you may or may not be charged this;
- $160 Corolla is manual (though it doesn't appear Ace have manual Corollas!)
- Looks like their cars are a bit older (2-3 years)

 

[AdMEL]

Never mind, I just locked eyes on Hertz's 15% off ad Its only a $16 more than Holiday Autos.

I would definitely go with that!

I also note your profile says you are Velocity Gold - have you taken up the car hire benefit? If you have and you've chosen Europcar, or if you haven't yet and you do and choose Europcar, you get 20% off. If you do, or have, chosen Hertz, you don't get any discount other than what they offer to the general public (such as the 15% off).

Also, if you have an Amex Plat Charge Card, you can get 20% off through Hertz.

 

[DeKa]

FYI Holiday autos charge in AUD from a UK bank, so some cards (HSBC, ANZ and maybe more) will hit you with an overseas transaction fee.

Others, like Citi, will give you an overseas points bonus on relevant cards (but no fee as it's charged in AUD

 

[Kangarucci]

Recently used Ace car rentals in NZ and had no problems with them. Hired an auto Corolla which was a couple of years old. Reasonable price even with insurance added on.