Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

GETTING AROUND AUSTRALIA 69
Two other large companies with
offices around Australia are:
• Europcar (& 1300/13 13 90 in
Australia, or 03/9330 6160, www.
deltaeuropcar.com.au; 877/940-
6900 in the U.S. and Canada;
11324/22233 in the U.K., www.
europcar.co.uk; 1/614 2800 in Ireland,
www.europcar.ie; 1800/556
680 in New Zealand). It has the
third largest fleet in Australia.
• Red Spot Car Rentals (& 1300/
668 810 in Australia, or 02/9317
5771; www.redspotrentals.com.
au). It has depots in Sydney, Melbourne,
Brisbane, and Cairns,
and about 25 other outlets,
mainly in New South Wales and
Victoria.
SAMPLE DRIVING
DISTANCES & TIMES
Here are a few sample road distances
between popular points and the minimum
time it takes to drive between
them.
Route Distance Approx. Driving Time
Cairns–Sydney 2,495km (1,547 miles) 29 hr. (allow 4–5 days)
Sydney–Melbourne 873km (541 miles) 15 hr. (allow 1–2 days)
Sydney–Perth 4,131km (2,561 miles) 51 hr. (allow 6–7 days)
Adelaide–Darwin 3,024km (1,875 miles) 31 hr. (allow 4–6 days)
Perth–Darwin 4,163km (2,581 miles) 49 hr. (allow 6–8 days)
A small sedan for zipping around a
city or touring a wine region will cost
anything from about A$45 to A$80
(US$29–US$52) a day. A feistier vehicle
with enough grunt to get you from
state to state will cost around A$70 to
A$100 (US$46–US$65) a day. Rentals
of a week or longer usually reduce by
A$5 (US$3.25) a day or so.
A regular car will get you to most
places in this book, but because the
country has a high number of
unpaved roads, it can make sense to
rent a 4WD vehicle. All of the major
car-rental companies rent them. They
are more expensive than a regular car,
but you can get them for as little as
A$75 (US$49) per day if you shop
around; rentals of a week or longer are
cheapest.
The rates quoted here are only a
guide. Many smaller local companies,
and the big guys, too, do competitive
specials, especially in tourist areas with
distinct off seasons. Advance purchase
rates, usually 7 to 21 days, can offer
significant savings.
INSURANCE Insurance for loss of,
or damage to, the car, and third-party
property insurance are usually
included, but read the agreement carefully,
because the fine print contains
information the front-desk staff may
not tell you. For example, damage to
the car body may be covered, but not
damage to the windshield or tires, or
damage caused by water or driving too
close to a bushfire.
The deductible, known as “excess” in
Australia, on insurance may be as high
as A$2,000 (US$1,300) for regular cars
and up to A$5,500 (US$3,575) on
four-wheel-drives and campervans. You
can reduce it, or avoid it altogether, by
paying a premium of between about
A$17 to A$47 (US$11–US$31) per
day on a car or 4WD, and around
A$25 to A$47 (US$16–US$31) per
day on a campervan. The amount of
the excess reduction premium depends
on the vehicle type and the extent of
reduction you choose. Your rental company
may bundle personal accident
insurance and baggage insurance into
this premium. And again, check the
conditions; some excess reduction payments
do not reduce excesses on singlevehicle
accidents, for example.