KAYAK’s insights & trends for Queenstown Intl Airport car hire
Check out the latest trends and booking tips to hire a car in Queenstown Intl Airport with confidence.
How far in advance should you book car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport?
You should book your car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport around 83 days before your trip in order to get a below-average price.
What is the cheapest car hire company in Queenstown Intl Airport?
In the past 72 hours, the cheapest hire cars were found at EZU Car Rental ($5.22/day), Hao Car Rentals Limited ($5.66/day), and New Zealand Discount Car Rentals ($5.86/day).
What is the most popular car to hire in Queenstown Intl Airport?
Hires in the Small category (Toyota Corolla or similar) are the most popular option in Queenstown Intl Airport, costing $66/day on average. Some users have found deals as low as $14/day.
What is the cheapest month to hire a car in Queenstown Intl Airport?
The cheapest month to hire a car in Queenstown Intl Airport is May at an average cost of $28/day. December is the most expensive month to hire a car in Queenstown Intl Airport when prices are $66/day on average, which tends to be 120% above the yearly average hire price for Queenstown Intl Airport.
Which car hire company in Queenstown Intl Airport has the most locations?
New Zealand Discount Car Rentals, Snap Rentals, Sunnycars and Thrifty each operate 2 locations in Queenstown Intl Airport, more than any other car hire company.
Queenstown Intl Airport car hire price comparison by vehicle type
Find the right car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport by comparing prices across vehicle types.
Small
Medium
Large
SUV
Van
Pickup truck
Luxury
Small cars
$18 - $136
All Car Types
$49 - $137
How much does it cost to hire a small car in Queenstown Intl Airport?
How much does it cost to hire a medium car in Queenstown Intl Airport?
How much does it cost to hire a large car in Queenstown Intl Airport?
How much does it cost to hire an SUV in Queenstown Intl Airport?
How much does it cost to hire a van in Queenstown Intl Airport?
How much does it cost to hire a pickup truck in Queenstown Intl Airport?
How much does it cost to hire a luxury car in Queenstown Intl Airport?
Small car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport typically costs around $45 per day. The best time to book is May, when prices average $18 per day, which is about 60% less than the yearly average. Small cars are usually 44% cheaper than the average car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport, making them ideal for budget-conscious travellers.
Medium car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport typically costs around $61 per day. The best time to book is September, when prices average $34 per day, which is about 45% less than the yearly average. Medium cars are usually 24% cheaper than the average car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport, offering a good balance of space and value.
Large car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport typically cost around $79 per day. The best time to book is June, when prices average $39 per day, which is about 51% less than the yearly average. Large cars can be 2% cheaper than the average car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport, offering more comfort for longer trips at a reasonable price.
SUV hire in Queenstown Intl Airport typically costs around $85 per day. The best time to book is May, when prices average $47 per day, which is about 45% less than the yearly average. SUVs are typically 6% more expensive than the average car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport but provide extra space and capability for groups or road trips.
Van hire in Queenstown Intl Airport typically costs around $118 per day. The best time to book is May, when prices average $80 per day, which is about 33% less than the yearly average. Vans are typically 33% more expensive than the average car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport but are the best choice for families or groups needing maximum passenger capacity.
Pickup truck hire in Queenstown Intl Airport typically costs around $146 per day. The best time to book is September, when prices average $70 per day, which is about 53% less than the yearly average. Pickup trucks are typically 46% more expensive than the average car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport but are ideal for hauling gear or outdoor adventures.
Luxury car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport typically costs around $109 per day. The best time to book is May, when prices average $57 per day, which is about 48% less than the yearly average. Luxury cars are typically 27% more expensive than the average car hire in Queenstown Intl Airport but deliver premium comfort and style for special occasions.
Good to know
Most popular agency
Most popular car type
Average price
Good deal
EZU Car Rental
Large
$59/day
$38/day
Top tips for hiring a car at Queenstown Intl airport
When you get a car hire at Queenstown International Airport (ZQN), you get more flexibility with your journey to the city centre and beyond, compared to alternative methods of transport. If you get a car hire, you can get to your destination directly rather than having to take public transport, saving you time. For instance, you can drive to Queenstown from the airport in about 10min, whereas, if you get public transport, it takes around twice that time and you also have to abide by the bus schedule.
Queenstown International Airport has a selection of car hire companies that you can choose from, including SIXT and Europcar, so you will find it easy to get a suitable vehicle. When you have arrived at the airport and collected your luggage, you will find the car hire companies, like SIXT, are located in the Domestic Arrivals Hall. After you’ve completed your documentation, you’ll be taken out to the car park at the front of the airport to collect your vehicle.
When it comes to dropping off your car hire at Queenstown International Airport, you can drive on the 6A motorway from Queenstown before turning off onto the Southern Scenic Route. You’ll then reach a roundabout where you need to take a left onto Lucas Place, which takes you to the terminal. You will then see signs for ‘Rental Car Returns’. Each car company has its own parking spaces.
Most of the Queenstown International Airport car hire companies offer comprehensive working hours, which makes it easy for you to pick up and drop off your vehicle. For instance, SIXT is generally open from 08:00 to 21:30 every day of the week. If you need to return your car outside these hours, you can do so by parking your vehicle in the SIXT parking bays and putting the keys in the dropbox at the airport branch.
25% of our users found a car hire at Queenstown Intl airport for $45 or less
Book your car hire at Queenstown Intl airport at least 3 weeks before your trip in order to get a below-average price
FAQs about hiring a car at Queenstown Intl airport
What documents are needed to get a car at Queenstown International Airport?
You need to be 21 years of age to get a car hire at this airport. You will also need to provide certain documents, such as a valid driver’s licence. For those that are not New Zealand nationals, you will also need to provide a valid passport. You can pay with all major credit cards, providing they are in the name of the lead driver. Most debit cards are also accepted, but you should be aware that you’ll need to pay a deposit and not all companies allow it.
What road laws do I need to know when driving a car from Queenstown International Airport?
You need to know the laws of the lanes before you take to the road in New Zealand. For example, all passengers in the car must wear a seat belt at all times, with children under eight being required to be in a suitable child restraint. Drink driving is taken very seriously, so if you’re found to have more than 0.05% of alcohol content in your system, you will be prosecuted accordingly. The speed limits in the country are generally 110 km/h for motorways, 100 km/h for rural roads and 50 km/h for urban settings.
How can I get an eco-friendly option for my car hire from Queenstown International Airport?
If you want a car hire at Queenstown International Airport that is environmentally friendly, then you can choose a hybrid or electric option. Hybrid cars, like a Toyota Auris from EZU, are more fuel efficient than normal vehicles, so they release fewer emissions into the atmosphere. Electric cars don’t run on petrol, so are a green option and help improve air quality.
How much does it cost to hire a car at Queenstown Intl airport?
On average a car hire at Queenstown Intl airport costs $70 per day.
Which car hire companies will pick you up at Queenstown Intl airport?
Car hire companies that offer shuttle or pick-up services from Queenstown Intl airport to off-airport locations include Snap Rentals, Budget, Thrifty, Dollar, EZI, Europcar, JUCY , Hertz, Ace Rental Cars, and Go Rentals.
Queenstown Intl Airport car rental reviews and directory
Fast process in picking up my car. The counter staff very experienced in explaining the policy and clearly direct me to pick up the car. The returning car process also good.
Car was very comfortable, clean , more than enough power, pick up was sooo easy, drop off a little disappointing as there were no persons on the counter and we really wanted to know about the deposit return. In the end we had to drop the key and run for our boarding, but was sorted very easy next day by phone call.
Friendly staff, easy pickup, great car. Well... The Bluetooth didn't with but that wasn't that important...
10.0 Wonderful
Anonymous, Oct 2024
Intermediate SUV
Good and pretty easy for offsite rental. The car was fine. Slight scratches etc on the outside but this was all noted and didn’t affect our drive whatsoever! We were really happy and would happily rent again!
We tried to extend bring forward our booking but could not get the extra 4days required … even with an upgrade .. no cars avail Not enough staff Staff forgot to give us chains we had paid for - we had to come back and get them First car had no usb charger !! First got a stone chip - we returned and got charged $52 or so dollars - but did get to swap car
I have already answered 2 previous questionnaires! All was great. Instructions on how to find the office again on the day of departure would be good. Car was fab. Excellent response to phone call when alarm went off.
Liked the new low milage Rav4 we rented. Not happy about the fuel sercvice charge added to our bill. The car was not "topped off with fuel when we picked it up as I found out the first time I refueled and drove almost a 100 kilometers before the gauge appeared when I picked up the car. i returned the vehicle with at least as much fuel in it as when I picked it up
Overall pick up and drop off experience was good, only issue was that it was it was a diesel which was surprising and would have been good to know beforehand that we had to pay RUC.
Pickup was bad. We were just told to sign the electronic keypad (wording small). Then we were handed keys and told to go out the door and get our car. There was NO ONE to inspect or go over the car (not the one we booked) with us anywhere! Two days after we picked up the car we received an email saying we had around an hour to take pictures of our rental and attach them. Too Late! We were not told that at the end we would have to pay extra $. The pickup guy was nice but off site due to staffing shortages. The drivers side of the car had no floor mat. Maybe that was the 200$ extra you charged us.
This would have to be the worst car rental experience that I have ever experienced having rented cars in most continents. I will recommend everyone NOT renting from EZU. Firstly, it took well over 30 mins for the van to pick us up from the airport. Then the car given to us was over 10 years old and had over 210k kms on the clock. We picked the car up at night. Inside the car was a mess and I didn’t even want to sit in the car as it was filthy with 10 years of grime on the inside.. The rental form had that there were no defects on the car and given that we couldn’t see at night we looked the next morning. It would be lucky if any panels of the car weren’t scratched. We could barely get the car over 80 kms per hour and the car would then start to shake making the car very unsafe. We called the office to complain about these things and never got a return phone call. Having rented a lot of cars over the world, I am sorry to say that this is by far the worst experience that I have ever had. The only positive comment is that your team didn’t try and claim damage insurance on the car when I returned
2.0 Poor
Harold, Nov 2024
SUV
The cars were advertised as being "pick-up at the airport". They were not. We spent over half an hour extra time waiting for and being taken to their off-airport base (each way). We complained. They could not care less. Then, although I had booked the car using my Amex Platinum card on Kayak, which covers my insurance excess, they told me they would not accept it and tried to sell me their insurance at $35 per day. This is a rort. I doubt anyone ever reads these Surveys. I request someone very senior from Kayak contacts me within the next 7 days, or I will write to your CEO and write some very unpleasant reviews on Social Media.
10.0 Wonderful
Anonymous, Nov 2024
Compact
Excellent very friendly
8.0 Very Good
Anonymous, Nov 2024
Intermediate
Good experience, would recommend. The only downside is the location is outside the airport so you might need to wait for pick up / factor in commute time
We got what we paid for and the transfers were prompt.
10.0 Wonderful
richard, Jan 2025
Compact
Good on petroleum handing well
10.0 Wonderful
Anonymous, Oct 2024
Economy
Amazing and safe car. Friendly staff. Easy and quick pick up and drop off.
10.0 Wonderful
Anonymous, Aug 2024
Economy
They were great. Very friendly and helpful.
10.0 Wonderful
Anonymous, May 2024
Compact
Vehicle was very clean and the young Lady whom transferred us to the Airport was Super friendly, our 1st experience with Yes Rentals so we will be keen to see how the next rental pans out as we did rent in a quiet period 👍
2.0 Poor
Anonymous, Feb 2023
Compact
Rude customer service. Took over an hour for 3 people to pick up their vehicles, all of whom had issues with what was booked online vs what was available at pick up. The conformation email confirmed which credit cards were accepted but when i tried to pay, they rejected my credit card and just said no, not that one - even though it’s listed as accepted in the email. There are no facilities on site. No bathrooms, water or even a seat inside. There is a bench outside you could sit on. You are in a shipping container in the middle of a gravel pit. Our car was dirty. Greasy fingers all over the window screen and so dusty inside. It clearly hadn’t had a clean for a long time. Car was VERY basic. You might save $100 but it’s not worth the time, effort or delays created by staff would make it clear they would rather be anywhere else. Only positive would be that the car was a hybrid so driving all over for a long weekend only cost us $20 in petrol.
Drop off the as too fast from International terminal and directions not well labeled.
8.0 Very Good
Anonymous, Oct 2023
Full-size SUV
The staff was very friendly and informative. Not just about the car but also about parking etc.
10.0 Wonderful
Anonymous, Apr 2023
Compact
All round easy and good service
2.0 Poor
Anonymous, Mar 2023
Economy
I did not enjoy this experience. Reception was unclean. Staff were unhelpful, argumentative and unfriendly. Also appeared to be untrained. It was slooooooooow. Staff were defensive - clearly I was not the first person that day who was reacting to the poor communication and system.
10.0 Wonderful
Anonymous, Mar 2023
Full-size SUV
Beautiful vehicle. Easy process and communication. Exceptional experience.
10.0 Wonderful
Bonnacrist, Jan 2023
Compact
The staff are accomodating and very helpful. The car is clean and worth the pay. Highly recommended
The overall experience is excellent. Just that the drop off instruction was misleading, the link to map led to a different location.
2.0 Poor
Anonymous, Mar 2025
Intermediate SUV
Cancelled my rental car unintentionally and they wouldn’t give it back to me. Ended up having to go with another option that cost $1000 additional.
10.0 Wonderful
Tsu Lynn, Apr 2024
Intermediate SUV
Easy booking, pick-up and drop off. Car was clean in good condition.
2.0 Poor
Anonymous, Feb 2024
Compact SUV
There was three people working but only one person manning a computer. Check-in per person takes about 20 minutes and there's lots of printing and signing paperwork. The car smelled like gasoline had been spilled in it, the infant car seat was broken and unable to be tightened and they were unable to provide a replacement! The second car in the party was not even available as they run on a thin margin of car availability and it hadn't been returned. When it was returned it had no gas (on empty with notification lights) and they refused to gas it. This car had about 60k miles on it and was in poor condition. Third rental car in the group battery died and had to be jumped to get back to the airport. Yay!
KAYAK and its partners wish to use cookies or similar technologies to store and/or access information on and about your device and process personal data such as your IP address, device identifiers etc., in order to improve your experience on the site, to analyse navigation, to offer and measure personalised advertising, and to facilitate sharing on social networks. We also allow the use of third-party cookies (including those from our advertising partners) on our sites.
By clicking 'Accept', you consent to your data being processed by 0 vendors on this web site for the purposes described in this notice. You can review the vendors and their individual processing purposes on the .
To review individual processing purposes and cookie categories, please click ’Select individual purposes’. You can review your choices and withdraw your consent at any time by clicking the ’Privacy Preferences’ link in the page side navigation.
