New Zealand Campervan Relocations: How to Get a Free Campervan Hire

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Why Are Campervan Relocations Free (or Extremely Cheap)?

With many campervan rental companies having multiple depots around the country, they often need to transfer vehicles between their branches for new hires. This is usually an expensive process for rental companies who often use trains and trucks to transfer fleets across the country. However, by offering campervan relocations, rental companies vastly reduce their costs on vehicle transfers by getting backpackers, holidaymakers and even locals to drive vehicles to the company’s chosen depot.

So why are campervan relocations free? Well, let’s be honest, free campervan rentals are a great incentive for us to rent a campervan, while the rental company gets to relocate their vehicles in the cheapest way possible. It’s a win-win!

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What is the Catch with Campervan Relocations in New Zealand?

Like most things that come free of charge, there’s a catch. You can only rent the campervan for a limited time. Campervan rental companies will state in their campervan relocation agreement that the vehicle will be relocated to the destination within a certain amount of days. Don’t worry, the time specified is usually enough to leisurely make your way between destinations – just not enough time to take a big detour or stay somewhere between destinations for a few days. However, some rentals offer optional extra days to add to the rental, usually at a cheaper price than the original rental rate, so it’s still worth looking into.

The second-most obvious drawback of campervan relocation is that you can only arrange campervan relocations between a limited number of locations. You won’t have as much choice in where you start and end your rental as you would with a normal campervan rental – more of that in the section below.

Other Limitations of New Zealand Campervan Relocations:

• Only one tank of fuel will be included in the relocation rate at the most – the rest of the fuel you will have to pay for
• You will need to still pay an insurance bond (security deposit) as with a normal rental. There will be the option to reduce the excess by paying a daily excess waiver fee
• The ferry crossing between the North Island and South Island is not always included
• The availability of campervans to relocate differs between the seasons and locations.

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What are the Most Popular Campervan Relocation Routes in New Zealand?

Campervan relocation opportunities are only available around New Zealand where there is a demand for them. There are certain locations offering much more campervan relocations than others. This is due to a number of factors, such as that most travellers in New Zealand rent campervans travelling from north to south and the majority of campervan rental depots are located by New Zealand’s busiest international airports.

The most popular routes for campervan relocations include Christchurch Airport to Auckland Airport and Queenstown Airport to Christchurch Airport. Relocation is also available, though not as frequently, from Auckland Airport to Christchurch Airport, Christchurch to Picton, Christchurch to Greymouth and Queenstown Airport to Invercargill Airport.

The Most Popular New Zealand Locations for Campervan Relocation Pick-Ups

Here are the most popular campervan relocation locations for pick-ups in order of the most popular to the least popular:

• Christchurch
• Queenstown
• Auckland
• Wellington
• Dunedin

Picton, Nelson and Invercargill are also destinations in demand but with slightly fewer relocation opportunities.

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Which New Zealand Campervan Rental Companies Offer Relocations?

So how do you find free and cheap campervan rentals in New Zealand? Some campervan rental companies post relocation opportunities directly on their website, while others can be found on campervan relocations aggregator websites.

Campervan rental companies that offer relocations include:

• Wilderness
• Travellers Autobarn
• Jucy Rentals
• Maui
• Spaceships
• Cheapa Campa
• Apollo Camper
• Hippie Camper
• Britz.

You can compare many of these companies in The Best Motorhome & Campervan Rentals in New Zealand and The Cheapest Motorhome & Campervan Rentals in New Zealand.