Back from South island New Zealand

evilerniex

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Helicopter trips to the glaciers are subjected to weather which may change in an instant. For my case, I woke up, open the window and look up. OK let's go NOW. 2 hours before.

There was a crash not too long ago and it ended up in the glacier crevasse. All onboard uplorry.
So u didnt book the heli trip beforehand? Are heli trips very popular and any chance tt it be fully booked?
 

WWH123

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Mine flew to top of Fox Glacier and landed for about 10 or 15 minutes then took off and flew past Frank Josef Glacier. Total time about 30 minutes. Supply more than demand. So, chance of not getting a ride is slim. Cost per pax about 2xx. But wife said was an experience of a lifetime. Rate was 1 to 1 or slightly better then. Now I wish I did the heli hike which means shorter helicopter ride but walking on the glacier.
So u didnt book the heli trip beforehand? Are heli trips very popular and any chance tt it be fully booked?
 

WWH123

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i did the counter clockwise loop. Landed at Christchurch then drove to Greymouth.
 

evilerniex

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Mine flew to top of Fox Glacier and landed for about 10 or 15 minutes then took off and flew past Frank Josef Glacier. Total time about 30 minutes. Supply more than demand. So, chance of not getting a ride is slim. Cost per pax about 2xx. But wife said was an experience of a lifetime. Rate was 1 to 1 or slightly better then. Now I wish I did the heli hike which means shorter helicopter ride but walking on the glacier.
Thanks for the info :)

I am doing counterclockwise too!
 

BlackCube

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Mine flew to top of Fox Glacier and landed for about 10 or 15 minutes then took off and flew past Frank Josef Glacier. Total time about 30 minutes. Supply more than demand. So, chance of not getting a ride is slim. Cost per pax about 2xx. But wife said was an experience of a lifetime. Rate was 1 to 1 or slightly better then. Now I wish I did the heli hike which means shorter helicopter ride but walking on the glacier.

So cheap? Why I saw on the website like 400+ per pax?
 

mata_hippo

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which car rental companies did you all go with in ur trips within the last 1-2 years?

the last time i rented a car in nz was 2012 things may have changed

ace, omega, jucy, apex and go rentals seem to be the cheaper ones compared to hertz, avis and thrifty...
 
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WWH123

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Take note, Ace, Jucy, Omega are the 2nd tier. Top tier ones like Hertz, Avis will have counters after customs. I went with Jucy using a Hyundai i30. Think was about $50 per day (not full insurance).

which car rental companies did you all go with in ur trips within the last 1-2 years?

the last time i rented a car in nz was 2012 things may have changed

ace, omega, jucy, apex and go rentals seem to be the cheaper ones compared to hertz, avis and thrifty...
 

WWH123

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I did not want to stay at Christchurch upon landing around noon. Drove straight to the West Coast via Arthur's Pass. Reach Greymouth around 5 plus. Kind of risk it with a red eye flight. Christchurch is kind of depressing after the quake some years back.

Thanks for the info :)

I am doing counterclockwise too!
 

BlackCube

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which car rental companies did you all go with in ur trips within the last 1-2 years?

the last time i rented a car in nz was 2012 things may have changed

ace, omega, jucy, apex and go rentals seem to be the cheaper ones compared to hertz, avis and thrifty...

Wants to know too!

Not sure who to go with.
 

WWH123

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Not much difference.

Avis, Hertz, Europcar are 1st tier car rental companies meaning they have pickup and drop off counters at airport.

Jucy, Omega, Ace are off site ones, where you need to go outside airport to pickup or return the vehicle. But usually they are quite near.

I used Jucy most of the time whether for business or leisure. Think I paid $50 per day for Hyundai i30 for my drive round South Island.



Wants to know too!

Not sure who to go with.
 

BlackCube

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Not much difference.

Avis, Hertz, Europcar are 1st tier car rental companies meaning they have pickup and drop off counters at airport.

Jucy, Omega, Ace are off site ones, where you need to go outside airport to pickup or return the vehicle. But usually they are quite near.

I used Jucy most of the time whether for business or leisure. Think I paid $50 per day for Hyundai i30 for my drive round South Island.

Ah. My return flight is in the early morning like 6+ am. It would be wiser to take those rental from airport right. So I can return directly there.

Do they have like easy transportation to airport that early at 4am?
 

Satki General

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just to add, typically the Tier 1 rental companies uses relatively newer cars while the Tier 2 companies tend to use the older cars bought from the T1 company or used cars imported from Japan etc. You may sometimes find some minor complains on trip advisor of experiencing car radio being tuned to Japanese station or having some Japanese wordings on the panels etc something like that :s13:
 

sendtolee

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just to add, typically the Tier 1 rental companies uses relatively newer cars while the Tier 2 companies tend to use the older cars bought from the T1 company or used cars imported from Japan etc. You may sometimes find some minor complains on trip advisor of experiencing car radio being tuned to Japanese station or having some Japanese wordings on the panels etc something like that :s13:

I won't be concerned about the radio. Most important to me is the car engine, brakes, lights and wiper are in good condition.
 

WWH123

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How is the in car gps there? Worth renting or shld just use hp google maps?
You would not need one for South Island really. It's just one straight road wherever you are heading for the day. That said, you should take screenshots of Google Maps around your destination.
 
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