How to Rent a Car in Queenstown (in 2026)

Last Updated November 17, 2025||New Zealand

The best way to explore New Zealand is by having your own car or a campervan! It gives you the ultimate freedom to drive around and explore some of the coolest spots in the country without the stress and inconvenience of trying to rely on public transport (which exists but isn’t great).

We’ve spent over 10 months in New Zealand, mostly based near Queenstown, so we’ve done our fair share of exploring – and trust us when we say, having your own vehicle is the way to go!

Person in a blue T-shirt sits on the open rear door sill of a dark blue Toyota RAV4 rental, adjusting a sandal on a grassy roadside turnout near Queenstown, New Zealand. Behind the car, Lake Wakatipu and rugged mountains frame the lush, fern-covered landscape. — *We rented a Toyota RAV4, and it was great for road trips*

There are so many scenic drives you can do from Queenstown (like visiting Milford Sound), and awesome hikes nearby that are only easily accessible by car (Wye Creek Track is a must-do)!

And if you’re planning a road trip around the South Island, you’ll definitely want the flexibility of having your own vehicle as well.

In this post, we’ll share everything you need to know about renting a car from Queenstown Airport – including the most common mistakes people make (such as waiting till the last minute to book), what you can expect when you land at the airport and some important things to know when booking your car rental here in New Zealand.

We also share exactly how we find the most affordable car rental deals (+ insurance), so keep reading to learn how we got that deal!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links which means if you decide to use the links and make a valid purchase, we will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

What you need to know about renting a car from Queenstown Airport

A scenic aerial view of a winding road along the hills near Queenstown, New Zealand, with a single red car driving toward a bend. The landscape features golden dry grass, clusters of green trees, and the deep turquoise waters of Lake Wakatipu. — *The drives in NZ are unlike anywhere we’ve ever been!*

There are so many hikes, waterfalls, hidden gems, and just stunning road trips to do from Queenstown, so having a car is a huge plus. Getting out and exploring will feel like a breeze with a car!

In this post, we’ll go over everything you need to know about renting a car in Queenstown (and why we suggest renting it from Queenstown Airport) – but if you’re just here to figure out where to book from, our personal suggestion is booking a car through DiscoverCars.

This platform collects information from all the different car rental companies in the specific city and shows you the best price. It’s what we use for all of our travels, wherever we go!

But if you’re here to find more information about the rental cars, what it’s like driving around New Zealand (on the other side of the road for some), and common mistakes, then keep reading…

TL-DR: Book your rental car in Queenstown through DiscoverCars 🚗

Things to consider before renting your car

A winding mountain highway leading uphill toward low-lying clouds, with a white car driving ahead on the two-lane road. Green shrubs and rocky slopes line the roadside, and a yellow sign on the right points to the Temple Basin ski area. The scene captures the dramatic alpine drive through New Zealand’s Southern Alps. — *The roads in New Zealand are left-hand drive*

When renting your car, there are a few things to look out for when making the booking.

These are things such as the size and comfort of the car, whether you want a car with an automatic or manual transmission, especially since you’ll be driving on the other side of the road here in New Zealand.

The majority of the cars that can be rented in Queenstown and New Zealand in general are automatic cars, but you can also find manual shift cars as well, even though it’s less common.

For comfort, it’s definitely better to have a bigger car, but because of the narrow roads, it may be nicer to drive a smaller car. A bigger car is usually also more costly, so that’s something to keep in mind as well.

We go more into details on car insurance further down the post, but for now, here are some things to consider and to look for on the booking page when renting a car in advance.

Transmission: Automatic vs manual (most cars are automatic in NZ)
Size & comfort: If you plan to hike and visit some more off-the-beaten-path places, a 4×4 vehicle might be nice to have.
Parking: Is there parking available at or near your place of accommodation?
Extra drivers: Will there be one or more drivers? Additional drivers often cost an extra $25-100 per driver (flat fee). Crazy, I know! But it might be nice if multiple people want to drive.
Is an international driver’s license needed? You will most likely need a translated version (into English) of your driver’s license if it’s not already.
Insurance: Consider whether you should get full insurance through DiscoverCars or the rental company (more on this below).
Drop-off location: Select the same drop-off location for the best rates (in this case, Queenstown Airport) and then return it back at the airport, as it will save you money.

Common mistakes people make when renting a car in Queenstown

Cascading waterfalls near Milford Sound. — *Driving on a rainy day in Milford Sound*

One of the biggest mistakes people make when renting a car in Queenstown is waiting too long to rent a car.

The longer you wait, the more you’ll see the prices continuously go up! Especially around the peak seasons (summer and winter).

The busiest time of year in Queenstown and New Zealand is around Christmas, New Year’s, and around Lunar New Year. So, from mid-December through mid-February is usually the most expensive time.

The sooner you know your travel plans to the South Island, the sooner you should book your car to get the best possible rates, especially since renting a car in New Zealand is usually not that cheap.

Another common mistake we see people make here is with regard to safety. If you’re arriving in New Zealand via a long international flight, please don’t plan a long drive upon arrival!

It’s not safe to drive when you’re tired after a long journey, so planning a few days in Queenstown at the start of your trip is the way to go! For reference, Queenstown is only 7.3 km from the airport.

Read our 3-day itinerary to Queenstown here 🏡

Getting picked up vs picking up the car

Screenshot showing three car rental location options with prices in New Zealand dollars. The options are: “In terminal” for NZ$1,471.23, “Free shuttle service” for NZ$416.33, and “Car rental center” for NZ$1,600.77. Each option includes a short description of where the rental desk and car are located. — *The cost difference between the car rental location*

One of the best ways to save money is by choosing a car rental company that picks you up from the airport instead of having their cars right at the airport. That slight “inconvenience,” you could say, is what oftentimes makes a car rental company less expensive.

One of the other perks of renting from one of the companies outside of the airport is that the queue to pick up the car is a lot shorter. Sure, you have to drive 5 minutes away, but you don’t need to wait an hour in line to pick up your car.

Maybe during the off-season, it doesn’t make much of a difference, but during the summer months, if you’re not one of the first ones off your plane, you can easily wait a while to get your car rental.

When you want to get picked up to go to the car rental place outside the airport, you might have to call the rental place after you’ve picked up your luggage (if you have any). There’s a public phone available at the airport if you need.

Once you’ve reached out to them, they will pick you up in 10-15 minutes. Some companies also have a shuttle that always just runs to the airport every 15-30 minutes.

Smiling traveller standing on the tarmac at Queenstown Airport with a large backpack, wearing a black outfit, with a Qantas airplane and the Remarkables mountain range behind him under a sunny sky. — *As you can see, Queenstown Airport is pretty small!*

View from an airplane window of Queenstown Airport, with the rugged Remarkables mountain range in the background under a bright blue sky. The airport buildings and a yellow airport vehicle are visible near the runway. — *As you can see, Queenstown Airport is pretty small!*

After booking your rental, you can see in the confirmation PDF file how you will get picked up and if you need to contact them after arriving.

Queenstown ZQN is a small airport, and Kiwis are incredibly friendly, so you shouldn’t have any issues with this.

At the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference and what type of car you’re looking for during your time in New Zealand. The beauty is that there are plenty of different options, so you will definitely find a car that suits your needs.

How to find the cheapest car rental in Queenstown

*Scenic drives by Piopiotahi Milford Sound (left) and Aoraki Mount Cook (right)*

When looking at the price of car rentals from either Queenstown Airport or downtown Queenstown, there’s usually not a big difference in price between the two.

Some car rentals range from around 45-80 NZD/day, depending on the size of the car and the time of year. The price mentioned is traditionally the price during the summer months in New Zealand, and then it gets cheaper in the quieter season when you come in.

For reference, the most expensive month is December and the cheapest month is May.

To get the best possible price, we always book through DiscoverCars. DiscoverCars is a search engine for car rentals that compares prices between all the different car rental companies available in a given location (so it does all the work for us).

You can use this widget below to browse and check the cost of rental prices:

We’ve used the platform all around the world, it’s great, and it has saved us a bunch of money. We love that you can also purchase rental insurance through the platform, which makes it a lot easier, too.

We’ve used them in the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, and Portugal & Madeira, and we have never had any issues with them.

They have 24-hour customer support, and anytime we’ve had to modify a booking, we’ve just sent them an email or given them a call – and they’ve gotten back to us right away with no issues.

Best practices when renting a car in Queenstown

Pay attention to the drop-off time

More often than not, car rentals work for 24 hours at a time. So when booking your rental car, pay attention to the pick-up and drop-off times.

If you are somewhat flexible with the timing, make sure the drop-off time is at the same time of day as your pick-up time or slightly earlier so you won’t be charged for an extra day.

This way, you avoid paying the fee for an additional day (note: this isn’t a hidden fee; this is just normal when renting a car in most places).

For example, if you pick the car up at 2 pm, then make sure to return the car at or before 2 pm on the day you want to, so you don’t get charged for an additional day.

Basically, the point is to maximize the time you have the car and not to overpay for an extra day if you don’t need to.

Car rental insurance

This one is up to your personal preference, but we always get full insurance when renting a car. We’ve always done this and find the ease of having full insurance worth the extra money rather than worrying about anything happening to the car.

It does cost a bit of extra money, but the peace of mind we get from it is worth it. Especially if you’re 2-3 people splitting the cost, it doesn’t end up being too much!

Even though we are extremely comfortable driving on the “wrong side” of the road (some people would just call it left, haha), you just never know. So having the insurance is great.

If you are not as comfortable driving on the other side of the road, then it could be even more important to have that insurance.

Even when parking at trailheads, someone accidentally dinging your car and driving off can happen, so having the insurance is really helpful.

There are a few ways you can get your rental car insured:

Through DiscoverCars
Through your Credit Card
Directly through the rental company (most of the time, the best deal)

Let’s look at each of them…

Through DiscoverCars:

We usually choose to get our insurance through DiscoverCars when we rent cars through them.

We do this because we trust the company and we know they can help handle any issues that may arise. The convenience and the practicality are the main reasons we usually use them.

The downside of doing it this way is that the rental company will file the claim first, and then you get charged before getting reimbursed by DiscoverCars. So it’s basically like using a third party, and it takes longer for the claim and everything to process, which is one of the downsides.

If you don’t want to worry about having your card charged first before getting reimbursed, then I wouldn’t suggest choosing this method.

Through your Credit Card:

Some credit cards offer insurance for car rentals. You can call your credit card provider and ask them if they cover – and if so, ask them for the policy.

If you have a good credit card, this may be the best option as insurance through credit cards is usually quite good, especially if you’re from the US or Canada (they seem to just have amazing coverage).

It’s also quite easy to deal with customer support from your bank for claims and such, rather than car rental companies. Definitely something to consider if you have a good credit card.

Directly through the rental company:

It’s also an option to get insurance directly through the rental company. If you decide to do this, you will likely have to pay for the insurance once you pick up the car rental (versus upon booking, which is what you do when paying for DiscoverCars’ insurance).

This way, you deal only directly with the car rental company in case any damage happens to the car.

This is maybe the simplest way, but the downside of this is that it is only you and the car rental company – you won’t get help from DiscoverCars’ support team or your credit card.

Please note that you should NOT get insurance both directly with the company and with your CC or through DiscoverCars. One insurance is enough!

Our personal preference is to get full insurance through DiscoverCars upon booking the car rental, but it is up to you what you decide to do!

What to do when picking up your rental car

Bring a credit card and your ID (important!)

This is very important! Please check the terms after booking your rental and what you need to bring. A physical credit card is often required (we’ve had an issue with this in the past). We always bring both a MasterCard and a Visa just in case.

Also, please note that in some cases, it is the primary driver’s credit card that needs to be used (once we only brought Josie’s credit card, but Dom wanted to drive, and they wouldn’t allow it).

The company will also need to take a copy of your passport or driver’s license (sometimes both) for their records.

Check for scratches and cracks

Depending on the type of insurance you have chosen for your car rental in Queenstown, it’s always a good idea to check for scratches on the car and cracks in the windshield. Take a video of the car as you walk around it before leaving the parking lot.

Make sure you film any scratches and/or cracks that you notice (photos aren’t always enough these days). This way, you have documentation for any damage that was already done to the vehicle before you picked it up.

It should already be documented on their side, but it’s still good to have proof. If you have full insurance, this is less important – but it takes less than 2 minutes to do so, so it doesn’t hurt to do it.

One of the reasons why we like full insurance is that you don’t have to worry about this too much. It’s still good to make sure the car is safe and good to drive, but you don’t have to worry about all the little scratches and all that.

Check the tire pressure

This is usually not an issue, but something like that is easy to check before you leave the car rental.

One time, when we picked up a car rental (years ago), the tire pressure was visibly low (may have even been punctured). For that reason, we always suggest checking the tires before leaving the car rental place for your own safety.

All you really need to do is check the tires from the outside. It’s just a best practice so that, in case the pressure is off, you can ask them to fix it right then and there so that you don’t have to deal with this while you’re enjoying your road trip!

Check the gas gauge

Quickly check or ask the employee if the fuel for the car should be full-to-full. If so, double-check that the gas gauge is actually full when you turn on the car. If it is, then you’re good to go.

In case the policy is not full-to-full, quickly make a note of how much gas is in the car. Take a picture for your own recollection. Most of the time, the employee will do it with you, but it’s good to do it as well. This should also be noted on the paperwork you get from the rental company!

Also, try not to fill up gas right next to the airport or car rental locations. Usually, you pay a premium at these places. If you can try and fill the car up 10-15 km away from where you rented the car, you’ll find cheaper prices.

⛽️ Read our guide on the best apps for New Zealand and learn how you can save money on gas ⛽️

What it’s like driving in New Zealand

A rural highway stretches toward tall, rugged mountains under a clear blue sky. The road is lined with grass, trees, and a roadside sign that reads “Share the drive home.” The towering peaks of New Zealand’s Southern Alps rise dramatically in the background. — *The scenery along the drives in NZ is incredibly beautiful*

The major difference is, of course, that they’re driving on the left-hand side of the road here in New Zealand. It seems daunting, but you do get used to it pretty quickly.

On the South Island, some stretches of road get very busy (for example, the road to Aoraki Mount Cook) while others are more quiet. If you are on a busy road and there are lots of cars behind you, pull over when safe and let them pass!

The roads in New Zealand, in general, are very good. If you’re driving around between cities and popular tourist destinations, the roads are good, and any type of rental car will do the trick.

If you plan to go off-the-beaten-path a bit in New Zealand and explore some of the more remote hikes, Lake Rere Loop Track and the Sawyer Burn Track, then renting a 4×4 like a Toyota 4Runner might be your best bet.

Otherwise, we’ve found driving around the South Island of New Zealand, especially, to be enjoyable. The scenery is stunning, and it feels like wherever you go, the drives are incredible. If you like driving, you will have a lot of fun driving around New Zealand.

📍 Want to know about all the best spots in Aotearoa New Zealand?
Then check out our New Zealand Maps with +200 locations around the country that we have visited during our 10 months of living and travelling in NZ! 🗺️

Recap of renting a car from Queenstown Airport

Hopefully, this post helps you with your car rental and answers any questions you had about renting a car here in Queenstown. Once you know what to look for, booking a car is quite easy!

If you have any questions about Queenstown, such as where to stay, which hikes to do around the area, roadtrips from Queenstown, or anything else related to this beautiful country, feel free to leave a comment below.

New Zealand is one of our favourite places in the world, and we absolutely love sharing and helping others enjoy this country. So please, ask away, and we’ll do our best to help you with anything we can.

You can also DM us on Instagram @redwhiteadventures, where we’ll answer any questions you may have and share a lot more New Zealand inspiration.

We hope you have an awesome time driving around and exploring this beautiful country!

Planning a trip to Queenstown? Check out these posts!

🏡 Where to Stay in Queenstown (incl. map) 🏡
🚢 3 Awesome Tours to Walter Peak Farm in Queenstown 🚢
🥾 Hiking the Lake Alta Track near Queenstown ⛰️
⛴️ Milford Sound Overnight Cruise: Is It Worth It? ⛴️
🚘 7-Day New Zealand South Island Itinerary 🚘

📍 Save this post for later & share it with a friend

A scenic view from inside a car driving along a winding highway near Lake Pukaki, with a hand on the steering wheel and distant snow-capped mountains under a cloudy sky. Text over the image reads: “How to rent a car in Queenstown (+ mistakes to avoid)”.

A smiling man sits in the open door of a dark blue rental car parked beside green bushes and mountain scenery near Queenstown, New Zealand. Text on the image reads: “How to find a Cheap Car Rental in Queenstown”.

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