Lunar New Year Meets Midsummer Road Trips from Christchurch Airport
Mid-February in Canterbury is golden hour that stretches into the evening, the Port Hills baked dry and the Nor'wester smoothing the sky over the plains. Lunar New Year falls on 14 February 2027, so the terminals hum with families in red heading south to lakes and coastlines while locals squeeze in one last summer escape before school resumes. If you are booking Christchurch Airport car rental for that week, expect a busy forecourt and prices that know exactly what week it is. Seven days is enough to loop Banks Peninsula,Arthur's Pass and Tekapo without rushing anyone.
The spread between dream and done-deal is wide: a near four-fold gap between the cheapest $686.55 and the $2737 top end. Sixt sits at the bottom of the supplier ladder averaging $800.75, while Ezi and Europcar hover near $1570, and the household names like Budget and Hertz push past $2000. A smart booker checks Sixt and Ezi first, then compares the same category across brands, because the cheap list is thin and five listings were already sold out when we looked.
The fleet leans practical: 61 of the 90 cars seat five, hybrids make up a fifth of availability, and there are only three EVs, so a hybrid Corolla or RAV4 is the easy call for long South Island distances. Pack soft bags, since small boots in compacts and intermediates swallow duffels better than hard cases. Book the earliest pickup slot you can manage on arrival day, because the Lunar New Year rush thins out the cheap tiers fast.