Christchurch New Year's road trip starts at the airport gate
Late December at Christchurch International Airport is bright and busy. The evening light stretches long, families spill out of arrivals and the Southern Alps sit low on the western horizon. Everyone is off somewhere for the New Year, be it the Canterbury plains, Akaroa, Lake Tekapo or over Arthur's Pass to the West Coast. If you're lining up Christchurch International Airport car rental for 31 December to 7 January, book early. The 13 listings we found run from $1,533.81 to $2,333.23 for the week, and holiday demand shows in those numbers: the top end costs about 1.5 times the cheapest.
Alamo is the only supplier in this search, so your real choice is the car class rather than the company. The Toyota Yaris in Economy is cheapest at $1,533.81, and the median across all listings is $1,626.75. It pays to compare the Compact and Intermediate options, since a Corolla at $1,581.25 or $1,610.47 gives you more boot space for only a small step up from the Yaris.
All 13 cars seat five, so check your luggage before you sign. A week of beach gear and chilly-bag picnics fits a Corolla but gets tight in a Yaris. Hybrids (3 listings) suit the long, steady highway stretches around Canterbury, while the 2 diesels, the Ranger and the Pajero Sport are the picks if gravel roads or mountain passes are on your list. Get to the counter early on the day, because New Year's traffic at the airport gate builds fast and so does the queue at the desk.