Our motorhome and campervan rental rates (apart from any special IdeaMerge discount) and policies match those of our vendor and therefore the rates are calculated in Australia Dollars (AUD). This means we do not inflate our rates to cover ourselves against the threat of our home currency, the US Dollar (USD), declining versus the AUD.

Moreover, we do not impose a credit card transaction fee. And we do not truncate the exchange rate (which is another way companies can favor themselves). Furthermore, we use the minimal retail exchange rate — alias the "credit card" exchange rate (as published on www.oanda.com) — to change from the vendor's currency into our currency (USD) for actual charging. Finally we present all this math in the detailed confirmation voucher that we e-mail to you soon after booking the rental. … In these and other ways we carefully save our clients from suffering hidden costs.

downpayment

balance

cancellation fees

changes

A change to a booking may entail a change fee, the amount of which is usually modest/nominal yet is generally commensurate with the degree to which the change compromises the vendor's ability to rent out the vehicle. In most cases the fee is USD 25.

Refunds are not offered for early return of the rental vehicle.

If after the rental has commenced the client wants to change drop-off location, the client should first obtain authorization from the destination depot and ascertain the additional charge that would apply, which charge could be as high as AUD 550. The Broome depot entails a remote-location fee of AUD 450 that applies separately to pick-up and drop-off and in addition to the one-way fee that may apply. Pick-up at the Hobart depot entails an AUD 16.50 fee.

If after the rental has commenced the client wants to extend the duration of the rental, the client should obtain authorization from the destination depot. The extra cost must be paid by credit card over the telephone. Failure to obtain such authorization will result in a daily fee of AUD 150 in addition to the daily rental rate (which rate will be the present rate, not necessarily the rate the vehicle was booked at).

security deposit

Maui and Britz impose a 1.75 percent credit card surcharge on the optional items and/or the security deposit or possible traffic fines or penalities and such they themselves charge locally (i.e. upon the pick-up and/or return occasions). Maui and Britz refund such surcharge insofar as they refund the portion attaching to the security deposit refund if the card used is a Visa or Mastercard. Apollo does not refund their credit card surcharges — and they charge a 4.5 percent surcharge on American Express transactions they themselves charge. Kea, like IdeaMerge, imposes no credit card surcharges on the transactions they process.

Maui and Britz impose a 1.75 percent credit card surcharge on the Visa/MasterCard transactions they themselves process — and a 4.5 percent surcharge on the America Express transactions they themselves process — i.e. insofar as they charge the optional items and/or the security deposit or possible traffic fines or penalities and such locally (that is, upon the pick-up and/or return occasions). Apollo does not refund their credit card surcharges. Maui and Britz, refund such surcharge insofar as they refund the portion attaching to the security deposit refund if a Visa or MasterCard is used. Kea, on the other hand, like IdeaMerge, imposes no credit card surcharges on the transactions they process.

The vendor is of course not responsible for any associated surcharges levied by the credit card company nor for any fluctuations in the applicable exchange rate (if any) between the time of the charge and the time that the vendor credits the charge (in full or in part) back to the card.

Of course the security deposit is fully refundable provided the vehicle is returned on time, to the correct location, undamaged, with a clean interior and with appropriately full fuel tanks (fuel being gasoline/petrol, diesel, and LPG gas). The vendor reserves the right to retain an AUD 220 "soiling" fee if the vehicle is not returned with the interior in a clean condition. The toilet and waste water tank (if present) should be emptied prior to the return of the vehicle, or the vendor will retain a separate AUD 220 fee.

reservation

In accord with the automobile rental industry standard, reservations may be made for a vendor's particular vehicle category (what we might call a vendor's "group") only, not for a specific vehicle. Which is to say, although the various images, model numbers and vehicle specifications presented throughout the IdeaMerge motorhome rental pages — especially on the vehicle-specification pages — are carefully selected to accurately and precisely indicate the vehicle that you will get, the vehicle model (and layout) you get might not be identical to what is indicated by said information. In the very unlikely event that a vehicle in the reserved category is not available upon the pick-up date, the rental company reserves the right to substitute a comparable or larger vehicle with the same equipment and the capacity to accommodate the number persons you have delineated (in terms of, say, adults and children) as being in your party. In this case there will be no additional charge for a larger vehicle. However, the higher ancillary costs associated with a larger vehicle — such as ferry charges, tolls, and fueling costs — are to be borne by the customer.

age and license(s)

The minimum age limit for renters and other drivers of Maui's vehicles is only 21 years. Maui requires from drivers 75 years old or older a written statement from a medical practitioner noting that the client is fit to operate the booked vehicle (the vehicle being characterized by its weight, dimensions, and transmission).

Upon pick-up the vendor requires of the client a valid, non-provisional resident-country drivers license, held for at least one year. Moreover, if said license is not primarily or secondarily (i.e. in parallel) written in English, the vendor also requires of the client an international drivers permit (IDP). Such IDPs are available for a small charge (about USD20) from the automobile club offices in the client's country of residence (but not outside their country), and a person need not be a member of such club to obtain the IDP from the club. See the IdeaMerge "Resources" page for more about IDPs.

Drivers must of course possess their valid domestic drivers license. The Australia and New Zealand motorhome and camper van rental vehicles presented on the IdeaMerge Website are designed such that relative especially to the laws of Australia and New Zealand virtually all non-provisional domestic drivers licenses suffice for operation of these vehicles, even in nearly all cases where the inherent limits of such license (i.e. relative to your domestic laws) would preclude the holder from driving the vehicle in his/her own country. (Which is to say, standard foreign drivers licenses are translated by the laws of Australia and New Zealand such that these licenses basically function in Australia and New Zealand as standard Australia or New Zealand drivers licenses.) Nevertheless, you might be interested in researching the inherent limits of your drivers license. To do so you can check the back of your license and visit the Website of the governmental agency that issued your license. You can also see the following Wikipedia articles: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver's_license and, say, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Driving_Licence_codes.

There is no charge for additional drivers.

no animals

no smoking

what's included

The included liability insurance (i.e. third party) also covers (although very partially) personal injury to the client and to members of the client's party). The included collision and comprehensive insurance inheres a deductible (a.k.a. excess; applicable no matter who is at fault) of AUD 7500, but clients can reduce this figure to either AUD 2500 or all the way to zero by purchasing one of two optional damage waivers (a.k.a. excess reductions), for AUD 20/day (maximum total cost of AUD 1000) or AUD 38/day (maximum total cost of AUD 1900), respectively. These insurance options also have positive effects in terms of the security deposit charged by Maui upon the pick-up occasion: the default is AUD 7500 to be actually debited, i.e. charged; insurance option 1 reduces the amount to AUD 2500; insurance option 2 reduces the amount to AUD 220 and entails a mere imprint rather than an actual debit. For security reasons, only a credit card — namely Visa, MasterCard, or American Express — can be used to provide the security deposit. The card holder must be present upon the pick-up occasion and is jointly and severally liable for any damage to the rental vehicle.

If the deductible/excess is reduced to zero, one windscreen and two tires are covered for accidental damage.

Damage to the overhead or underbody of the vehicle is not covered unless the customer buys damage waiver 2 (noted above) and enhances that waiver by purchasing the no worries cover, for AUD 50 per rental in addition to the cost of damage waiver 2.

Clients will be reimbursed for taxi fare (with receipt) to the pick-up depot, insofar as that fare is equivalent to the typical fare from the airport to the depot. Clients incur the cost for their travel from the depot upon completion of the motorhome rental, although the depot personnel will of course call a taxi upon request.

There is no charge for additional drivers.

The following items are included by default at no extra charge:

Minimum duration is 5 calendar days for 2-berth vehicles, 7 calendar days for other vehicles or when pick-up occurs in the span 15 December through 5 January, in which cases the minimum duration is 7 calendar days, and except for one-ways as noted below.

One-way rentals are available for a fee of only AUD 220 — but, for one-way rentals lasting 21 days or longer there is no such fee. The minimum duration for one-ways is 7 calendar days.

multiple rentals

If multiple hires are within the same country and the total, combined days exceed 50, only the maximum charge applicable to the excess reduction option of the premium package will apply, this maximum being the higher of all such maximums that happen to be involved. However, in the case where a Maui hire is being combined with a Britz hire and the packages have either the premium package or the bonus pack these components cannot be combined to have a maximum charge applied, but the vehicle rates can have a long-term discount applied.

If a client makes such a set of bookings but does not place all the bookings at the same time, the booking or bookings placed later, i.e. the new one or ones, qualify for such discounts relative to the original booking but they do not qualify the original booking for such discounts as well.

Note: Given this policy and the cost of transporting a vehicle between Australia and New Zealand, such transport is prohibitively costly. Our online reservation software, although highly specialized, does not allow customers to place more than one reservation at once. Therefore IdeaMerge will manually and at the client's request account for multiple rentals as described above.

Our online reservation software, although highly specialized, does not allow customers to place more than one reservation at once. Therefore IdeaMerge will manually and at the client's request account for multiple rentals as described above.

infringements

road restrictions

breakdown cover and repairs

All the vehicles do include 24/7 roadside service nationwide.

Call toll-free 1300 363 800.

Any problems associated with the vehicle, including equipment failure, should be reported to the vendor as soon as possible and within 24 hours, this to give the vendor the opportunity to rectify the problem as soon as possible. Failure to report as such will compromise any client claims for compensation. The vendor does not accept liability for claims submitted after this duration. In the event, please contact the vendor toll-free at tel. 1300 363 800.

Repairs costing up to AUD 100 may be effected without authorization from the vendor and will be appropriately reimbursed if the client provides the repair receipt to the vendor. For amounts estimated over AUD 100, the client should obtain authorization from the vendor. Receipts relating to any repair should be sumbitted to the vendor.

See our "Insurance, etc" page for details concerning the included insurance.

a slight disclaimer

maui australia's terms and conditions