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 New Zealand Dollars (NZD). 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 NZD.

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 NZD 550.

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 NZD 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 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). Maui and Britz do not refund their credit card surcharges.

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 NZD 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 NZD 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.

All pick-ups and returns in Queenstown and Wellington entail a NZD 200 charge; but only one such charge applies if the vehicle is returned to same depot. This charge is in addition to any one-way fee that applies.

Minimum duration is 5 calendar days except when the pick-up occurs in the span 23 December through 10 January, when the minimum duration is 10 calendar days.

One-way rentals are available. For rentals between the North Island and South Island the the one-way fee is NZD 220 from October through March, free of charge the rest of the year.

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.

animals

no smoking

what's included

All Maui's New Zealand camper rentals include unlimited kilometers, airport transfer to/from depot (except at Wellington, which depot is located 40 minutes from the airport) and 24/7 nationwide roadside assistance via a toll-free helpline. The rates also include the 12.5% federal tax (GST), and the total rental cost computed by the (highly specialized) IdeaMerge online reservation software includes any applicable one-way fee and other charges that might apply, even if certain of those other portions of the total will actually be paid locally by the client upon the pick-up occasion instead of up-front to IdeaMerge — e.g. charges for optional extras, Queenstown fee, and Wellington fee, insofar as said fees are indeed paid for locally instead of pre-purchased as part of the vendor's "premium package" of optional extras. The IdeaMerge online reservation software automatically determines whether the vendor's premium package is the best deal for the client, this based on the particular options selected by the client. …

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 NZD 7500, but clients can reduce this figure to either NZD 2500 or all the way to zero by purchasing one of two optional damage waivers (a.k.a. excess reductions), for NZD 20/day (maximum total cost of NZD 1000) or AUD38/day (maximum total cost of NZD 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 NZD 7500 to be actually debited, i.e. charged; insurance option 1 reduces the amount to NZD 2500; insurance option 2 reduces the amount to NZD 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. The associated personal injury insurance is effective only in regard to transactions (i.e. medical services provided to the client or to members of client's party) that occur in New Zealand.

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 NZD 50 per rental in addition to the cost of damage waiver 2.

There is no charge for additional drivers.

Clients may store luggage free of charge at the Auckland and Christchurch depots.

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

multiple rentals

Multiple rentals are also accommodated nicely. If via IdeaMerge — and at the same time — a client rents consecutive Maui and/or Britz vehicles in Australia and/or in New Zealand and the pick-up dates are within 92 days of each other, IdeaMerge will effectively combine these otherwise separate rentals by not charging twice for any overlapping day or days (this by waiving the lessor cost or costs of the overlapping days) and by applying to each rental a rate or rates based on the sum of the durations (thus perhaps effecting long-term discounts).

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.

"diesel tax recovery" fee

The so-called Diesel Tax Recovery fee will be calculated and collected upon return of the vehicle. This small, government-imposed fee is based on the number of kilometers the vehicle is driven during the rental. The fee does not apply to the Spirit 2 vehicle. Relative to the other vehicles its amount per 100 kilometers traveled is as follows: NZD 4.45 for the Spirit 2 T/S; NZD 4.70 for the Spirit 4; NZD 4.85 for the Spirit 6.

infringements

road restrictions

breakdown cover and repairs

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

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. 0800 651 080 (North Island) or tel. 0800 304 304 (South Island).

Repairs costing up to NZD 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 NZD 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 new zealand's terms and conditions