I recently drove a free Transfercar from Wellington to Auckland, New Zealand over three days. I just wanted to try it for a fun little experiment. As we all know, nothing in life is truly free, and neither was this Transfercar excursion. However, it’s still a great way to cut down on road trip costs if you want to get from Point A to Point B. Here’s my full budget breakdown for a 3-day trip.
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How a free Transfercar booking works
Transfercar is a third-party service that connects travelers with rental companies that need their cars relocated. Basically, you can get a one-way trip between two pre-selected destinations with a free Transfercar booking.
Sometimes they’re not free, they might cost $1 per day, and $1 is still free if you ask me. And of course you’ll still have to pay for gas, accommodation, food, etc. But no matter how you slice it, a Transfercar arrangement is always going to be cheaper than renting the car outright.
I go into more detail about how it all works in another article. Today, I’m just here to talk about how much it cost when all was said and done. I cover optional and necessary additional expenses, recommend ways to keep costs down and get the best deal, and share my total trip costs and the route I took from Wellington to Auckland.
Transfercar cost breakdown
The total cost of my 3-day Transfercar trip from Wellington to Auckland was $595 NZD.
And hilariously, while the car was free, gas was still my biggest expense at $170. But I did drive over 800 kilometers!
I live in Auckland. So I kicked off the trip by flying down to Wellington to pick up the car at the airport and then made my way home. But first I had to get to the Auckland Airport from my house in the city.
- Free TransferCar: $0 for 3 days
- Uber to Auckland Airport: $47
- Flight from Auckland to Wellington: $49 with Jetstar
- Gas/petrol: $170
- 3 nights in 3 different Airbnbs: $158
- Food, drinks & road snacks: $158
- Activities: $10
- Total: $595 for me as a solo traveller
Read more: Why I Love the TravelSpend App
Could it have been cheaper?
For sure! If you’re really committed to being thrifty you could totally cut down on the cost of accom and food. (Why did I spend $38 at Reggie’s Pizza?)
I chose the cheapest Airbnbs I could find, which averaged out to about $50/night as a solo traveler. Pretty good if you ask me! But you could probably do it cheaper if you stay in hostels or camp.
The flight from Auckland to Wellington was definitely the best-case scenario at $50 bucks. I didn’t need to add an extra bag so I got the base price. However, if you have camping gear, you could pay to add a checked bag and save money on accom by staying in campsites. You can even book a campervan through Transfercar!
Gas is gonna cost what it costs, though. That said, make sure you download Gaspy to find the best gas prices. It’s one of the top travel apps you need to travel New Zealand.
My tiny Airbnb room in Napier. The hosts let me borrow their e-bike!
I wish I'd paid for insurance.
I’m used to getting car rental insurance included through my credit card. But of course… I didn’t pay for this free Transfercar booking! So when they asked me if I wanted to add insurance, I declined.
Fortunately, everything was fine. But I was super paranoid about it the whole time I was driving lol. Insurance can be about $40 per day, so it will significantly impact the overall cost of your trip. That said, without insurance, if anything had happened to the car while I was driving it, I’d have been on the hook for $5,000.
Getting the best deal with Transfercar
Not all Transfercar deals are created equal. Make sure you look for a few essentials before you lock it in.
Unlimited kilometres
Some Transfercar agreements have a maximum number of kilometres you’re allowed to drive. That limit will make it pretty hard to add any fun detours to your route! Or at the very least stress you out and force you to do math — yuck. You can check for this important detail under the “Trip information” section when you’re browsing Transfercar rentals. But I found most were unlimited when I looked.
Inclusions
Some free Transfercar trips include a free tank of gas or the cost of the ferry crossing. This is essential to consider when taking a Transfercar between islands! Like, if you’re driving from Christchurch to Auckland, you’ll probably pay $200-400 for a one-way ferry crossing.
So making sure you book a Transfercar with that included will make a huge difference. Some also include $200 towards the ferry rather than covering the whole thing. You’d think they’d all include it, but somehow that is not the case lol.
Also note the ferry can book up weeks in advance, so make sure you check for availability before you lock in your Transfercar.
This is a good example of a good deal. 4 days at $0 in a camper, unlimited kilometres, one free tank of fuel, and $200 towards the ferry. Not bad!
Vehicle type
I’ve seen everything from tiny city cars to moving trucks. Keep fuel efficiency in mind because the cost of that gas adds up!
My Transfercar was a modern RAV4 (an SUV if you’re not a car person) and I got all the way from Wellington to Taupo on one tank of gas. It was also great to drive on gravel roads when I was heading out to the waterfalls.
One of the best deals is a campervan because it covers your accom and transport all in one. But those get snapped up pretty quickly so you need to be flexible and fast.
You won’t know exactly which car you’re getting until you pick it up, but you can choose the type/size you want.
Cost of adding extra days (if that's something you want to do)
Transfercars come with 1-4 free (or $1) days, and most include the option to add a few extra days if you want more time. However, the cost of those days can be around $40-100. Expensive? Yes, but still cheaper than renting a car if you think of it like $50 for the whole 5 days.
Time of year
There has never been a shortage of options when I’ve looked at available Transfercars. However, if you wait until the end of the high season, I think that’s when you’ll find the best deals.
Lots of tourists come to New Zealand over the summer around November to March. And it’s common for people to book a one-way rental so they can enjoy their holiday without backtracking.
The rental companies will have more cars moving about, and will be more likely to offer better incentives (more days, a free tank of fuel, etc.) to get the cars where they need them.
My route from Wellington to Auckland
There are a few great ways to get between Auckland and Wellington, but I wanted to go a way I’ve never been before. As I only had three days, there was a limit to how off-the-beaten-path I could get. But in these circumstances, the route was perfect.
- Wellington Airport
- Paraparaumu for sunset
- Night in Levin
- Palmerston North for brunch
- Waihi Falls (short walk)
- See the World’s Longest Place Name: Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu
- Night in Napier
- Waipunga Falls (only visible from carpark)
- Taupo for lunch
- See Huka Falls (short walk)
- Craters of the Moon geothermal walk
- Night in Hamilton
- Back to Auckland
There was lots more I could have done, especially if I wasn’t trying to stop to do some remote work along the way. But one downside with the Transfercar is definitely the time crunch, so I don’t necessarily recommend this if you’re trying to see as much of NZ as possible.
Nearly all the activities I did on my route were free. The only exception was the Craters of the Moon geothermal walk in Taupo, which only cost $10 bucks!
Waipunga Falls | Paraparaumu
If you’re doing a Transfercar road trip anywhere on the North Island, check out my map of activities to see what there is to include on your route.
Do I think a Free Transfercar is worth it?
Yeah, absolutely! If you’re just looking for a quick road trip and don’t mind skipping some activities along the way, this is a fun way to get out on a little adventure for less.
Do I recommend it as a work-while-you-travel excursion? Absolutely not. I fooled myself into thinking I could just do some work in the morning before I hit the road and do a little work at night when I was winding down. Wrong.
My Airbnb hosts wanted to chat, I sometimes struggled to find cafes that were easy to work at, and I had a lot of ground to cover. I made it work, but wouldn’t do it again. Just take days off so you can relax and enjoy the journey.