If you plan to have a feet-up, do nothing type of holiday and stay close to your Gold Coast resort or apartment, then you can probably pay for your airport transfers and forget about hiring a vehicle. . ( Except for a small handful of hotels, your accommodtion costs do NOT include airport transfers) If you do need to travel a short way , the local bus line will do the job.
However, if you know that your holiday plans will require airport transfers, trips to the theme parks and/or nature parks, day trips to the Gold Coast hinterland , evenings out at Jupiters casino or a great restaurant, trips to other locations up and down the coast, then a Gold Coast rental car is definitely going to make a lot of sense. It’s a fact of life that the Gold Coast covers a big area and it can be expensive to get around. While there is a local bus service that runs up and down the coast, it does not offer a lot of flexibility.
For starters, let’s look at the airport transfer costs for a typical family . To transport a family of 2 adults + 2 children to and from the Coolangatta airport and a central location such as Broadbeach or Surfers Paradise, a bus transfer will cost at least $110. To get that same family to and from the Brisbane airport will cost at least $170 (prices as of May 2010).
For the trips to and from the entertainment theme parks such as Dreamworld, Movie World etc, add on an extra $55 per trip for the family. Add on $200 plus for the family rate for a hinterland day trip and before you know it the holiday transport costs are at several hundred dollars.
Now balance those costs with the fact that a medium size, used 4 door sedan is available from around $27-$30 per day and it becomes obvious that transfer and transport costs would pay for quite a few days of car rental . Then add on the advantages of airport pick-up and return, the ability to travel independently from fixed timetables and setting your own itineraries. Your Gold Coast apartment will always include a secure parking spot .
To do justice to the Gold Coast and see all that it offers, a rental car makes a lot of sense . The cost can always be justified by that comparison to transport costs discussed above.
There are plenty of car hire companies on the Gold Coast that offer everything from Rent-A-Wreck, new and used small compacts and family sedans and wagons, to open top dune buggies and luxury sports cars. The major rental companies such as Avis, Hertz, Thrifty, Europcar etc have offices on the Gold Coast.
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