The Pod Campervan Rentals Review

Pod
My wife and I had pencilled in NZ for our honeymoon. We had looked at several different options for touring the country, rent a car and stay at hotels, bus tours or a campervan. We decided to roll with the camper vans but were somewhat skeptical. Upon our searches we found Pod Rentals and took it from there. The vans appeared somewhat small online but we went with it. Everything was top class from start to finish.
We collected our Pod “Lizzy” and off we went. We soon noticed that the Pod campers have their own little community as it is compulsory to wave and perhaps beep once you spot an oncoming Pod. The van was spacious and cooking facilities were perfect for the 2 of us.
Tips - we left the bed folded down all the time and stored our bags underneath.
we kept the chairs and table out from their storage area and placed them inside of the sliding door for convenience.
Don’t let your petrol tank go below a ¼ empty on the South Island as it may be a while until the next station
If you run out of cooking gas, always have a spare in case you run out and are left with a ½ cooked meal.
Empty your waste tank regularly, especially in the summer heat to avoid any fumes in the van from it.

Camper vans offer a unique and in my opinion the best experience of travelling NZ.
From our initial enquiry to the day we handed the Pod back, everything was brilliant. We reached out to the office on 2 occasions over minor things and they got back swiftly. Thank you Pod rentals for helping us explore NZ in such a memorable fashion. Kia Ora

EDIT: 11/10... AFTER POSTING OUR ORIGINAL REVIEW, WE FOUND OUT THAT LITTLE JULIE WAS THE ONLY VAN WITHOUT HEADSPACE, AND THE POD RENTALS GENEROUSLY REFUNDED SOME OF THE COST ONCE THEY LEARNED THAT IT HAD BEEN A TROUBLE FOR US. CUSTOMER SERVICE AND VALUE OUT OF THIS WORLD! The two of us chose the budget van and travelled the whole South Island for about 2.5 weeks. It was absolutely excellent and cheaper than other self-contained vehicles we could find! The staff consistently had quick thoughtful responses over email -- we even mistakenly scheduled our drop-off for Queenstown and didn't notice until a few weeks before our trip but had no trouble adjusting. Pick-up was quick (~25 min) and staff was both helpful and friendly. Very inclusive basic features and supplies, and some bonus items like glovebox log from past users. The ONLY thing we didn't love about Little Julie the van was the lack of headspace/ability to sit-up in bed. Absolutely would recommend.

Pod rentals were amazing! I was worried about finding a trustworthy campervan rental company given all the nightmare reviews out there. But when I came across all the positive reviews and read about Mike and Liz, I knew I could trust pod rentals. We were provided with a transfer from the airport to the rental pick-up in Queenstown, and we were on the road within 15 minutes. We had an economy van, and campervan itself was great - clean, everything provided and easy to drive. We dropped our van off at the end of our trip in Queenstown with no issues. Mike and Liz even gave us a lift to our accommodation. Couldn't have asked for a more positive and worry-free experience.

We had a Pod for 29 days, (Little Zoe), touring both the North and South islands. Really good fun!
The team in all of the sites were super good, friendly and approachable - it gave a family ran vibe.
Van itself was cosy, had all of the essentials included and proved the perfect home for our tour.
Would recommend! ☺️

For the last month we've had Little Zoe as our home as we toured both Island of NZ.
A really fun experience and highlight of our trip here. Thank you so much for your friendly service and the expert extras included inside.
Would highly recommend!

The best two weeks exploring the beautiful S.Island in our little pod! You can tell these vans have been designed by people who love to travel... it might be small but it’s efficient, everything is easily accessible and most importantly, it’s cosy! The team at Pod were so helpful, from providing us with our van at short notice, to being easily contactable when on the road. Nothing was too much trouble and they went above and beyond to make sure everything ran smoothly. Thank you for being the highlight of our NZ road trip, we will be spreading the word and recommending you to our friends!

We had a brilliant 4 weeks travelling around South Island in our economy pod Little Millie.
First of all the booking process was very easy and stress free, the communication was quick and professional between ourselves and Mike and Liz. We felt like we were valued and in good hands.
The pick up process was very easy, Bianca on Christchurch was very friendly and pleasant and took us around the van well, we enjoyed that we didn't have to wait at all and we were out in 30 minutes. The service felt very personalised to us :)
Our van drove very well around the windy roads of south island, its compact nature meant we had no problem parking it in busy mall car parks or squeezing into spaces at busy campgrounds, it also meant the fuel consumption was reasonable for a campervan but at the same time was SC so meant we could freedom camp with no issues.
The van itself was comfortable with nice pillows, thick duvet and black out curtains which allowed us to get good night's sleep. The only slight issue we had was accessing the fresh water pipe is in a  bit of an awkward position under the bed, and once we had the van loaded up with our big bags it just made it a little too impractical for us to access this during our rental. We purchased a separate 10L water holder and that suited us fine however.
The mini kitchen at the back of the van was well equipped and had the basics that we needed to cook and the cool box worked much better than we anticipated at keeping our goods cool. Again the only slightly minor inconvenience was that the sink was pretty small so made it difficult to wash the saucepan and fry pan in them so we had to be tactical with where we camped and cooked messy meals.
The price was much more reasonable than other rental companies we looked at for the same duration of time, so we were very pleased about this!
Overall, the excellent customer service and a great van with no technical issues makes two very happy customers. Would highly recommend this company to anyone :)
Thank you Pod, and Thank you little Millie!

The Adventurer model had plenty of Oomph to get you where you need. The van remained fairly nimble despite the larger size. It was easy to drive, had great features such as the larger bed, fridge, portable butane stove, solar panels which powered the LED, sink pump and USB charging if need be. This van had ample space for baggage/storage. The staff were also very friendly and approachable.

We did a relocation deal from Christchurch to Queenstown in a Pod Adventurer which was the best way to do New Zealand’s South Island.

On our first day of driving we were unlucky enough to get a stone in our windscreen but we thankfully had the full cover insurance from The Pod. They dealt with it super quickly and we had absolutely no issues with getting the windscreen replaced so were back on the road the same day.

The Adventurer was amazing and had everything we needed. The bed was super comfy and the kitchen and fridge were ideal for everything. When we dropped it off in Queenstown the guy that met us was so helpful.

We cannot recommend The Pod enough, especially compared to some of the bigger guys (i.e Jucy). They made everything super easy and our trip that much better and will 100% go with them again if we come back to NZ.

The set up in the pod was fantastic, especially the kitchen area in the back (other travellers with vans were jealous). It had everything we needed, a comfortable bed and lots of space for two of us. Bianca was amazing - great customer service.

We rented Little Nate for 7 weeks, picking him up in Auckland and dropping him off in Christchurch (it was great that the pod did not have any fees for dropping of in another location than pick-up!). We had the best time ever roaming around the country and since the camper van is certified self contained (CSC) it allowed us to explore all of the wonderful nature and hidden gems of New Zealand. The bed, pillows and duvet were all very comfy and was perfect for the two of us. The kitchen part of the van included everything you need to prepare a nice camping meal :) what we really appreciated was the quick, easy and very friendly customer service when contacting the pod team with questions and request for extension of the rental period!

Thanks for lending us Little Nate and enabling us to go on this grand adventure ;)

In the period january the 6th till january the 21 th 2020 I have hired a Pod self contained camper-van. Together with my daughter and boyfriend we travelled for two weeks in two camper-vans. I was very satisfied about my self contained POD campervan. And also I was satisfied about the service. For example: I had a accident with the left mirror of the camper-van. POD Rentals has arranged the same day where I could let repair the mirror without extra costs. . That is service .
So I can recommend you heartily The POD Campervan Rental Company . Comparing with other companies you get a relative cheap , but a very comfortable and reliable campervan for a carefree vacation.

Sincerely,
Robbert van Kampen
The Netherlands

We rented “Little Polly” from The Pod Campervan Rentals for a 3 weeks while travelling both Islands. Everyone was super friendly and helpful the entire booking process.The bed was super comfy and had plenty of storage room for us for both our bags and our food for a few days at a time. The van was super easy to drive and more importantly park !! It had a gas cooker, cooking supplies, dishes, etc were all in great condition for us. It was also nice to know our van was easily recognizable amongst the tons of Mighty and Britz vans we saw everywhere & not trying to figure out which one was ours. By the end the van became part of our family. I highly recommend renting from this company! A* all round !

I booked the The Pod Adventurer campervan, and I think that it was worth every single dollar that I spent on it. The van was in pristine conditions when I rented it and was very well equipped. It is easy to assemble and disassemble, and you can see by all of the small details that a lot of effort and love has been spent to adapt it. I had not a single issue with the internals of the campervan, and its performance was excellent. Surely, it is way more aerodynamic than those campervans with extra two beds on the roof. Also, because of the lack of this extra bulk, the inter-island ferry is cheaper because you can register it as a "van" instead of a "campervan" :D. The battery (and solar panel) were, in my opinion, the cherry of the cake. I was expecting to pay for a powered campsite every three or four days. However, their system kept all my devices (laptop, phone and two 25000mha external
batteries) fully charged for the entire month. Even on cloudy days, without moving the van, I could see the battery being charged to its maximum capacity (slower, draining the campervan battery, but still charged).

It was my first time driving a campervan and driving on the left, but Liz and Mike (the "The Pod" owners) had a lot of patience to teach me until I felt confident enough. The area where we practised at the outside of Queenstown was very convenient and easily accessible from the airport with a bus. The roads nearby were not busy, and a big and almost empty parking lot was great to practice for the first time. Do you need to buy supplies for your incoming trip? No problem because near the "The Pod" garage in Queenstown you can buy all you need in a big pack'n'save !

Liz and Mike are lovely and efficient. During my journey, I accidentally broke the grey water pipe under the van and called them for instructions. They adapted to my situation and scheduled an appointment with a plumber that fixed it in a couple of hours. Unfortunately, I had a more significant accident with the van because of a distraction with my phone. Hopefully, nobody was hurt, and the insurance covered absolutely everything. I would recommend taking the "All care no responsibility" insurance. Yes, it's more expensive but I really appreciated the tranquillity it gave both before and after the accident.

Great organisation of booking and pick-up/drop off. We were even able to pick up in Queenstown. The vehicle was perfect for us (a couple for 2 weeks) and no issues with it. Excellent use of space, you can store 2 large suitcases no problem. Useful additional equipment.

We had our camper for 3 weeks and I cannot fault the van or the customer service we received from beginning to end. The staff were incredibly helpful and quick to respond. The van itself was suitable for the two of us and even though its not the biggest on the road for the price you pay compared to some of the more well known companies, there is no comparison. There were no hidden gimmicks or unexpected bills, just straight forward van rental. Would definitely use them again.

Great experience with the Pod - the team there is wonderful, and we had a wonderful week cruising around the South Island. The bed was comfortable, the space was well designed, and the Pod came with everything we needed. Would highly recommend going with the Pod for your road tripping needs :)

We enjoyed our pod experience immensely. It was just enough comfort, space, and amenities. The little van drove well and was good for boondocking aka freedom camping

I feel so grateful for having the possibility of enjoying the Pod for a month and also having the full support to make the best of my time in New Zealand.

Even before the trip started they helped me a lot and went the extra mile to make sure I had all my answers and enquiries solved with very quick flawless communication.

I loved my van so much to the point that I couldn't return it. Very often people will be surprised on how good and convenient the kitchen looks like.

All in all, extremely reliable van and even better team behind that I would definitely recommend to anyone traveling to New Zealand.

We used a pod campervan for a 3 week journey through NZ and loved it! The pod was clean, comfortable and had everything we needed.