Christmas and New Year Car Hire: How to Book the Summer Break

December to February is peak booking season for luxury and supercar hire across Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast. Long days, dry roads, holidays, visitors in town, and every second weekend has a wedding, a party or a road trip attached to it.

That's the good news. The catch is that everyone else has the same idea. This guide covers what books first over the summer break, how far ahead to lock in your car, and the smartest ways to use a hire over Christmas and New Year.

Three things stack up over December and January. Demand peaks for self-drive weekends and road trips. Chauffeur work peaks too, with Christmas parties, end-of-year dinners and New Year's Eve. And on the Gold Coast, summer weekends from late October through March already run at close to full fleet capacity.

None of that means you can't get a car. It means the specific car, on the specific day, is the part you need to plan for.

Outside peak season, two to four weeks is usually enough for a weekend booking. Over summer, plan on four to eight weeks for self-drive and the same for chauffeured bookings, because chauffeur work needs a driver rostered as well as a car.

New Year's Eve deserves its own rule: treat it like a major event date, and book as early as you possibly can.

New Year's Eve is a chauffeur night. Whatever the plan, a dinner, a party or a harbour view, nobody in your group should be thinking about driving home after midnight. A Rolls-Royce Ghost or Cullinan to the venue and back is the simplest way to make the night work, and the G63 is the pick for groups who want to arrive together.

In Sydney, the harbour is the main event. Our concierge team books yacht charters for the Sydney Harbour fireworks, and those bookings are made up to a year ahead, so this year's options will be limited. Ask anyway, and if it's not possible for 2026, ask about getting in early for next year.

If you're flying in for Sydney New Year's Eve, our concierge team can also arrange private jet travel interstate, with a car waiting when you land.

Christmas Day has one problem every family knows: somebody has to drive home. A chauffeured car can help, subject to chauffeur availability. Before making plans for Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day, ask our team to confirm driver coverage, pickup and return times, and any handover arrangements.

Once availability is confirmed, a Rolls-Royce arriving to take parents or grandparents to Christmas lunch can make a memorable present.

The holiday break is the best time of year for a multi-day hire, and multi-day is where our kilometre allowance works hardest. The allowance stacks: a five-day booking on a 100km car gives you 500km to use however you like. On our 150km cars, that becomes 750km.

For a coastal road trip with luggage, the G63, RSQ8 and Urus S carry four. For two people and a long drive, the McLaren GT is the most comfortable supercar in the fleet.

We operate in Melbourne, Sydney and on the Gold Coast, so if you're spending the break in another city, you can book your car there. The Gold Coast holds a core fleet year-round, and other models can be transferred from Melbourne or Sydney with 48 to 72 hours' notice. Over summer, give us far more notice than that.

All deposits and booking payments are non-refundable, so be certain of your dates before you pay. If you're still confirming plans with family, ask our team about a tentative hold while you finalise. It's the easiest way to keep the car without paying for a date you're not sure of.

Phone 0423 300 901 or email bookings@prestigeluxuryrentals.com.au to check summer availability across Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast.