We're planning a ski trip down to Queenstown later this year, 3 grownups.   We want to hire a car that will fit all our gear and luggage, and our gear when going to and from the mountains.

We definitely want an AWD, but other than that we're open to options.   Previously we hired a Highlander and that was perfectly fine, but wondered if anyone has had experience with the smaller options like Rav4 or Sante Fe.

Does anyone have a favourite car rental place that does good deals?    And what car would you recommend?

On our last trip we got smashed by a bunch of fees we had no idea to expect, for example the website said chains were available but when we asked for them they made us pay for them (and across the 10 days we had more than purchased them outright), had to pay a hefty credit card processing fee etc.  Hopefully someone knows a place that doesn't shark the tourists.