It’s a good time to start thinking about car rentals. The Christmas holidays are upon us and it looks like Hawaii car rental agencies will be sold out again. We’re already seeing rates as high as $150/day! But we’ve got a tip even for Christmas, so keep reading.
Many other posts have been written about money saving tricks for car rental. Here are our suggestions, from a local Hawaii perspective:
1. Consider alternate car rental sources.
Discount Hawaii Car Rental (our advertiser who we learned of from readers) is an excellent resource. Also try discount offers and coupons from places like Costco and Car Rental Momma). If you need a car when availability is limited (like the upcoming Christmas holiday), search Craigslist by island for non-traditional rental opportunities.
2. Protect yourself against damage and dirt fees.
Damage Protection Tip: I suggest using your cell phone to photograph the car before driving it off the lot. Our friend and Beat of Hawaii reader, Colleen, takes the photos with her husband standing next to the car holding that day’s paper.
Dirt Tip: Hawaii car rental agencies charge a fee of $50-$100 for excess dirt. It is very easy in our environment to end up with mud inside or outside of the car. If this happens to you, go to a car wash before returning it to the agent. Consider using newspapers as floor protection if you’re going to be hiking.
3. Airline frequent flyer points may increase your rate.
It’s always good to ask about having them included in your rental. But first, find out if there’s a daily charge for the accrual, what you’ll get and how much it will cost.
4. Check to see if better deals arise at regular intervals before your trip.
Once I make a reservation I’ll often re-check rates to see if a better deal becomes available. The price is a moving target. This has saved hundreds of dollars in car rental charges.
5. Know your insurance needs before you get to the car rental counter.
Additional coverage may or may not be necessary. Before your trip, check your own insurance policy and your credit card company to determine what coverage may be offered at no cost. Don’t just fork over an extra $10-$30/day. I personally never take car rental insurance coverage domestically.
6. Additional driver fee adds up and can be confusing.
Fees vary widely by company and rental location. If more than one driver will be on the rental agreement, inquire when making the reservation. This can be a gotcha of perhaps $10/day.
7. Avoid upgrades you don’t really need.
Here in Hawaii, with gas at $3.50 gallon, I look for smaller cars that are fuel efficient. In Honolulu a smaller car will be far easier for parking and getting around.
8. Join the rental company’s frequent renter program.
If it doesn’t save you money (such as credits towards a future free day), it will most likely save you considerable time when picking up your car. After a long flight to Hawaii, that will seem as good as cash.
9. Determine the grace period of the contract.
It used to be 59 minutes. So if the car was due back at noon and you had it in by 12:59, there was no charge. Now, however, many companies have no grace period whatsoever. Be careful with this one, as the excess rate on car rentals can be up to $15/hour.
10. Is the price the price?
As we already mentioned, Hawaii airport surcharges have recently gone up. Most car rental quotes don’t at first show taxes and other fees. That can add up to perhaps 40% or so of the total cost, so click on through to see what the total bill will be.
Honey Ward (1 year ago)
It’s a little (not a lot) more trouble than renting from one of the majors, and we paid less than half the going rate by renting a used vehicle.
You can find a number of companies on google or craigslist.
Spending the month of July on Kauai and Maui this year, we spent $650 instead of $1400. It was well worth the little bit of inconvenience – like taking a $10 cab to the location in Lihue.
And there is never any question about fees or taxes, what you are quoted is what you pay.
It’s a trade off – you must be willing to drive a car that’s not brand new, and you can’t be a major fuss budget.
The $750 we saved went a long way on our other vacation expenses.
Honey
Jeff (1 year ago)
Thanks Honey!
Aloha, Jeff
Bill (1 year ago)
I agree with you. Best deals were definitely at rentalcarmomma.com . Saved almost $200 for the week earlier this year. And we SEARCHED all around for better deals. They just weren’t there.
Oliver (1 year ago)
Regarding insurance – most credit cards offer secondary insurance, ie they will pay if you don’t have any other insurance such as your own car insurance. But you may not Wang to use your car insurance as a claim will likely drive the rates up.
There are a few cards I know that offer primary rental car insurance: Diners (not offered anymore in the US) and the Chase OnePass MasterCard.
Another tip: check priceline. I never use them for flights, but for car rentals it usually doesn’t matter to me which major agency provides the car, and loyalty program credit isn’t as important, so I use them occasionally.