86 thoughts on “Hawaii Car Rental Prices Soar Again Amid Fresh Shenanigans”
Randy K
I have found that Costco is usually the best price for car rental. They don’t charge the card until car is turned in, and spouse is added for free. Membership is $60, easily saved on the first multi-day rental. The airline websites can be competitive, too, but only list the big 4 usually. Both outfits have rebates or mileage credits if you use their card. GOVX (veterans only) is competitive, too.
I guess it depends on the ‘when and where’ you are booking. If it’s last minute, obviously you will likely pay more. I just booked a two-week standard size car rental on Maui in last half of April for $595 with Thrifty thru Autoslash. This got me the ‘weekly’ rate, which is usually less per/day than a four-day rental. Of course I remember the $15/day from back when, but that was ‘then.’ Wonder if it will ever go down to a reasonable rate and quit gouging. If I didn’t have a time share in HI, I’d go elsewhere as others have suggested.
Not necessarily. We’ve taken 4-5 trips (twice to HNL) in the last year. Often times the sweet spot is about 2 weeks before your arrival for the best deal. Too far in advance and it was a lot more. I saw this in HNL, Palm Springs, and Miami.
Hertz owns Dollar + Thrifty – rule #1 – Never Never Ever – on any of those companies.
I don’t want to be arrested + I don’t want to wait hours in the sun, or find there are no cars.
#2 – Costco
#3 – keep checking
My last trip to Maui in June, had a great reservation at National I think – owned by Enterprise. The employee waived us over to Enterprise counter for processing so we had no wait whatsoever, as Enterprise was helping someone and no one was at Enterprise. And same price etc. Choice of cars.
I have also had good luck with Avis + Budget. never used OTA sites.
And by the way, Costco informed me just in the last week or 2 that Hawaii tax on car rental is going up so it won’t match my reservation amount exactly.
Not sure what your rub is about Hertz as I have used them for over 40 years and have never had any problems with my rentals. For my upcoming trips in late March and early April my weekly costs are around $400 so what’s the problem?
Supply and Demand (AKA) “take advantage of all as much as possible” is how the world has worked forever – regardless of the terms we’ve come up with to describe the system.
But gouging is something, although I’m 100% against government interference, that needs to be looked at. Let’s rate companies on their performance, satisfaction and ability to satisfy their customers. CEO, officers and high level Director and Management pay should be tied to how those the company serves feel. If not good, pay should be cut. If CEO and executive pay were tied more to customer satisfaction metrics vs. stock performance, I’ll bet we’d see a different outcome.
We are headed to KOA in March 2024. I booked a Thrifty standard car using Capital One Travel for our 3 week stay. It is prepaid but also refundable for $1100. Equivalent cars through Costco are listed for $1500. The last time we rented at Thrifty the line to the counter was an hour wait and they had few cars, which I think was the cause of the delay. I ended up receiving a Ford Expedition instead of the intermediate SUV requested. The Expedition was to large to fit into the garage at the condo we were staying so I returned it a few days later and received a Ford Escape. The previous rental at Thrifty went well so they are one for two at this point. Let’s see if they can score a 67% in March.
So I don’t know what dates you are searching for in Feb but using Orbitz I tried 2 different date ranges of Feb 15-19 (over a weekend) and Feb 19-23 (weekday). I show a compact car from Sixt for $343 and $263 accordingly. Interestingly enough, I also tried on Costco Travel and they were WAY more expensive. You might want to include Orbitz in your search.
SIXT is a complete rip off. We rented from them for the first (and last) time last September at EWR. I went with them because we were driving my elderly parents around and wanted something nice and easy for them to get into.
Not only did they swap out what we had reserved for a worse car, they trued pulling the old “we found a scratch on the car and you owe us money” scam.
Thank you for this information. I have booked a rental car for my trip in June with Thrifty via carhire.com.au. I have not pre-paid (thankfully). I am Avis preferred so I think based on your information I will cancel my Thrifty reservation and look at Avis.
Regarding Rental Cars. I have used Hotwire many times over the years with success. It’s not perfect because Hotwire is a third-party vendor. So, if you have trouble with your reservation, you must contact hotwire, not the rental agency. I suspect most third-party rental agencies are the same way. I am coming to Kauai for our 50th wedding anniversary March 26th thru April 1st and have rented a car through Hotwire. The rental agency is Dollar. I made a partial upfront payment with the balance due at rental pickup. I made the reservation back on October 13th. $324.18 for a full-size car. Just a side note: We have spent our 30th and 40th anniversaries on Kauai. Princeville! Bill M
Congratulations on your upcoming 50th – that’s a great accomplishment!
Wondering your choice of an outstanding location for your celebration has something to do with it? 😉
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, Costco is the best deal by far. Checking their site the all in price ran about $375 using the limited data you provided…and that was for a higher class of car than you were looking for. You don’t have to prepay can cancel and rebook as many times as you like and no penalties. If you aren’t a Costco member it’s typically worth the $60 membership fee just to rent the car, you can always cancel your membership after the rental and they’ll refund you in full. Costco typically has the cheapest gas on the islands as well.
I’ve noticed the past few times I’ve tried to rent on all islands that Enterprise RAC has no availability. This is the company I’ve always used for my frequent renter acct. Anybody know if they have they stopped servicing Hawaii or just low inventory?
Yes we have used Turo from time to time and especially for longer rentals. Definitely not a preferred solution for four days at HNL where you can walk directly out of the terminal and into the car rental facility.
Costco travel is the best place to rent cars. It will start out high, but I’ve learned that if you check prices 2-3 times a week leading up to your travel date, prices drop significantly! Last fall I rented a Jeep wrangler in Maui for under $400 for 8 days I was there.
One way around that third party issue is once you get a lower rate alert from Autoslash, go directly to the car rental company’s site, log in with your account and see if the same rate is there.
I just double checked a price on a reservation I made a few weeks ago. Went up by $20. I’m surprised you didn’t mention Costco. They frequently have the best rates. I use National a lot because they have good prices and benefits.
One of the reasons the Thrifty lines might be longer is that “Hotwire” and “Economybookings” usually end up being at Thrifty. I am a member at Budget & Avis (I believe they are together now) and they frequently have specials with additional discounts when you have Prime Amazon. If you don’t want to prepay, it’s normal that prices are higher. After all, they keep the car for you without knowing if you will pick it up. Personally, I have always done well with Economybooking.
I reserved a car last Sept for a Maui visit this coming May through Costco/Enterprise. I check around at least once a month and will do so more frequently as the date gets closer. I rebooked in Nov for a mid size SUV for 7 days for $368 (incl taxes & not prepaid) directly with Alamo. I’ve rented from them before with no issues. Diligence pays off.
Whenever we travel, I reserve my cars through Costco Travel. You don’t have to pay up front, and I’ve have saved hundreds of dollars by following up, and rebooking when prices drop. And a second driver can be added at no additional cost.
I decided to do a quick check on Costco Travel for car rates at HNL from Feb 5, 2024, 10:00 AM – Feb 8, 2024, 12:00 PM – I don’t know how analogous that is to what you had. It came up with Budget with a Standard (Jetta size or similar) car being cheaper than both economy and compact cars at $501 total. There was a $10 coupon involved, but that was all automatic. I didn’t go through with the rental, so I don’t know if there were any additional taxes added – as far as I got it stated that $500.84 was the “total rental price.”
I have found that Costco is usually the best price for car rental. They don’t charge the card until car is turned in, and spouse is added for free. Membership is $60, easily saved on the first multi-day rental. The airline websites can be competitive, too, but only list the big 4 usually. Both outfits have rebates or mileage credits if you use their card. GOVX (veterans only) is competitive, too.
I guess it depends on the ‘when and where’ you are booking. If it’s last minute, obviously you will likely pay more. I just booked a two-week standard size car rental on Maui in last half of April for $595 with Thrifty thru Autoslash. This got me the ‘weekly’ rate, which is usually less per/day than a four-day rental. Of course I remember the $15/day from back when, but that was ‘then.’ Wonder if it will ever go down to a reasonable rate and quit gouging. If I didn’t have a time share in HI, I’d go elsewhere as others have suggested.
Not necessarily. We’ve taken 4-5 trips (twice to HNL) in the last year. Often times the sweet spot is about 2 weeks before your arrival for the best deal. Too far in advance and it was a lot more. I saw this in HNL, Palm Springs, and Miami.
Hertz owns Dollar + Thrifty – rule #1 – Never Never Ever – on any of those companies.
I don’t want to be arrested + I don’t want to wait hours in the sun, or find there are no cars.
#2 – Costco
#3 – keep checking
My last trip to Maui in June, had a great reservation at National I think – owned by Enterprise. The employee waived us over to Enterprise counter for processing so we had no wait whatsoever, as Enterprise was helping someone and no one was at Enterprise. And same price etc. Choice of cars.
I have also had good luck with Avis + Budget. never used OTA sites.
And by the way, Costco informed me just in the last week or 2 that Hawaii tax on car rental is going up so it won’t match my reservation amount exactly.
Not sure what your rub is about Hertz as I have used them for over 40 years and have never had any problems with my rentals. For my upcoming trips in late March and early April my weekly costs are around $400 so what’s the problem?
Supply and Demand (AKA) “take advantage of all as much as possible” is how the world has worked forever – regardless of the terms we’ve come up with to describe the system.
But gouging is something, although I’m 100% against government interference, that needs to be looked at. Let’s rate companies on their performance, satisfaction and ability to satisfy their customers. CEO, officers and high level Director and Management pay should be tied to how those the company serves feel. If not good, pay should be cut. If CEO and executive pay were tied more to customer satisfaction metrics vs. stock performance, I’ll bet we’d see a different outcome.
We are headed to KOA in March 2024. I booked a Thrifty standard car using Capital One Travel for our 3 week stay. It is prepaid but also refundable for $1100. Equivalent cars through Costco are listed for $1500. The last time we rented at Thrifty the line to the counter was an hour wait and they had few cars, which I think was the cause of the delay. I ended up receiving a Ford Expedition instead of the intermediate SUV requested. The Expedition was to large to fit into the garage at the condo we were staying so I returned it a few days later and received a Ford Escape. The previous rental at Thrifty went well so they are one for two at this point. Let’s see if they can score a 67% in March.
I just rented a car for a week on Maui from Enterprise through Costco for $380, seemed pretty good to me.
So I don’t know what dates you are searching for in Feb but using Orbitz I tried 2 different date ranges of Feb 15-19 (over a weekend) and Feb 19-23 (weekday). I show a compact car from Sixt for $343 and $263 accordingly. Interestingly enough, I also tried on Costco Travel and they were WAY more expensive. You might want to include Orbitz in your search.
I also used Orbitz and it was cheaper than Costco (I am not a member, but my friends are and they paid more at that time).
SIXT is a complete rip off. We rented from them for the first (and last) time last September at EWR. I went with them because we were driving my elderly parents around and wanted something nice and easy for them to get into.
Not only did they swap out what we had reserved for a worse car, they trued pulling the old “we found a scratch on the car and you owe us money” scam.
Never again.
Thank you for this information. I have booked a rental car for my trip in June with Thrifty via carhire.com.au. I have not pre-paid (thankfully). I am Avis preferred so I think based on your information I will cancel my Thrifty reservation and look at Avis.
Regarding Rental Cars. I have used Hotwire many times over the years with success. It’s not perfect because Hotwire is a third-party vendor. So, if you have trouble with your reservation, you must contact hotwire, not the rental agency. I suspect most third-party rental agencies are the same way. I am coming to Kauai for our 50th wedding anniversary March 26th thru April 1st and have rented a car through Hotwire. The rental agency is Dollar. I made a partial upfront payment with the balance due at rental pickup. I made the reservation back on October 13th. $324.18 for a full-size car. Just a side note: We have spent our 30th and 40th anniversaries on Kauai. Princeville! Bill M
Congratulations on your upcoming 50th – that’s a great accomplishment!
Wondering your choice of an outstanding location for your celebration has something to do with it? 😉
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, Costco is the best deal by far. Checking their site the all in price ran about $375 using the limited data you provided…and that was for a higher class of car than you were looking for. You don’t have to prepay can cancel and rebook as many times as you like and no penalties. If you aren’t a Costco member it’s typically worth the $60 membership fee just to rent the car, you can always cancel your membership after the rental and they’ll refund you in full. Costco typically has the cheapest gas on the islands as well.
Hi Greg.
The same Avis car was $25 more on Costco Travel than on Priceline. Thanks for mentioning that and we updated it in the article.
Aloha.
Just checked Costco per your suggestion and their rate for a Jeep for our upcoming trip is about $300 more than using AutoSlash with a price alert.
I’ve noticed the past few times I’ve tried to rent on all islands that Enterprise RAC has no availability. This is the company I’ve always used for my frequent renter acct. Anybody know if they have they stopped servicing Hawaii or just low inventory?
Enterprise and Alamo are owned by the same company so you may want to try Alamo. FYI…Budget and Avis are owned by the same company.
Costco? I’ve found great rates through Costco travel, and it does not require prepayment.
I’m sure you’ve addresses this: thoughts on Turo?
Hi mqgee.
Yes we have used Turo from time to time and especially for longer rentals. Definitely not a preferred solution for four days at HNL where you can walk directly out of the terminal and into the car rental facility.
Aloha.
Costco travel is the best place to rent cars. It will start out high, but I’ve learned that if you check prices 2-3 times a week leading up to your travel date, prices drop significantly! Last fall I rented a Jeep wrangler in Maui for under $400 for 8 days I was there.
Hi Mandel.
We do of course check down to the day before travel and thanks for reminding everyone about that car rental trick.
Aloha.
Thanks for the heads up in re Dollar & Thrifty.
One way around that third party issue is once you get a lower rate alert from Autoslash, go directly to the car rental company’s site, log in with your account and see if the same rate is there.
I just double checked a price on a reservation I made a few weeks ago. Went up by $20. I’m surprised you didn’t mention Costco. They frequently have the best rates. I use National a lot because they have good prices and benefits.
One of the reasons the Thrifty lines might be longer is that “Hotwire” and “Economybookings” usually end up being at Thrifty. I am a member at Budget & Avis (I believe they are together now) and they frequently have specials with additional discounts when you have Prime Amazon. If you don’t want to prepay, it’s normal that prices are higher. After all, they keep the car for you without knowing if you will pick it up. Personally, I have always done well with Economybooking.
I reserved a car last Sept for a Maui visit this coming May through Costco/Enterprise. I check around at least once a month and will do so more frequently as the date gets closer. I rebooked in Nov for a mid size SUV for 7 days for $368 (incl taxes & not prepaid) directly with Alamo. I’ve rented from them before with no issues. Diligence pays off.
Whenever we travel, I reserve my cars through Costco Travel. You don’t have to pay up front, and I’ve have saved hundreds of dollars by following up, and rebooking when prices drop. And a second driver can be added at no additional cost.
I decided to do a quick check on Costco Travel for car rates at HNL from Feb 5, 2024, 10:00 AM – Feb 8, 2024, 12:00 PM – I don’t know how analogous that is to what you had. It came up with Budget with a Standard (Jetta size or similar) car being cheaper than both economy and compact cars at $501 total. There was a $10 coupon involved, but that was all automatic. I didn’t go through with the rental, so I don’t know if there were any additional taxes added – as far as I got it stated that $500.84 was the “total rental price.”
GreedFlation at its finest!