Sharpen your skills at navigating the costs of a Hawaii vacation. Today, here’s what’s happening with Hawaii car rentals.
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86 thoughts on “Hawaii Car Rental Prices Soar Again Amid Fresh Shenanigans”
Sharpen your skills at navigating the costs of a Hawaii vacation. Today, here’s what’s happening with Hawaii car rentals.
Are these prices daily rates? That is highway robbery.
Vacation rental host here. Turo is for cars what Airbnb is for homes. Check them out to cost compare in a followup article. People can make supplemental income renting out their cars and some have created a business model.do this with multiple new abd used cars. If the government doesn’t break your entrepreneurial spirit… where there’s a will there’s a way to save.
I rent through a broker who has contracts with most of the rental car agencies. Last year he set me up with a small SUV for around $930 for 18 days in Kauai, but when I got to the rental agency counter, they gave me a Ford Explorer for a little over $600. Good deal but too big for my taste. This year I used the same broker and am getting a mid-size sedan for $944 for 18 days, again in Kauai. He sent me a special deal on an Armada for $1031 for 18 days, pre-paid. I declined, not liking pre-pay, and who wants to drive a monster like that on Kauai’s roads?
This is an interesting article. We just returned from Oahu. Rented a car for $653 (14 days) through Thrifty and Priceline. It was a great experience. A line at Thrifty, yes that’s true but it went quickly and so worth the time. We received a good car, great gas mileage and easy to navigate. We had no issues. We would definitely do it again.
I just rented a convertible from Sixt, one of the minor companies. With the 30 day stay requirement in Honolulu county and the city of Kailua where my family lives, the cost, with full insurance (I no longer use my own insurance after Allstate dropped me because twice on one trip my rental was hit in parking lots while parked-clearly not my fault) my total cost is a bit over $3000. The last time I was here before Covid and it was 3 weeks not 30 days, the cost for a convertible with full insurance was under $1000. This will be my last trip. At 77 and on a fixed pension I can no longer afford it. That said, prices for everything in CT where I live have skyrocketed since Covid!
I just rented a full size car on Kauai for 9 days. I paid $400 for the rental. It was first setup at $520, but as the trip got closer, we kept checking and found we could get it for cheaper.
Which agency did you book with?
Aloha
We are currently on Maui an always use one of the small local car rental companies. Our current car was 400.00 for 16 days. Yes 25 dollars a day and they are waiting for you with the car when you land.
Hawaii can be done on a budget if you are willing to stay in a condo just off the beach, fly mid week and rent an older reliable car from a local small vendor.
Aloha, Dave. Sorry you might have a couple of windy-rainy days. I agree that Maui can be done on a budget and I am happy you found a local car rental with good service that is reasonable. Enjoy the rest of your stay.
Same.. it was actually very easy to travel to Maui with decent prices. We weren’t but a 10 minute drive to the beach, had a beautiful condo and enjoyed it all for much less than we anticipated. Great experience.
I can echo the Costco advice – especially the “check every week” hack. I’ve used the discount brokers in the past but the prices at Costco were always within shouting distance. Will even pay a slight premium to make sure it’s Alamo if competitors prices are close. We’ve never had a bad experience (ok, once the line was about 40 minutes). As for stored cars we noticed the Maui lot was significantly smaller – so we assumed cars were shipped to neighboring islands. I was happy to see your article, as we looked at renting a car for a possible Maui trip but saw that the cost had tripled. We didn’t finalize that trip so rental car was not needed – but we knew it would be a premium. Friends who used TURO swear by it.
If you live on the West Coast and you plan to visit the islands for at least 3 weeks, consider shipping your car (assuming you have 2 cars or can do without it for the car’s 10-14 day transPacific journey). Depending on the size of your car, it costs ~ $1,200. You could even sell the car locally in Hawaii rather than ship it back; there is a strong market for used, serviceable cars.
I just shipped a car to Kauai last year. Cheapest Roll on Roll off price was $2400. That $1200 price is from a decade ago. If I am wrong, please specify how to get that price for everyone’s benefit, except me of course. One advice I have is ship directly through the actual shipping company rather than a shipping broker. Much better communication.
remember….Discounthawaiicarrental.com changes the rates all the time. I have saved hundreds by checking back as it gets closer to my trip…..like maybe once a week or more. easy to cancel and rebook. They are also really helpful on the phone!
We have found that you can’t beat Costco and have never had any issues renting through them.
Around $400 for a week on both Maui and the Big Island late in March and early April so what’s the rub.
But what were the shenanigans to cause the prices to be so high?
Hi Patrick.
For starters, how about losing frequent renter program benefits when you book through any website other than that of the car rental company.
Aloha.
We just booked an 11 day car rental through Costco in Kauai with Alamo for $478 I am good with this price. This is for the month of May, seems like a good time to travel to Hawaii.
My moat recent experience is at LIH in mid November 2023. We had two weeks rental for an economy car at hertz. Since I am a President’s Circle member we got upgraded to a GMC SUV, which was nice, but not economical and hard to park in those narrow Hawaiian parking spaces, especially in Princeville where we have a timeshare. Cost was just under $700 for two weeks, and not pre paid. Booked three months in advance. I expect that the rental car will be more expensive this year. When we visit Oahu we never get a rental car, as so many have noted it’s not necessary.
Hi Daryl.
Our Hawaii car rentals, which are frequent, were quite reasonable until early December. Since then, not.
Aloha.
I remember how I was always checking for the cheapest car rental before getting my Tesla. They ranged from $100/a week during Covid to $500 after they shipped all the cars to the mainland. I think it even got higher than that! There are currently a lot of tourists on the West side of Maui. Seems like they all arrived at the same time! I have never seen anything like it and was surprised, since all we hear is that there are not enough tourists.
I agree. Never rented a car on Oahu. The public bus takes you to most places and I took “Lyft” from the airport into Waikiki. Regarding an upgrade, I always tell them that I don’t want an SUV. Not only that it hard to manage and park, it’s also expensive to fill it up wit gas. I have an electric car, so it’s weird to drive anything else when I am travelling
My wife and I have visited Oahu 2-3 times a year for the last 7-8 years. It’s a cheap and easy flight from the SF Bay Area.
This last November the hotel room prices were eye-watering to say the least. The restaurants are also out of control (though years ago, we started buying poke and other to go food to munch on in our room or at the beach or trailhead)
But we found a tiny bit of solace in the fact that our rental car was only $50 from Alamo. Now, reading this, I don’t think we’ll be coming to Hawaii anytime soon. It’s just too friggin’ expensive!
Another nail in the coffin of Hawaii visitors! This just doesn’t make sense! When a car rental company has tons of rentals available, the prices should go down unless there is a covert agreement to fix prices among the rental companies.
Just say No! to Economy. Take a look at their Yelp reviews for some amusing reads. Shocking how they are still in business.
TURO seems to be the best option. For our upcoming trip to LIH next week, we can rent a Jeep Cherokee for $44 per day, $387 all in for seven days ($55 a day). Just pay attention to the delivery fees. Most renters don’t charge.
Hey guys. A place for getting great rates on car rentals that wasn’t mentioned is Costco travel.