Your editors are heading out to the Big Island this week, and you’ll be hearing more about that soon enough. But right now, these exorbitant prices on Hawaii car rentals are killing us. We devised some strategies to save money now and want to share what we did with you. Also, see our savings guide to 2023 Hawaii car rentals.
Here’s how the savings happened.
We began looking at car rentals for this trip months ago. The best deal we could ultimately find was over $370 (including taxes) for a 4-day compact car rental from a major company. We tried them all, starting with the companies themselves, then, Kayak, Priceline, Discount Hawaii Car Rental, Costco Travel, and Autoslash. We booked through Autoslash and ended up selecting a premium category Hertz rental for $422 for four days. Ouch. The only reason that we went with the premium car rather than a mid-size was that they were virtually the same price.
So Jeff, our Arthur Frommer of Hawaii, if you will, went back to all the sources to see what was out there yesterday. He makes this a big game, for those who don’t know him. Something akin to looking to see which cup contains the prize. He’s absolutely tenacious about the pursuit of value in Hawaii travel.
He didn’t find anything much better, and actually, most prices were even worse. But he didn’t give up. Jeff went back to Discount Hawaii Car Rental, Costco Travel and to Autoslash and Kayak. There was nothing really workable. Not giving up, however, he decided to pull yet another quote from Autoslash. And here’s what happened:
Reserved!
The confirmed reservation price above is for the same Hertz premium car that Jeff had previously gotten via Autoslash for $424. And notice that this is not a prepaid reservation either. Just pay on arrival. That’s a great deal at $59 a day plus taxes. Honestly, not even much more than that same car would have cost years ago.
What about Costco Travel?
The the price of a comparable car on Costco Travel never can’t down. It still fits at $432 today. No deal!
Autoslash failed to notify Jeff of the possible price reduction.
Autoslash says on their website, and the owner has commented on Beat of Hawaii posts, that they track rental car prices and will let you know when they go down. Apparently not, or at least not automatically. We received no email about a 25% reduction in cost.
Not only that, but Jeff requested two Autoslash price quotes within ten minutes of each other, and the first one didn’t list the discounted price. We’re not sure what that is about.
Takeaways for savings on Hawaii car rentals.
Don’t trust anyone. Even if they tell you they’ll let you know if the price drops. Balderdash. Don’t believe what Kayak said which is that cars are running out for your dates. Nonsense. Or that any one source always has the best deal on your Hawaii car rental.
Start the car rental process at the same time as booking air and accommodations. Book a refundable car to start.
Keep checking offers, and that’s especially true in the last week leading up to the rental. We never prepay far in advance for obvious reasons. If we are going to prepay, which we loathe, we will wait until within the last week to do so.
Check all possible sources. Not just one or two. You just never know where the best deals are lurking. And even that can change from day to day and week to week. Consider it a moving target.
Beat of Hawaii 2023 Savings Guide To Hawaii Car Rentals.
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JanM says
I use Autoslash all the time because you never have to prepay or enter a credit card. Always have the best rates for me. Especially since the coupons you get from Dollar, Avis, etc. never work on rentals in Hawaii or the Caribbean.
AutoSlash says
Hi Jeff and Rob! We were thrilled to hear that we were able to save you some money on your upcoming Big Island trip. I wanted to clarify one important point though:
AutoSlash can and will track your rental for lower rates, but that’s something the user needs to initiate (autoslash.com/how-we-do-it).
When we first started out almost 13 years ago, we had automatic tracking and price drops, but that turned out to ruffle the feathers of the industry establishment a bit too much, and we were forced to make it a user-initiated process.
That said, it takes 2 min. to set up and is the easiest way to ensure you’re getting the best possible deal. Sometimes rates drop last minute, so still worth entering your reservation for tracking.
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Jonathan.
There was nothing obvious to us in the rental process that would have indicated what was needed in order to have the reservation tracked. Beyond that, the rates changed by more than $100 in a five-minute period. The first time they were the same as a couple of days before. Then suddenly it went from pre-paid to post-paid and dropped 25%.
Aloha.
AutoSlash says
Thanks for the feedback. I guess we need to do a better job of letting people know that tracking is a separate process. We’ll definitely work on that as it’s clear, both from your experience, and the other comments here, that it’s less than obvious.
As far as the rates changing drastically so quickly, it can happen–especially this close to the pickup date as rental companies are typically jockeying to grab as much last-minute business as they can if they have vehicles available.
It could also be that your timing was just right, or that our system, for whatever reason, didn’t return the best available rate the first time around. We run 50-100 price requests for each quote to find the best deal based on each customer’s memberships.
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Jonathan.
Thanks for the feedback on our experience. Let us know if that get’s moved into the reservation workflow, as I’m sure it will be helpful to others.
Aloha.
JanM says
Hey Autoslash! I have been booking via Autoslash for years now! I am a very happy customer and always recommend you to others on Facebook. Thanks for all the great rates and notifications of better rates.
AutoSlash says
We’re happy to have saved you money, Jan, and we sincerely appreciate you helping to spread the word about our service!
Albette B. says
Thank you so much for this information, went on AutoSlasher and put in my dates for a trip to Maui (January 12-16, 2023).
Original Reservation I have was for a compact car thru Costco Travel for $468 with Dollar. Autoslasher took to me Priceline it was $371.10 for a Fullsize thru Thrifty. We always use Costco Travel for our Rental Cars but thanks to this article we will be sure to also check out Auto Slasher too! Mahalo for all the awesome tips and tricks!
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Albette.
Glad that it was helpful to you! You just never know where you’ll find the best deals any more.
Aloha.
TammyB says
Was that a pay in advance rate? I haven’t seen otherwise from AutoSlash.
Thanks in advance,
Tammy
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Tammy.
No it was not prepaid.
Aloha.
JanM says
I use Autoslash all the time because you never have to prepay or enter a credit card. Always have the best rates for me. Especially since the coupons you get from Dollar, Avis, etc. never work on rentals in Hawaii or the Caribbean.
ThomA says
All I can say is i really Scored when I booked my car for 2023 through Costco. Like almost a $1000 less than the rates now.
Many people have asked, “When will the rates go down?” Why would they? They have a rope around our neck…..what are you going to do on any island without a car? I could not even get the grocery store let alone any beach on the Big Island. If the rates are $2300-$2800 for a month come 2024, I may have to skip my month in paradise. If everyone did that, and no cars moved, well
Stacy says
Autoslash didn’t email me about discounts on a car they quoted me either. I’ll be really curious to see what they tell you the reason was.
AutoSlash says
Hi Stacy, the tracking process is something you need to initiate for us to keep searching for lower rates. Anytime you book (whether with us or with another site), just enter some quick details about your reservation and we’ll continually search for better deals.
Prices change constantly, and you’ve got better things to do than to keep re-checking, so outsource the work to us. It’s a free service so not much to lose, but you need to remember to enter your reservation for tracking.
More info can be found at autoslash.com/how-we-do-it. I hope this helps to explain things.
Betty L says
Aloha! Autoslash *used* to be my go-to, but no longer. They say they’ll alert you if prices drop, but they don’t appear to do it reliably. They’re totally connected with (owned by??) Priceline, and so you always need to go through them. I book early, check every month for the first few, and then every couple of weeks as time gets closer. Lately Discount Hawaii has been the winner. Mahalo!b
AutoSlash says
Hi Betty, have you entered your reservation in our system to be tracked? This is a key step to be notified if a lower rate becomes available. It works whether you’ve booked with us or on a different site, and it’s free, so nothing to lose by trying it.
And no, we are not owned by Priceline. We work closely with them as a partner because we feel that Priceline has the best system available to search and book discounted rates. We also have direct-book deals that do not go through Priceline.
We’re an independent company of less than 20 travel hackers who are passionate about getting customers the best deal possible. We’ve been at it for almost 13 years, and we’re still owned and operated by original founders.
Betty L says
Aloha Autoslash! Thank you for your reply. I found the “track my rental” button. And it worked! I just rebooked saving about $500 for a 3 week rental. We’ve got a couple of months to go, hoping for more price drops! Mahalo!
kathie l says
My current low price for November 7th trip is through Alaska air. So remember to check the airlines – I never had in the past but it seems new tricks are necessary. The price could be lower still if I wanted to rent from Hertz/Dollar/Thrifty. I’m getting old – didn’t want to wait in lines for hours in Kona + then be reported for auto theft by Hertz to save $100.
John L says
In late September I booked a midsize car from Hertz, using Hotwire, for 1 week in late October, for $385.35. Checking every few days and found only higher prices.
Greg says
Two other ways to possibly save some cash:
1) Try booking the car for a week instead of a few days. Sometimes the weekly price will be lower than the price for 4 days. Just be careful to look for early return penalties. I have not been penalized for an early car rental return. The
car rental agencies can rent the car out quicker and have already been paid for “the week.”
2) If booking a HI condo or house rental, check with the owners to see if they have a car rental discount code. I’m finishing up at stay on Kauai for a week and the owners’ code beat the price of both Costco and DHCR (and all other venues by a lot of $$$).
Ane T says
Aloha Guys,
I didnt know about Autoslash. Kayak I use for comparisons. I always use discounthawaiicarrental.com (as you know) for the final rental. Started looking when I booked my flight in Sept for an Oct week on Big Isle. Turns out it was Iron Man week! $1000 for 7 days!! By the time we went, after checking often before going- $667. Still not wonderful but soooo better. I love “dhcr” for their service! Local people always answer the phone and go above and beyond to help you in every way.
Melissa K says
When we went a year ago to Maui for a week, we used Costco for our rental. They had the best price for us at the time compared to everyone else.
TammyB says
Excellent, helpful article & exactly what I do when booking a car rental. I’ve used DHCR since 2007. Have never steered me wrong. Checking w/3rd parties & direct car rentals, DHCR always found the cheapest, no-strings attached rates.They show all the rates starting from cheapest to most expensive so you can compare & choose, giving you the confidence that you’ve got the best rate-currently. & they offer 1-2 free xtra drivers where direct might not! Auto Slash’s cheapest rates are pre-paid & I never do that (no refunds if you need to change/cancel) & they don’t show the next tier rate so you can’t choose a refundable rate to compare. *flight times can change so adjust car reserv if needed.Might save $$ !
Paul L says
What is DHCR?
Marsh says
Abbreviation for Discount Hawaii Car Rental, as mentioned in Ane’s post. I had to think about it too!
TammyB says
As mentioned in BOH’s blog. Sorry, thought people would catch onto that.
TammyB says
Discount Hawaiian Car Rental. They find the lowest amongst the car rental companies and the reservation # you get through them comes from the car company itself. Free cancellations up until pick up. 👍🏽
kathie l says
discounthawaiicarrental
Randy R says
DiscountHawaiiCarRental.com
Al says
Not entirely accurate, at least not my experience. I can’t speak to DHCR since I’ve never used them. But while Autoslash shows prepaid rates which are lower, it also offers the opportunity to see rates that are not prepaid.
I always book them through them and use them to check rates going forward for me since I don’t. Have the time to go online every day checking. There have been many times when they have saved me money but there have been a couple of times when I have gone back and randomly checked on a slow day and found a lower rate through their site. I guess no system is perfect!
TammyB says
Hi Al, I guess accurate is subjective. AutoSlash has never shown other rates for me. I use my phone so if it doesn’t show others while using that than it sounds like they need a fix to their website. As such, their cheapest they show me is prepay. And they don’t offer the 1-2 free extra drivers that DHCR do. So both of those don’t help me find the cheapest rates. But if it works for you… 🤙🏽
AutoSlash says
Hi Tammy, we’re not sure what you mean when you say ” AutoSlash has never shown other rates for me”. Can you clarify what you mean by “other rates”?
We do now offer both pay-now and pay-later rates. Sometimes, the pay-now rates can be significantly less expensive than pay-later, and you can cancel up to 48 hours prior to pickup for a full refund, so we can keep shopping for better deals for you. That said, the choice is always yours on which type of deal to book. We just present the options and let the customer decide.
Lastly, we do frequently offer deals that include a free additional driver. We clearly denote those deals on our offers page that you see when you click through from one of our quote emails.
Gloria G. says
Having visited twice in 21 and once in 22 the prices were a bit better in 22, but still outrageous as you point out. If the Rentals have ramped up with new inventory, why are the prices still so outrageous?
Carol C says
Costco often has the best car rental prices and you can change the reservation any time before you pick up the car – also,
not prepaid.
Alison P says
Hello, I so appreciate your updates on the car rental situation. The car is our most expensive item for our yearly trips. You do not mention having checked Costco for prices. I know it is members only, but usually, our savings covers the cost of the membership plus some!
Thanks for all you do.
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Alison.
Thanks. We did check Costco Travel three times and updated the article to reflect that.
Aloha.
terryg says
Airlines, car rental, etc are constantly checking prices with high end computers updating pricing databases which in turn effects what price consumers are offered. Firms don’t want to be neither to high or low and thus stuck with empty seats on planes cars on lots and even worse missed revenue by not getting the going mkt rate. It’s been this way for a generation since booking travel online became a thing. Kinda why you see the are you human checks to make it harder for bots to function.
Jeanneine Miller says
We use Costco Travel for rentals and have always been happy. I always compare it to other sources and find it to be better than most. It is a pay on arrival and no penalties for cancelation right up to arrival. We got a 12 day full size rental Sept 15 – 27 for 725. No notification process that I know of but if you watch prices you can cancel and rebook; that is what we did as our original reservation was going to be 1200.
Randy R says
Great advice, Mahalo. A long way from the ’80’s and ’90’s for $89/3-Days and $149/Week for a Mustang Convertible @ Budget.
Kay L says
Love, love your articles. I, too shop over and over for car rentals just as you. I am curious as to why you don’t mention COSTCO? It is rare that I find someone to beat COSTCO but it does happen. Discount Hawaii Car Rental being that one most often. The first price you see from COSTCO includes all the extras. When you search providers you mention, the first number looks to be a winner, THEN adds in all the taxes and fees so I end up back with a COSTCO reservation. Mahalo for the help!
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Kay.
Thank you. It’s been updated. Yes Costco was checked but wasn’t the one that worked this time.
Aloha.
kathie l says
Costco hasn’t been competitive at all for the last 2 years – for my previous trips + an upcoming trip in November. I keep checking but $2-300 higher for KOA.
Patrick says
And don’t for get Turo as a possible option as well
TammyB says
I hope they’re tearing their customers better. My s-I-law reserved through them for Oct 2019 and they cancelled his reservation two weeks before his trip. Not fun to have to scramble last minute and rent at higher pricing. We won’t use Turo again.