Here are many new tips and strategies for getting a discount Hawaii car rental on your 2021 Hawaii vacation. There are 25 suggestions in total.
Be forewarned, car rental prices continue to see dramatic increases due in part to three factors:
1. Industry consolidation. About 95% of all Hawaii car rentals are managed by three companies. Those companies are Hertz (Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty), Avis (Avis and Budget) and Enterprise (Enterprise, National and Alamo).
2. Demand for Hawaii car rentals often exceeds capacity at peak periods. That as a result of ongoing increases in Hawaii’s visitor count, which is up about 25% over the past decade.
3. Exorbitant taxes and fees. In addition to high base rates, there are the following additional mandatory fees and taxes. General excise tax (varies by island) up to 4.71%. State motor vehicle $5/day. Vehicle registration up to $1.45/day. Customer facility charge $4.50/day. Airport concession fee 11.1%.
Did you know in fact that car rental prices are based on demand and not on size?
Larger cars are often cheaper than more coveted compact ones. Read more ideas below on how to keep money in your pocket.
It’s important to plan for your Hawaii car rental just like you do for flights to Hawaii and accommodations.
Case in point, most car rentals will either be sold out or priced sky high for Christmas holidays and around July 4/summer travel periods.
With more demand than availability during high seasons, it is not unusual to find rates starting at nearly $100 per day. But we’ve got tips that work even for the holidays and for summer, so keep reading.
Car rentals remain the third largest expense for most Hawaii vacations. First is accommodations and second is airfare to Hawaii. Are you still on the fence about a Hawaii vacation for 2021? If so, remember that it is going to be an unprecedented next year for cheap flights to Hawaii. Airlines are determined to get you back in the air heading to the islands.
While many others have written about money saving tricks for car rentals, following are our suggestions, from a local Hawaii perspective:
25 Tips to Get a Discount Hawaii Car Rental in 2021
Alternative car rental sources and discounts.
- Check several sources and compare rates and availability before booking. Look at both airport and city locations for pickup and drop off. To get a feel for prices, you can try working with online travel agencies and other sites. Check the actual car rental company sites as well as those below.
- Discount Hawaii Car Rental (our advertiser who we learned of from our readers) is one excellent resource we frequently use ourselves. At peak times we’ve found their rates can save at least $20 per day compared with competitors.
- Have you tried Turo? That’s a peer to peer car rental service that is similar to Airbnb for cars. If you decide to try it (we have not), let us know your thoughts.
- Check AutoSlash. Reader Lee from MI wrote: “I’ve been going to Kauai yearly for 12 years now and never spent more than $600 for 2 weeks on a convertible. Today all the sites were over $1400, more then double then what I spent last year. Then WOW!! I never heard of AutoSlash before reading this blog…AutoSlash beat them by $600 with Avis.”
- Check for discounts available through AAA, AARP and Costco.
- For periods when there are no car rentals available, some visitors have tried Craigslist. We cannot recommend that route as we have heard of way too many problems including those related to insurance protection and breakdowns. We would, however, suggest checking multiple car rental sources frequently for sold out dates that could subsequently become available.
Protect yourself against damage, dirt and other fees.
- Damage Protection Tip: Consider using your cell phone to photograph the car before driving it off the lot. Our good friend and Beat of Hawaii reader Colleen, takes the photos with her husband standing next to the car holding that day’s paper. It’s also a good idea to do the same thing on return, such as when you drop the car before or after office hours. We were once accused by Dollar of not returning their car due to inefficiency in processing the car when it was dropped before hours.
- Hawaii Dirt Tip: Hawaii car rental agencies can charge a fee of $50-$100 or more 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, get to a car wash before returning it to the agency. Consider having newspapers or other floor protection if you’re going to be hiking or when it is muddy.
- Get a Final Receipt Before Leaving: We’ve learned this one too the hard way. Be sure the contract is closed out and you have a complete and final receipt/accounting, before leaving the car rental facility at the end of your trip. Otherwise, it will become very hard to contest any surprise charges.
Airline frequent flyer points may increase your rate.
- It’s always good to ask about having them included in your rental. But do find out if there’s a daily charge for the accrual, what you’ll get and how much it will cost.
Timing is everything.
- Make your car reservation far in advance for travel during high seasons. This is similar to the strategy for buying airline tickets and reserving accommodations.
- Once you make a reservation, be sure to check back a number of times to see if better deals arise before your trip. The price is a moving target. This has saved us untold hundreds of dollars in car rental charges. Frequently (and more so all the time) prepaid can become the best deal (but it is not always). We recently rented a car from Hertz where the total on first checking was $1,600. In the end we paid $600 for the exact same rental by checking, cancelling and remaking the reservation, and in the end, asking the counter agent if they could do better (which they did).
- Set a reminder to check car rental prices again a day or two before you travel for any last minute offers.
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 blindly fork over an extra $10-$30/day when you show up unprepared at the rental counter. Agents may have a strong incentive to sell insurance and other upgrades.
- Reader Oliver’s advice: “Many credit cards offer secondary insurance, i.e. they will pay if you don’t have any other insurance such as your own car insurance. But you may not want to use your car insurance, as a claim will likely drive the rates up. There are a some cards that offer primary rental car insurance. Note that credit card car rental coverage is is a state of flux, which is resulting in frequently less or no coverage. Be sure to check and not assume.
- Check Priceline
. While we have never used them for flights, for car rentals it usually doesn’t matter to us which major agency provides the car, and a loyalty program credit isn’t as important, so I use them occasionally.”
Additional driver and underage fees add 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. Costco rentals include a second driver. Many companies include spouse or business partner automatically. But work through this in advance to avoid a surprise of perhaps $10/day. We recently saw a couple with a 24 year old driver accessed a $25/day fee for being under 25, so it pays to check and be prepared.
Car sizes, upgrades, and pre-payment options.
- Car rental prices are based on demand not size. Research different size rental cars to see what offers the best deal. Larger cars are often cheaper than smaller cars.
- In Hawaii, many of us prefer somewhat smaller cars that are fuel efficient, and equally important, are easy to maneuver. In Honolulu a compact car will be far more nimble in tight parking lots and generally.
- Do you really need GPS when you already have it on your phone?
- Check into pre-payment options, but consider those carefully as 1) you will be locked in and 2) it doesn’t guarantee you the best rate.
- Pre-paying gas generally comes with a much higher price per gallon. Check that before you drive off.
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.
Determine the grace period of the contract.
- Previously this was 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, some companies have no grace period whatsoever. Be careful with this one, as the excess rate on car rentals can be up to $15/hour plus taxes.
Is the price the total price?
- Hawaii airport surcharges on car rentals have 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 first. And prepare for a bit of sticker shock.
Do you have any other tips? Please sound off in the comments below. Mahalo.
Updated 12/1/20.
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LM says
Aloha, your information on renting a car while in Hawaii, is very helpful. My husband and I traveling to Big Island later this month, we have our Covid tests scheduled, fill out the travel safe forms and will continue with our travel plans (only w/negative result). We would like to rent a car for part of our trip, out of Kailua/Kona, rather from the airport to save on fees. I reserved a car through Hawaiicarrentals.net – The price was less by over $200, which seems suspect. Is this a legitimate agency? (I did receive a confirmation from Dollar), however, it mentions there is a 7th Proclamention restriction… Can I still rent this car? Mahalo, Liz
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi LM.
We have never heard of them, but maybe someone else who has can comment. If you have a confirmation from a major, that would be a good sign. So long as you are not quarantined, you can rent a car.
Aloha.
CW says
Here you will get to know about the ten ways to save money on Hawaii car rentals. Things to be considered include many options listed in this link. It is very useful article and would suggest others too. I am sure many people will come to read this in future. You have done a great research for I feel, thanks for sharing.
Mark says
Thanks for the info. I’d love to try Turo but afraid of whether or not my USAA insurance or Credit Card insurance would cover me. No one seems to be able to give me a definitive answer so I will have to skip Turo until I know for sure.
Kim H says
aloha
I am wondering if there are cars available for rent on Kauai during covid? I have resort and airline reservations that i am considering cancelling for 12/3/2020 -12/17/20. If I cant rent a car and get to Poipu and there are no ubers or lyfts…….i am hesitant to arrive in Lihue with not transportation.
Mahalo,
Kim H
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Kim.
You will not be able to rent a car during the 14-day quarantine.
Aloha.
Gary B says
Majalo for the tip! I’ve always booked cars way in advance and checked all my go to sites for better prices. Costco, AARP, Rentcar, Expedia, etc. Couldn’t get anything less than $400 for our Kauai week in Sept. Used Auto Slash and it redirected to Priceline that beat everything by $100+ for a full sized SUV (not our first choice but the cheapest). For our last trip in 2019 we got a full size Jeep. OMG didcwe have a blast! Never washed a rental car before returning it but there was mud over the hood and windshield!!
Priceline used to make you prepay but no longer. Of course I will continue to recheck.
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Gary.
Thanks.
Aloha
Chad says
Aloha, everyone should be advised that by order of the Governor, visitors to Hawaii are not permitted to rent a vehicle, during the first 14 days of a visit. That’s because all people arriving in Hawaii must quar antine in their room for 14 days, not leaving the place of lodging for 14 days. So a rental car is useless during that time.
Dave T says
Maui car rental surprise! In researching for a trip next year I was quick to discover that renting a car for 2 weeks could be more than the cost of the airfare! After searching for an hour or so I discovered that Enterprise Rent-A-Car has two facilities, one on the airport and another in Kahului about 2 miles from the terminal. Using the Enterprise website with a hypothetical date I found that an intermediate size car on the airport is $850 total for two weeks in April 2021. Using the same dates and size class (same car), the cost at the off-airport facility is $381 total for two weeks. That is a savings of $469! I phoned the off-airport facility and confirmed that their rates are lower due to the weekly rate of $145/week vs $299/week as well as the airport taxes. Because there is an Enterprise facility at the airport, they are not allowed to provide airport shuttle service so a short taxi ride is called for. I don’t think a taxi would be more the $15-$20.
When I checked the price using Costco Travel the off-airport price was $21 lower. That’s enough to cover the taxi!
Well worth considering renting a car from an off-airport facility!
Dave T says
Minor edit… Costco Travel was $802 for on-airport, $360 for off-airport. ($442 lower)
Sherry R says
I have noticed that the car rental rates are very high for July 2020. I usually book and keep checking back and they usually drop. Will we see a drop this year with this going on?
Dave T says
Sherry, If you are going to Maui see my comment above your post. Dave
Jared L says
Car rentals would be perfectly affordable if it weren’t for the typically / ever-greedy state and local taxing authorities. “Soak the tourists” has been the Aloha way for many years now. Take from the rich and give to the poor. So, until THAT changes, there will never be “affordable” car rentals on the islands. Eventually that government greed and mismanagement will kill the golden goose.
Mike S. says
I like what you said about taking pictures of your car before driving it off the lot so that you don’t get accused of damaging it. My sister has been telling me about how she wants to drive a different car in the coming weeks.
Anna C. says
We used Turo on our last trip to the Big Island in November 2019. It started out like a nightmare due to a bait and switch by the young con artist we inadvertently rented from. It took the greater part of our second day there to get a new car arranged as most were already out for the day. We had taken many photos to back up our complaint. We finally got a new 2019 Honda Accord in its place at an even lower price. We would rent through them again but only through someone who has had many positive reviews and satisfied customers.
ADO says
Thank you for the article.
Learned a lot!
Also, I would like to add that some (most?) of the main companies might charge for an extra day after the grace period (1 hour late = 1 day rental fee added).
From everything I’ve heard, it seems to be the main policy now, although staff are free to choose whether they’re going to apply the rule or not.It depends a lot on the customer’s attitude. Being gentle and contacting the rental agency early to inform them of your delay is a good start.
Cheers.
ADO
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Ado.
Thanks.
Aloha.
Jean A. says
I am a former Maui resident. Last month, at the last moment, I able to rent a clean 2003 Toyota Hylander for $150 a week from Kahului Auto Sales on Maui.
Maui Cruisers will leave you a car in the airport parking lot. I’ve used them for years. (Edited by Beat of Hawaii).
Russell H. says
I primarily go through Costco and a few time Discount Carrental Hawaii. Both are good.
I just did a check on off airport rentals on the Big Island. Renting at Waikoloa vs renting at airport is significantly higher. I don’t know about the other islands, but probably on Oahu you might get a better price in Honolulu.
Bruce G says
Terrific article, thanks very much.
We traveled between the SF Bay Area and the islands for 2 weeks every year from 1985 to 1999, then again in 2006, and I’ve been on your e-mail list since about 1990, visiting your website often. Only financial reversals, starting with the recession in 2001, have prevented another visit, but my wife and I are hoping for a 2020 visit to Kauai and the Big Island.
I am amazed at your “READ THIS FIRST” warning. It’s amazing that decent manners are not a given anymore. I know this warning has only appeared within the last year or two, and it’s a sign of the political times. Don’t let those turkeys discourage you when you provide such a wonderful, helpful website in which you obviously do a great job of researching everything about which you write. Thanks again for all the help you’ve provided everyone.
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Bruce.
Thank you!!!
Aloha from Rob and Jeff
Dan T. says
You can avoid the airport concession fee by renting from a location near your hotel. I guess that should result in a lower net fee.
Cynthia R says
Thanks so much! This article is a fantastic resource. In early December, I was trying to reserve a rental car for the last two weeks of December (i.e. peak holiday season). Orbitz prices STARTED at $650. Auto Slash provided a better car with a national rental car company for $488! Turo also had a good offer. It was my first time working with either of these two services and I was very happy.
When I have a longer lead time I’ve also had great success with Discount Hawaii Rental Cars. Also, if you don’t care about a really used car, I have used Rent a Wreck. Basic but heavily used cars available at good discounts.
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Cynthia.
Thank you.
Aloha.
Alice says
May I have your turo coupon? I’ve tried from your link but the promotion didn’t appear!
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Alice.
It looks as though Turo has removed that offer. We have updated the post accordingly.
Aloha.
Margaret E. says
We have used DISCOUNT HAWAII CARS for 7 years while on the Big Island for 9 weeks from Mid Jan to April. I sometimes have multiple reservations for the same time period and once I find it cheaper, it is simple to just cancel previous reservations. I normally booked for all 9 weeks and I would always check with my Canadian Insurance company if I was covered for that time period…always received the same response…covered for 92 days out of country. In 2017, the agent informed me that my coverage was only for 30 day increments as it was for a RENTAL CAR! Discovered with more calls, that she was correct. To then have to go back to DISCOUNT HAWAII CARS and to change my bookings into 30 day increments…so close to leaving…cost me an additional $800. I then realized for 6 years, after 30 days, I had been driving with no insurance….even though, I had done my due diligence every year by calling twice to check on 92 day coverage. If you are CANADIAN…check with your insurance about 30 day coverage as it is different if you rent a car or are driving your own vehicle.