679 thoughts on “Savings Guide: 2023 Hawaii Car Rentals”
Lee C
Is the public bus system on Kauai still functioning? We used it a couple of years ago to get from Princeville to Lihue and back. A dollar each way, I believe. Is Uber a recommended means of transport? Any idea of the cost of Uber from the airport in Lihue to Princeville?
Yippee! 4 of us are going to Kona for 7 days mid May. In feb we were quoted $900 for a sub suv, then in April when we checked we were quoted $1220. Today the price was $526. Crazy! And we are happy. Now we want them to accept our vaccine cards.
I suggest you look at Hawaii-guude.com to see travel rules. If you rely only on your covid vaccine cards you’ll be sorry. Hawai’i, to any island, still requires covid testing through ONLY one of their trusted partners. Without this, & masks, they’ll quarantine you for your entire 7 days or send you back home. Have a great trip.
I really wanted to visit Hawaii again…..BUT….what with Covid testing, mask mandates, exorbitant rental car rates, etc., etc……count me out. Doesn’t EVEN sound like fun! Sad…..because I haven’t been there since 1987…..
We are coming to Kauai for the last week of May. We tried to reserve a U-Haul pick up truck and on the website it seemed that there was availability. However, later we received an email stating that they had to cancel our reservations due to not having any available vehicles. Now I wonder if they may have stopped renting them to tourist.
We actually do have a car reservation, but my nightmare is that we get there and there will be no vehicles available because of overbooking. Kauai is not a destination you can enjoy without a car. This is our first trip, so we would like to see the different sites. This whole situation is so stressful it keeps me awake. I wish I had known about it earlier, I would have canceled the trip. Now we have paid in full for the lodging, so we will go.
I’m not sure if this has been mentioned, but if so, it’s worth saying again. Auto Slash will also track your rental for you, as long as it’s NOT prepaid. You just need to give them information about your rental, and they will email you if the rates go down.
I have rentals for September being tracked and trust that this service will save me a lot of time checking the rates myself!
Mahalo, BOH for all the great info you provide and interesting articles you publish!
For the last 20 years I’ve been renting from a small local company called Maui Car Rental ‘s. Luckily I booked my car for my May and July trips a few months ago. I’m only paying $22 a day. I see on their webpage that they still are offering cars in the 60s per day out the door. I like to support the local companies whenever possible.
I have a concern for when I arrive on Kauai July 2. We have a reservation and have had a reservation for a year. Has anyone experienced the car companies NOT having the car available that they have confirmed??
I was in Maui in March and we did get a car but had to wait at least 30 minutes for one. This was with Dollar/ Hertz. They were turning around returned vehicles as they came back after a quick cleaning, and the only cars sitting in the lot were 2 minivans. There were several people in line to get a car. Not sure how long the people behind us had to wait! It was obvious they had very little inventory, but we got a car. Hope this goes well for you !
I was able to reserve a full size car about 2 months ago when you first started reporting on this. Thanks for the early warning! $551.00 base rate, estimated total is $934.25. That’s $383.25 for taxes and fees. The rental car companies are not the only ones gouging!
This is more than a supply and demand issue.
It is cause for an anti-trust ivestigation and a monopoly investigation. It is a glaring example of corporate greed and what happens to consumers when industries are allowed to consolidate to this degree.
Our system of Capitalism requires competition and profit. It fails as a monopoly.
Is the public bus system on Kauai still functioning? We used it a couple of years ago to get from Princeville to Lihue and back. A dollar each way, I believe. Is Uber a recommended means of transport? Any idea of the cost of Uber from the airport in Lihue to Princeville?
We were looking forward to a trip to Maui, but with rental car prices this high we will wait another year
Yippee! 4 of us are going to Kona for 7 days mid May. In feb we were quoted $900 for a sub suv, then in April when we checked we were quoted $1220. Today the price was $526. Crazy! And we are happy. Now we want them to accept our vaccine cards.
I suggest you look at Hawaii-guude.com to see travel rules. If you rely only on your covid vaccine cards you’ll be sorry. Hawai’i, to any island, still requires covid testing through ONLY one of their trusted partners. Without this, & masks, they’ll quarantine you for your entire 7 days or send you back home. Have a great trip.
I really wanted to visit Hawaii again…..BUT….what with Covid testing, mask mandates, exorbitant rental car rates, etc., etc……count me out. Doesn’t EVEN sound like fun! Sad…..because I haven’t been there since 1987…..
We are coming to Kauai for the last week of May. We tried to reserve a U-Haul pick up truck and on the website it seemed that there was availability. However, later we received an email stating that they had to cancel our reservations due to not having any available vehicles. Now I wonder if they may have stopped renting them to tourist.
We actually do have a car reservation, but my nightmare is that we get there and there will be no vehicles available because of overbooking. Kauai is not a destination you can enjoy without a car. This is our first trip, so we would like to see the different sites. This whole situation is so stressful it keeps me awake. I wish I had known about it earlier, I would have canceled the trip. Now we have paid in full for the lodging, so we will go.
I’m not sure if this has been mentioned, but if so, it’s worth saying again. Auto Slash will also track your rental for you, as long as it’s NOT prepaid. You just need to give them information about your rental, and they will email you if the rates go down.
I have rentals for September being tracked and trust that this service will save me a lot of time checking the rates myself!
Mahalo, BOH for all the great info you provide and interesting articles you publish!
Hi Janet.
Thanks for mentioning that.
Aloha.
For the last 20 years I’ve been renting from a small local company called Maui Car Rental ‘s. Luckily I booked my car for my May and July trips a few months ago. I’m only paying $22 a day. I see on their webpage that they still are offering cars in the 60s per day out the door. I like to support the local companies whenever possible.
I have a concern for when I arrive on Kauai July 2. We have a reservation and have had a reservation for a year. Has anyone experienced the car companies NOT having the car available that they have confirmed??
I was in Maui in March and we did get a car but had to wait at least 30 minutes for one. This was with Dollar/ Hertz. They were turning around returned vehicles as they came back after a quick cleaning, and the only cars sitting in the lot were 2 minivans. There were several people in line to get a car. Not sure how long the people behind us had to wait! It was obvious they had very little inventory, but we got a car. Hope this goes well for you !
I was able to reserve a full size car about 2 months ago when you first started reporting on this. Thanks for the early warning! $551.00 base rate, estimated total is $934.25. That’s $383.25 for taxes and fees. The rental car companies are not the only ones gouging!
This is more than a supply and demand issue.
It is cause for an anti-trust ivestigation and a monopoly investigation. It is a glaring example of corporate greed and what happens to consumers when industries are allowed to consolidate to this degree.
Our system of Capitalism requires competition and profit. It fails as a monopoly.