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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Scott R says
Aloha.
I took your advice and booked a car thru Autoslash. I usually book rentals thru Costco for our Kauai trips but we were fairly pressed for time to schedule everything ( ~5 weeks to plan for a week in Kapaa right after the 4th of July holiday ). Autoslash was about 25% cheaper going thru them and getting a Hertz rental as they recommended Priceline to do it. And I didn’t have to do any kind of prepayment
Mahalo for the advice.
-Scott-
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Scott.
Glad that worked out for you and thanks for letting us know.
Aloha.
Vanessa D says
Don’t rent from Fox Kahului airport. They rented my family a roach infested car. I wish I had looked at their Yelp page in advance – there are so many complaints about and photos of roaches in their cars from their customers that the roach should be their damn mascot. Worst product and customer service experience of my life.
Sariah M says
I’m glad that you suggested that I look for alternative car rental sources and discounts to save money. I’ll try to protect myself against damage and dirt fees so that I won’t be charged in excess. I think determining the grace period of the contract will help me a lot when I’m about to return it so I’ll be sure to look for those when looking for a car to rent.
Krishna says
After reading this I can easily book a car rental in Hawaii. Keep up this good work. Thanks.
Ilya says
I rented a car from Turo on my trip to Maui. Would never find a better deal from the rental companies. Basically people rent out their own cars, like Airbnb but with cars.
Rencha B says
Scouted rental car prices for the first two weeks in Dec. So happy to find your site, the Discount Hawaii Car Rental tip is great. $100 cheaper than Costco or Kayak, who had hazy cancellation details. Will keep checking to see if I can score a deal, but I’m happy! Money saved can go to another excursion 🙂
Thanks!
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Rencha.
So glad we were able to be of help!
Aloha.
Frank F says
Very nice blog and really great services Beat Of Hawaii.
Laurie H says
Best deals on Maui is https://kimosrentacar.com/ I have been renting from them a few times a years and they give great discounts for repeat customers and best part your rental car is in parking lot at airport, no waiting for shuttle buses! By far the best deals, customer service and easy to rent!!!
Beat of Hawaii says
Sorry Laurie.
BUYER BEWARE!
Kimos simply does not have good reviews. Also a regular on TripAdvisor suggested it appears that some of their positive reviews may be fake.
Yelp examples found here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kimos-rent-a-car-kahului-2.
TripAdvisor here: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g29220-i86-k7230759-Kimo_s_Rent_a_Car-Maui_Hawaii.html
Facebook: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g29220-i86-k7230759-Kimo_s_Rent_a_Car-Maui_Hawaii.html
Aloha.
Laurie H says
I think they are great for people who just need a car, nothing fancy. If you are someone who is doing a lot of outdoor activities and not there to impress anyone Kimo’s is the best. I have been using them for years and have never had an issue.
Rosemary M says
I went to Crusin Maui because I read some positive Yelp reviews. Seems like a small local rental company and they rent beach chairs, coolers and other stuff. Their prices seem the best and they communicate very well because prices aren’t on their website http://cruisinmauirentacar.com/.
Kamaaaina says
I definitely second knowing your insurance needs. You never know what’s going to happen on the island. Better to be safe.
Tammie says
Aloha,
We always go to Maui in October and I have been checking car rental rates since we purchased our airfare in February. The rates are currently triple on Costco’s website what we are used to paying. Could you please advise why the rates are so high this year and could you please suggest any alternatives for car rentals? Mahalo in advance for your help!
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Tammie.
Best thing with car rentals is to keep trying but get something now that you can cancel if necessary. Try our advertiser Discount Hawaii Car Rental, whom we learned about from visitors, or the other sources we listed in article.
Aloha.
kimo says
I just got back and I was also surprised by the prices at Costco. I ended up using Expedia and was satisfied with their prices. I reserved the car about 2 weeks before my trip.
Rick says
I’m glad we found this link. We are heading to Kauai in September and then to Oahu. We’ll need a car for both weeks. How soon should we begin looking to reserve the cars?
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Rick.
Suggest trying to get something booked now, then reviewing it once or twice as dates approach. That seems to work best for us.
Aloha.
Rob says
In general, we’ve noticed that car rentals in Maui have jumped $200 for the same week we’ve been vacationing in Maui. What’s going on? Last year in September, we rented for 9 days a car via DCR under $400. Now it’s $510!
Chris says
Hi, We are trying to use car rental momma for Advantage car rental. When we follow the link, it says you can have an additional driver added for no charge at the counter but can’t figure out how to confirm that anywhere. Any ideas? Thanks! Chris
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Chris.
Suggest you might go through with reservation (assuming not prepaid). Then call Advantage after it is completed and ask if that is the case regarding additional driver.
Aloha.
Karen says
Hello again!
Looking for car rental in Kona on Dec. 20 to 30. Do I need to reserve now? Can you suggest for a website please?
Mahalo
Karen
Beat of Hawaii says
Hi Karen.
Yes you should definitely book that now. Have you tried our advertiser, Discount Hawaii Car Rental? We learned about them from our website visitors.
Mer says
just booked a car through “Advantage Rent a car” for a trip coming up in February? Any idea how this company is?
Roger says
Shop around with the discount agencies in this story. Compare prices.
Sandy T says
I used Turo when I was in Oahu recently and rented from Shams and it was a great experience. The car was only $123 for 4 days and they picked us up and dropped us back off at the airport.
William says
What is the point of taking pictures w/ that day’s newspaper? What does that prove?
Example, I rent a car on Mar 11. I buy that day’s newspaper. On Mar 13, I notice some scratches/dents on the car.
I take pictures of the car on Mar 13 holding my Mar 11 newspaper.
Bill says
Two reasons to take a picture *in the car rental lot* with today’s paper:
1) Day of rental: to show that a scratch or dent was already there when you rented it.
2) Day of return: to show that a scratch or dent that they say you caused was not actually there when you returned it.
AM says
I don’t know about the newspaper, but ALWAYS take pictures before you leave the lot. ALWAYS. Even if the light is poor due to late night pick up – and, especially, if its raining. I asked a lot attendant to do a visual inspection and he added several scars that were NOT on the initial damages chart. Trust NO ONE.
1. if you need to process a claim with either your personal insur company or the credit card insurer, it will help them to fight the rental company in the event the renter tries to pull a fast one on extra costs – there are no ethics boundaries in the car rental business.
2. the digital pictures you take have the date of exposure in the metadata. The insurance company will want to see that data too.
3. AND, of course, take pictures of the vehicle BEFORE you return it. Preferably before it gets too dark of course. Flash pictures don’t work well. Get near some of those bright lot lights.
4. if there IS damage to the car (major or minor) contact the insurance co. BEFORE you return the car. It will make the processing of the damage claim easier for you and the rental company.
The key lessons: do your HOMEWORK; don’t take anything for granted; don’t trust the rental co.; and be careful when/where you park your car in Hawaii’s narrow parking slots. You might be a careful driver – but many other people are NOT.
Timothy W says
I have used AutoSlash once so far and like it because they keep checking for lower rates after you have the reservation. They emailed an updated reservation when they found a lower rate. It shaved a few dollars from the original. And their rate was the lowest from the onset.
Ann says
Suggest checking Advantage/Fox rates, also.
JustWingIt says
Lately, Autoslash had been notifying us of lower rates, but this time they require prepayment. No go, sorry Autoslash.
Colleen says
Good tip about the car wash and protecting the carpet/floor if hiking. I understand Kauai has some mighty fine RED dirt :0)
Counting the days Jeff – can’t wait to see Kauai and meet up.
AM says
CAR INTERIOR NOTE:
Yes when it comes to car rental interior cleanliness, it is worth your time to keep an eye on it.
On my last visit, the rental co. had changed to rubber floor mats (thank you!) which made maintenance a breeze.
But, if you have CARPET mats, your first step is to visit a Costco or supermarket to get a cardboard box-tray. Having some newspapers in the tray is good as they can be changed out. Get a sizeable tray that will hold at least two pairs of hiking boots. Keep extra pairs of shoes or sandals that you can switch to after messy hikes. The boot tray is a godsend for keeping Kauai’s red soil off the carpets. It’s a bear to get out once it’s there too.
(An extra cardboard try is also good for holding grocery items, especially when Costco doesn’t supply boxes. )
Pretty simple – and better than a 100.00 cleaning fee!!
Karen says
Great Idea! March 2018 rained all month except for four days! Still… love the Garden Island!
Dory says
Would love an article about the least expensive ways to get from airport OGG to Kaanapali resorts. Uber seems expensive $115-$152 one way. We normally travel during shoulder off seasons (Spring and Fall) and could get a rental car for around $215 for the week – but we’ve notice this year the rates for the smallest class of car is averaging around $300 due to all the fees – eek! We love to just park ourselves at the resort and not drive anywhere – we take the bus system to the shopping and dining. Seems a waste to have a car to just drive us to the resort and sit in the garage all week. Who has suggestions besides Uber?
Ann says
If you don’t mind a longer trip, try the Maui Bus. See the schedule here: https://www.mauicounty.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/4353 You would take a #35 or #40 from the airport to Kahului, then #20 to Lahaina, and either #25 or #28 (depending on exact destination) to Kaanapali. Your luggage must fit under your seat or on your lap. FYI, there is a car rental location in the Kaanapali area if you decide to do a short term rental during your stay.