Hawaii - Car rental prices moving lower

If you're headed to Hawaii later this month (or probably next month) recheck your car rental prices. I've seen them move substantially lower at both OGG and KOA. We're talking under $100 for a full-size car for a week, before the nasty taxes and fees. Dollar/Thrifty seems to quote their best prices if you go directly to their website and DON'T put in any codes, but the competitors all use the code/coupon game (although Alamo generally only seems to have coupons these days -- the codes don't do much).

I'm finding Dollar/Thrifty, Alamo and Budget to have the lowest prices at the moment. Looks like an old-fashioned price war. Bookings must be soft.

This is why I always reserve a car when I book my airline tickets, but always check back periodically for better prices. Sometimes they go up, sometimes down, it's impossible to know.

Thank you for posting! I thought I had pretty decent rates to begin with, but I was able to save almost $150 total on our Alamo rentals for Maui and the Big Island for the last week of May and 1st week of June. ^

Thank you for posting! I thought I had pretty decent rates to begin with, but I was able to save almost $150 total on our Alamo rentals for Maui and the Big Island for the last week of May and 1st week of June. ^

Yeah, there are some crazy car rates in Hawaii now. The lowest I can recall seeing. Like $85 week for a full size car.

I've heard that some Japanese are cancelling their trips, but I wouldn't think the Japanese would rent a lot of cars. I've not really seeing crazy prices on last minute hotels, but I haven't looked that hard.

I just booked a convertable Mustang to drive down the PCH from Santa Monica to San Diego ifor May and it dropped $100+ from Sunday to Wednesday. Glad I waited the extra couple of days, as now my Capital One will cover 2 roundtrip flights from Boston to the West Coast, plus the car rental in full.

Thanks

I just booked a convertable Mustang to drive down the PCH from Santa Monica to San Diego ifor May and it dropped $100+ from Sunday to Wednesday. Glad I waited the extra couple of days, as now my Capital One will cover 2 roundtrip flights from Boston to the West Coast, plus the car rental in full.

Thanks

Interesting. I was focused on Hawaii, but maybe the car rental weakness is everywhere. High gas prices, perhaps? I have some friends who called me after running into high car rental prices for Easter weeek in Florida. By the time I looked, there were several "obvious" good deals. They said the prices they saw were twice that.

If you're playing this game, pay particular attention to the specials on the alamo.com site. They have some good coupons right now (like free weekend day, $30 off a weekly rental, etc.) that Alamo doesn't always offer. They are fully combinable with the promo rates, including Alamo's "last minute" rates (which are useful for weekend rates, not so useful for weekly rates).

With these deals, I've now been able to drive down my daily car rental costs on a couple of rentals even further, to $11 to $13/day + tax/fee for a full size car. Priceline starts looking ridiculously expensive. :)

Oddly, Alamo's sister company, won't allow me to use coupons with their similar last minute rates (I would prefer to use my Emerald Club status to avoid the line). For 20 bucks, though, I'll wait on line.

Alamo Insiders is running a $40 off coupon for members this spring for weekly rentals. Don't remember when it expires, but the discount code is:

AD4027JDO

Alamo Insiders is running a $40 off coupon for members this spring for weekly rentals. Don't remember when it expires, but the discount code is:

AD4027JDO

Thanks. Another 10 bucks off, and lower taxes. I'm now at $64+ for a full-size weekly rental. :)

BTW, I joined the Insiders program. Seemed like a logical thing to do. Like with this coupon, they seem to give Insiders a few extra bucks off many of the promos.

BTW, I joined the Insiders program. Seemed like a logical thing to do. Like with this coupon, they seem to give Insiders a few extra bucks off many of the promos.

I agree. As you know, when you're a member of these rental car companies, you can fill in all your pertinent info ahead of time (e.g. driver's license number), which saves a lot of time. Plus it allows you to either use the dedicated Insiders line or the kiosk to check-in instead of waiting in that huge line.

Alamo Insiders is running a $40 off coupon for members this spring for weekly rentals. Don't remember when it expires, but the discount code is:

AD4027JDO

Thanks! Just re-booked HNL for a week in May and cut the rate by $40. Enough to offset some of the nightly parking I thought was included in my hotel rate!

Thanks! Just re-booked HNL for a week in May and cut the rate by $40. Enough to offset some of the nightly parking I thought was included in my hotel rate!

Great news. FTR, the code expires on 6/4/11 and is good on any size car.

The lower price seems only valid from now to the summer. I tried to get a good price for the Thanksgiving week and they all look like normal.

WJ

The lower price seems only valid from now to the summer. I tried to get a good price for the Thanksgiving week and they all look like normal. WJ
They end well before the summer...pricing is completely insane for July in Kauai.
$400/week for a convertible but an economy is $497 (all pre-taxes)? Priceline NYOP suggests $48/day. It's not like supply is incredibly limited, the fixed rate options from Hawaiian/Island Air are still available through Avis/Budget. And I'm seeing some sub-$10/day wins in June on the TripAdvisor forum.

They end well before the summer...pricing is completely insane for July in Kauai.
$400/week for a convertible but an economy is $497 (all pre-taxes)? Priceline NYOP suggests $48/day. It's not like supply is incredibly limited, the fixed rate options from Hawaiian/Island Air are still available through Avis/Budget. And I'm seeing some sub-$10/day wins in June on the TripAdvisor forum.

Yeah, you want to do the best you can by loading all the crazy codes. Make a reservation, and then wait. More than likely, the demand won't be there and rates will go down again.

I would never lock in a rate (like with priceline) more than a week or two in advance (well, if it were 10 bucks maybe I would).

So does priceline work that good? I've been receiving tips from various sources to make bids for mini vans for next spring break.. Do you really get that big of a discount?

So does priceline work that good? I've been receiving tips from various sources to make bids for mini vans for next spring break.. Do you really get that big of a discount?
Minivans are tricky because they are in very short supply, at least in Lihue. They literally ran out of all inventory two weeks out last July.

I about crapped when I saw the rental rate from Alamo for my 2 day trip to OGG next week. $30 + $30 in taxes. Book it now via Alamo.

Now if US Airways stays open on May 2nd.

Can anyone figure out why a 4 day 5 day Jeep rental is $274 for 4 days, but if I extend to a 5th day it goes up to $382?

...of course, it just balances out the increase in what you pay for gas. :)

Can anyone figure out why a 4 day 5 day Jeep rental is $274 for 4 days, but if I extend to a 5th day it goes up to $382?

I notice that on a 5 day rental at Alamo this last time out, on my cost schedule, the rates for a 5th, 6th and 7th day is the exact same amount. So the jump could account for the average of 5th, 6th and 7th day rentals.. obviously the best value is the 7th day.

I notice that on a 5 day rental at Alamo this last time out, on my cost schedule, the rates for a 5th, 6th and 7th day is the exact same amount. So the jump could account for the average of 5th, 6th and 7th day rentals.. obviously the best value is the 7th day.

Yes, you have a daily rate on days 1-4 and then on day 5, the weekly rate kicks in. Ditto for a monthly rate. I think it's 22 days or something like that.

Nice to see the prices moving down, was able to get a premium car from Alamo at OGG for under $150 total for 7 days. Just a few weeks back we were around $230 for a full size.

Nice to see the prices moving down, was able to get a premium car from Alamo at OGG for under $150 total for 7 days. Just a few weeks back we were around $230 for a full size.

Excellent rate! Welcome to FT.:cool:

It's been about 15 years since I last visted the Islands, but both times I did during the 90's I booked a standard car....

When I arrived at HNL both times, I was upsold to a convertible mustang or Jeep Wrangler for only an additional $5 a day - MUCH cheaper than booking either of those cars directly.

Has anyone had similar experiences recently? I'm heading to Maui, Kauai, and Oahu next month, and was hoping this practice was still in place (but remaining skeptical that I could be that lucky)

It's been about 15 years since I last visted the Islands, but both times I did during the 90's I booked a standard car....

When I arrived at HNL both times, I was upsold to a convertible mustang or Jeep Wrangler for only an additional $5 a day - MUCH cheaper than booking either of those cars directly.

Has anyone had similar experiences recently? I'm heading to Maui, Kauai, and Oahu next month, and was hoping this practice was still in place (but remaining skeptical that I could be that lucky)

Well the last time I went to HNL (2010), they tried to upsell but it was a horrible extra rate. Granted, I have no status with these rental companies.

I just booked a fullsize for $235 ai for a week in may on kauai. Not the prices your seeing on Maui but a $100 off my old reservation.

Well the last time I went to HNL (2010), they tried to upsell but it was a horrible extra rate. Granted, I have no status with these rental companies.

Definitely agree not to take the bait. I reserved the minivan which is higher coin than convertible, SUV, 4x4, etc.. and they tried to upsell me for extra money into those categories.. Complete avoidance is best, upgrades at check-in. Any upgrade even for free would have been a downgrade.

Has anyone had similar experiences recently? I'm heading to Maui, Kauai, and Oahu next month, and was hoping this practice was still in place (but remaining skeptical that I could be that lucky)

In July '10, I booked an intermediate with the intention of upgrading at the counter. No upgrades were available.

Since all car rental companies are basically the same, I hightly recommend Priceline for rentals. The last time we rented in Hawaii, it was $9/day (something like $11/day including taxes).

at alamo this week in lihue, was offered a free upgrade from our reserved ford focus to a minivan or midsized sub. we took the nissan rogue, which is awd. ^

So does priceline work that good? I've been receiving tips from various sources to make bids for mini vans for next spring break.. Do you really get that big of a discount?

Do you absolutely NEED a minivan? I have a family of 5 and, when I travel with them, I'd PREFER a minivan, but the differential in rates everywhere in the USA has become staggering in recent years. In almost all cases, you can reserve 2 or 3 regular cars for the price of one minivan! So we make do with a car. Sometimes I can cajole a minivan from the rental agent for free or just a couple of extra bucks, but this only happens about 15 to 20% of the time.

...of course, it just balances out the increase in what you pay for gas. :)

It's pretty funny, but I always seem to get great car rental deals when gas is $4+/gallon. Probably half coincidence, half reduced demand. I find the rental actually costs me less money, but also makes me less happy because I'm inclined to reduce my driving. Like I remember getting a weekly rate in Alaska in the summer of 2008 for something like $135 (a crazy good rate for summer in Alaska). But with gas about $5.50 gallon then, I would think things like "is it worth driving 20 miles to that trailhead at $5.50 gallon"? Fortunately, in Hawaii, there's really not that far you can drive!

It's been about 15 years since I last visted the Islands, but both times I did during the 90's I booked a standard car....

When I arrived at HNL both times, I was upsold to a convertible mustang or Jeep Wrangler for only an additional $5 a day - MUCH cheaper than booking either of those cars directly.

Has anyone had similar experiences recently? I'm heading to Maui, Kauai, and Oahu next month, and was hoping this practice was still in place (but remaining skeptical that I could be that lucky)

The USA car rental market has changed pretty dramatically in the past 15 years. In the old days, I remember ALWAYS renting a compact car and driving at least a midsize 90% of the time. Now, probably 80% of the time, you'd get the compact. I only book the smallest car I'm willing to drive. If you're just one or two people, you can take a chance with a compact or an intermediate (which these days is really what most folks would consider a compact). Unless the savings were breathtaking, I'd never reserve a compact for a family.

Since all car rental companies are basically the same, I hightly recommend Priceline for rentals. The last time we rented in Hawaii, it was $9/day (something like $11/day including taxes).

Priceline CAN be a good deal in Hawaii, but some of these Alamo rates beat the pants off the priceline deals. Like you ain't going to get a full-size car in Hawaii on priceline for $60+ a week. And priceline can add a hefty additional fee (at least $5/day, it seems). I'd only book with priceline a couple weeks before your arrival date, if you haven't found a good deal the conventional way.

Do you absolutely NEED a minivan? I have a family of 5 and, when I travel with them, I'd PREFER a minivan, but the differential in rates everywhere in the USA has become staggering in recent years. In almost all cases, you can reserve 2 or 3 regular cars for the price of one minivan! So we make do with a car. Sometimes I can cajole a minivan from the rental agent for free or just a couple of extra bucks, but this only happens about 15 to 20% of the time.


My wife prefers a minivan.. so I try and preshop and prebook a minivan when I can. Generally I pay around $375 per week with taxes in. I would like to get a better deal.. but the rate sounds fair.. I think it was $100 less in Houston.. so must be a better rate offered on continental US soil, as I usually pay $375 per week on BI and Maui.

My wife prefers a minivan.. so I try and preshop and prebook a minivan when I can. Generally I pay around $375 per week with taxes in. I would like to get a better deal.. but the rate sounds fair.. I think it was $100 less in Houston.. so must be a better rate offered on continental US soil, as I usually pay $375 per week on BI and Maui.

Yeah, Hawaii will be a few dollars more expensive than the mainland for minivans. I just rented a full-size car for 8 days for $155 all in. That's a great deal, but I'd bet you could do a week for under $200 all in without heroic effort. Only you can decide whether the minivan is worth twice the price.

Yeah, Hawaii will be a few dollars more expensive than the mainland for minivans. I just rented a full-size car for 8 days for $155 all in. That's a great deal, but I'd bet you could do a week for under $200 all in without heroic effort. Only you can decide whether the minivan is worth twice the price.

Chicken or the egg.. a minivan is what my wife wants.. and what my family feels most comfy in. We have tons of luggage, and we travel quite a bit around the islands, so makes it worthwhile in our minds.

Plus, we aren't privy to one rental company.. we shop for the lowest price available.. and if that's the lowest we can get, I'm pretty happy.

Sometimes minivans are twice the price I pay, but I seem to knock a few hundred dollars off.. If that's the market, we're stuck to it. Mainland seems reasonable though for minivans. Plus we like to rent out of the airport for convenience, so that's going add all sort of taxes onto our rentals.

May is a slower month for tourism in Hawaii
Most of the sno birds are gone, the whales are mostly gone,spring break is over and the high summer months are just around the corner
Great rental car prices should be taken advantage of!

As I noted on a rather comprehensive thread last year, we found that car rental rates tend to be very high well in advance of the travel dates. They started to drop a month or two before the rental date, and kept falling up to the last week. I think this is due to the fact that many people book well in advance for Hawaii vacations, and they figure most people don't bother to recheck rates once they are done booking air, hotels, car, etc. This was also true for Orlando.

Also consider that your leverage will be limited with priceline or hotwire. For example the last few non-priceline rentals they have tried to pawn small SUVs or convertibles or cars without trunks on us - which doesn't work if you plan to drive the road to hana and leave luggage in your car, as there are a lot of breakins. We usually decline the "upgrade." I think the rise in gas prices is also keeping the smaller cars in short supply.

Rates have been so high the last couple of visits that I have used AA miles. My "free" rental of two weeks duration recently still cost me $147 in taxes and fees. That's a lot of money for a "free" rental.

The prices in Hawaii have become so ridiculously high, I'm grateful I was able to purchase 5k worth of Hertz points during the Discover America promo for $282. That got me 2 free weeks. Of course, the taxes are going to bring it up another $100 or so, but I still consider ~$400 for 2 weeks AI a decent price.

Yeah, Hawaii will be a few dollars more expensive than the mainland for minivans. I just rented a full-size car for 8 days for $155 all in. That's a great deal, but I'd bet you could do a week for under $200 all in without heroic effort. Only you can decide whether the minivan is worth twice the price.

LAX for a minivan was way more than what I paid in Maui and Big Island..

Wow!

Cblaisd showed me a minivan offsite LAX airport for almost half the price..

HOU was not bad for a minivan.. under $300 for the week

Looking at car rental threads here.

I am seeing huge increases in rental prices at both HNL in late Feb and MCO in Sept. I mean crazy prices.

We just got back from MCO and we were $220 all in for 9 days. We did the wildcard and got a mini-van. Perfect.

I am seeing rates in Hawaii and MCO at around $400. What am I missing.

I usually see the pattern of real cheap WAY in advance and then the big ramp up and then maybe a decline.

But I can't find any month that is "good" for MCO. I am shocked. I have $245 for a wildcard with Thrifty in Feb in HNL. Prices now are $400 all in. Crazy. I tried to book for MCO and nothing is CLOSE to the $220 I just paid.

Anyone else seeing a BIG increase here in Fall '11?

Looking at car rental threads here.

I am seeing huge increases in rental prices at both HNL in late Feb and MCO in Sept. I mean crazy prices.

We just got back from MCO and we were $220 all in for 9 days. We did the wildcard and got a mini-van. Perfect.

I am seeing rates in Hawaii and MCO at around $400. What am I missing.

I usually see the pattern of real cheap WAY in advance and then the big ramp up and then maybe a decline.

But I can't find any month that is "good" for MCO. I am shocked. I have $245 for a wildcard with Thrifty in Feb in HNL. Prices now are $400 all in. Crazy. I tried to book for MCO and nothing is CLOSE to the $220 I just paid.

Anyone else seeing a BIG increase here in Fall '11?

Hawaii will be more expensive than MCO.. even LAX is more expensive than MCO..

Try www.autoslash.com .. perfectly cancellable reservations, and will apply all available coupons automatically and get you into the cheapest rental amongst 9 companies.. and if www.autoslash.com finds a lower rate, the website will automatically cancel your reservation and make a new one at the lower price..

Find a lower price yourself, then simply cancel the Auto Slash reservation and you're on your way..:)

FWIW, Autoslash.com, in my experience, doesn't compare with http://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com/

During Christmas week, for example, the deal they found is several hundred dollars more than Discount Hawaii. For the week after New Year's when everyone has left and I'll be staying on by myself, I decided to switch to an economy car. Discount Hawaii quoted me $199 all in., Auto Slash $375. And ultimately, Priceline will usually beat Discount Hawaii with a little bidding patience.

All that said, it certainly doesn't hurt to reserve with Auto Slash. If they find something lower and rebook you, so much the better. If not, you still have the preferable options.

I tried using both www.autoslash.com & http://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com.

Using coupons on National's website I was able to find rates that were lower than both!

FWIW, Autoslash.com, in my experience, doesn't compare with http://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com/

During Christmas week, for example, the deal they found is several hundred dollars more than Discount Hawaii. For the week after New Year's when everyone has left and I'll be staying on by myself, I decided to switch to an economy car. Discount Hawaii quoted me $199 all in., Auto Slash $375. And ultimately, Priceline will usually beat Discount Hawaii with a little bidding patience.

All that said, it certainly doesn't hurt to reserve with Auto Slash. If they find something lower and rebook you, so much the better. If not, you still have the preferable options.

I tried using both www.autoslash.com & http://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com.

Using coupons on National's website I was able to find rates that were lower than both!

I've used both.. the last vacation to the islands I used www.discounthawaiicarrental.com and got a good rate, but didn't know about AutoSlash until my next vacation..

The beautiful thing about AutoSlash is that its completely cancellable.. and does the work for you.. so doesn't hurt to use it and save time..

Find a lower rate elsewhere, simply press cancel reservation button on AutoSlash and move on.. Something you can't do if you use a website auction that requires prepayment..

I've used both.. the last vacation to the islands I used www.discounthawaiicarrental.com and got a good rate, but didn't know about AutoSlash until my next vacation..

The beautiful thing about AutoSlash is that its completely cancellable.. and does the work for you.. so doesn't hurt to use it and save time..

Find a lower rate elsewhere, simply press cancel reservation button on AutoSlash and move on.. Something you can't do if you use a website auction that requires prepayment..

For some reason the rates I was getting on Autoslah were way higher than what I could get booking directly on National's website. I'm guessing it's because Autoslash doesn't offer National.

www.discounthawaiicarrental.com was quite a bit cheaper than Autoslash but still more expensive that directly booking on National's website!

I'll check Autoslash again to make sure I'm not missing anything.

For some reason the rates I was getting on Autoslah were way higher than what I could get booking directly on National's website. I'm guessing it's because Autoslash doesn't offer National.

www.discounthawaiicarrental.com was quite a bit cheaper than Autoslash but still more expensive that directly booking on National's website!

I'll check Autoslash again to make sure I'm not missing anything.

And I'll check National again to see that I'm not missing anything. I'm an Emerald member but I've never found a National price cheaper then Discount Hawaii.

Edited to add: With the Emerald member discount and one free day, National was still $80 more than Discount Hawaii for my dates. It all depends on timing, I guess. :)

And I'll check National again to see that I'm not missing anything. I'm an Emerald member but I've never found a National price cheaper then Discount Hawaii.

Edited to add: With the Emerald member discount and one free day, National was still $80 more than Discount Hawaii for my dates. It all depends on timing, I guess. :)


It looks like Discount Hawaii's base rate is cheaper than my rentals with National but Discount Hawaii is charging drop fees for one way rentals and National isn't.

That along with the one free weekend day coupon is making National quite a bit cheaper.

Over all pretty good rates at Discount Hawaii though and saves you the hassle of doing the leg work :).

I'll check Discount Hawaii in a few days to see if their rates have changed at all.