Budget Rentals in Hawaii...
 

I've never rented from Budget but found a lot
of good prices for OGG,HNL,LIH (Feb/Mar).
Are they good to rent from or do they have problems? We usually use Alamo but there doesn't seem to be any good discounts/etc right now. Thanks for the comments!

Budget's fine - especially if you're used to Alamo. One thing though (and this is probably the case with all the companies), if you rent a 4WD expect to find some kind of cockroach - it's very common there in the 4WDs. Just get bug spray or a bug bomb and bomb the car. Much less hassle than trying to exchange the car. And keep the receipt ... they'll reimburse you for the spray.

WHAT? Cockroaches in in the 4WD AND the industry norm? Bug spray? You gotta be kidding.

I love Budget... solely because of the rewards program. Unfortunately, they are sworn to their Fords.

letiole is right about the bugs. I worked in HNL for 6 months last year and 8 out of 10 rental cars had roaches. I did buy bug spray and it helped some. I rented from AVIS not Budget but this seems to be a pervasive problem. I complained and the most I got was a $25 off coupon. there's not much you can do about it except be prepared. Maybe if you ask for a car with lower mileage it is more likely to be new and less likely to have this problem.

I'm shocked. I've used Budget exclusively on every trip to Hawaii for the last 10 years (it's about 6-7 trips). I've NEVER seen a roach. This is for rentals of compacts through convertible (no SUVs). I've even rented on other islands - no bugs.

Maybe I've just been lucky? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

Mary

I'm bumping this topic to report my experience with Budget.

I rented a minivan in KOA last week, mainly because their rate was roughly $100 lower than the other companies.

I was shocked at the condition of the vehicle. It was damp on the outside so I know they at least rinsed it off, but the inside was another story: interior windows full of smudges, dirty and stained carpeting (not even vacuumed -- there was debris such as sand and a golf tee in plain sight), stuff in the glove box. There were 2 other vans nearby that I looked at and they were no better. I inquired at the counter about other minivans and was told those 3 were all they could offer me, so I kept it. I did a quick cleaning at a gas station.

Not surprisingly, there were bugs in the car (we really noticed them at night, as they would hide when the lights came on as we opened the doors).

On my previous trips to Hawaii I have rented compact cars and never from Budget. Is this typical for Budget's vehicles in Hawaii?

IME, this is typical of the Big Island more than Budget or Avis specifically. I've rented with both there, as well as Thrifty and Alamo, and I remember seeing baby roaches a few times (you kind of get used to them after living here for a while... as long as they don't move into your house, seeing them outdoors is not so upsetting, and I consider a car sort of an outdoor environment).

But I digress... in all my years of renting cars for interisland trips from practically every rental agency but Hertz and National, I never remember seeing roaches in cars on other islands (of course, I might have just been lucky).

I had some bugs in the trunk of a rental car in Kauai a few years ago but never saw them in the passenger compartment.

What really "bugged" me about the Budget rental in Kona was the cleanliness of the minivan. I've never rented a vehicle that wasn't cleaned and vacuumed ahead of time, so the condition of this vehicle was surprising.

DONT RENT FROM BUDGET IN HAWAII.
I just returned from a trip there.
At LIH they had no cars -- even if you had
a reservation. They were shuttling people to hotels in their mini-buses and promising a car 'tomarrow.' They have way oversold their inventory, and according to people I spoke with on the island this problem been going on for a while (eg just not the holiday week).

I have to say we had a WONDERFUL experience renting from Budget in Hawaii. We have run across the 'no cars left' situation before but that was with Dollar, I believe, and they didn't offer us anything, not a shuttle or any kind of ride to our hotel. Just let us stand in line for 20 mins then said sorry we don't have any cars left.

Normally we rent with Hertz (being #1 Gold Club, we are unlikely to be left without a car) but their rates for Hawaii were EXTREMELY high, even for Compacts.

I found a really good internet rate on the Budget site, ($129/wk) and I phoned ahead to check on their hours at LIH, because we were getting in late. They were very helpful and explained what to do if no one was at the counter. Turned out to be no problem, just picked up a phone and the shuttle came and picked us up. We had one week's rental prepaid in combination with a travel package, they had no problem combining that with our reservation, and they were efficient and courteous. We asked about the possbility of an upgrade, mentioned a convertible, and they gave us one! I know some of this is just luck, they obviously weren't too busy when we were there, but they were really nice.

Also, we had the car for 3 weeks total and they would run the car through the carwash for us once a week, no problem (things get a little dusty there with the red dirt, etc.) We never noticed any bugs in the car, and the drop-off was also efficient and courteous.

We would definitely rent from them again, but I do realize that any car rental can be plagued with problems when destinations are at their busiest.

About 10 years ago, I was in Honolulu and had a Budget car. It came with a nice booklet of coupons for free luaus, admissions to theme parks, free meals and other goodies. It wasn't even a buy one, get one free-I was single at the time and got in free by myself to everything. DO they still do this?

I had a pleasant experience with my Budget rental from HNL earlier this month. It was a new, clean Ford Taurus with about 5k miles-had a sunroof, too! No problems picking up or dropping off the car. Would recommend.

What did you end up paying for the car?

Anyone?

Back in late 90's, Budget used to give out 2 for 1 coupon books which we benefited.