lharris816

Yes, I did get the standard car thru Alamo for $344.78 including airport pick-up with all taxes. I used my Hawiian air E-newsletter to link, also will receive 50 airmiles for linking.^ I called my cc co. and they say I am covered for the rental but want me to call another phone number to be sure about booking thru a 3rd party, so I will do that tomorrow.

I have used Priceline 3 times for hotels and have gotten pretty good rooms, no problems, sometimes have to ask for king as it is usually a queen. Have always gotten a king if available by asking front desk. Usually cost is about 55 dollars.

Coconut Travel Hawaii

I think $344 for 16 days all taxes and fees included is a really great deal, I would be very happy with that.

(As a general beware: Sometimes with third party car reservations, they may include taxes in the pre-paid amount, but then one still needs to pay all those airport concession etc fees when picking up the car. E.g., I just recently rented a car like that in Kona; it was pre-paid incl. taxes, but the airport and such fees were extra to be paid when I was picking up the car. But this was stated in my reservation, so I knew that upfront.)

I never pay any attention to those links in Hawaiian Air e-newsletters. But now will start paying attention. THANKS for the tip

I've used Priceline many-many times. But with Priceline, they do NOT guarantee non-smoking rooms. The Priceline's fine print actually explicitly states that. That is between you and the hotel. So it happened to me twice that the hotels were very busy and did not have any non-smoking rooms left. E.g., many hotels in Vegas have lots of smoking rooms; the non-smoking rooms fill up quicker, because even smokers often choose non-smoking rooms because they can go downstairs to casino and smoke as much as they want. Now, if it were a not Priceline reservation, I would complain assertively and if problem not solved then walk away to another property. But with Priceline, you are stuck and can't get your money back (yes, after it happened to me the frst time, I did call the hotel in advance, it didn't help). Another problem with Priceline: those infamous "resort fees" that could be as much as $25 extra per night.

lharris816

Coconut Travel Hawaii

Thanks for your input, this is what my reservation says: Taxes, Surcharges and Fees
Customer Facility Charge 1.00/day $16.00
Concession Recovery Fee 11.11 % $26.39
Rental Mtr Vhcle Schg 3.00 Usd/day $48.00
Veh.registration Fee / Weight Tax $5.60
Sales Tax (4.1660%) $11.23

Subtotal.......................................... ...$107.22

Estimated Total......................................$344.78

Total may vary at time of rental based on the election of prepaid gas, optional coverage items or changes in taxes, surcharges

What do you think about added taxes, It looks all included? That would be a bummer if it is more.

I didn't know that Priceline didn't guarentee a non-smoking room, I will take that into consideration next time I use them, thanks.

Coconut Travel Hawaii

Yes, the above items look like all the fees they charge there. In my case with the pre-paid rental that I had, the reservation clearly stated, "The total price of your itinerary includes base car rental and Hawaii Sales Tax only. See terms and conditions for additional fees charged by the car rental company." The fees that you list were the ones I paid when I picked the car and which were not included in the pre-paid voucher. But in your case, it sure looks like they include everything. As said, seems like a great deal.

These days, hotels are so much into non-smoking policies. So it is really rare to run into this type of problems. But ever since that experience, whenever I reserve through Priceline and if the hotel allows smoking, I call the hotel in advance to ask for a non-smoking room. Hotels want their guests to be happy, so they make every effort.

Mary2e

I thought that as of a few years ago ALL hotels in the state of Hawaii are non-smoking - plus you can't smoke outdoors within 20 feet of a building.

However, I do know that some hotels have received a waiver and have some smoking floors in which there is smoking allowed on the balcony only.

Coconut Travel Hawaii

The experiences I reported about Priceline were in Las Vegas and CA (and I stated that in an earlier post) - NOT in Hawaii.

What you describe re Hawaii is indeed the case. But as a side note, I have seen a couple of hotels in Waikiki who seem to be in violation, I saw people smoking in the (open-air) lobby, and no staff saying anything to these smokers. I almost thought of reporting them to the agency that investigates such matters, but whatever.

It could get iffy with these so called condotels (plenty of those in Hawaii). People who own the units can stay there for certain numbers of months. Unless the building explicitly prohibits smoking, the unit owners can go ahead and smoke in their units. Then when those units get rented through the condo-hotel program (prohibiting smoking), one can still smell the odor.

But I will repeat: It's really not an issue in Hawaii. Even if you get such a unit, you simply go back to the front desk and ask to be moved to another unit. Hotels want their guests to be happy. So they will move you to another condo unit.

The places that are fully hotels and timeshare assertively enforce the non-smoking policy.

lharris816

Okay, I called 2 of my credit cards and found out you can only rent 15 days and have collision coverage. If you rent more than 15 days you need a seperate contract for the extra days. If you rent on Priceline with your credit card number on the contract they will honor it. Make sure about the 15 day rental when you pick up your car and be SURE to seperate it out if more than 15 days.

I had a rez for Alamo in Maui for 16 days for 344 dollars standard car. Decided to go Priceline and bid 10 dollars for a standard car for 16 days and they took it at 288.25. I tried for a convertabile again at 15 dollars and they countered with 20 this time, didn't work out for me.

Good luck and try Priceline, I did the same thing last night and didn't get it, but tonight it was a go for the standard.

Coconut Travel Hawaii

That's the part that concerns me (but then I am into reading the fine print etc).

From reading re this: There are two "types" of Priceline. One can reserve a car through Priceline just like you do through Orbitz etc. In that case your credit card number will show up on the rental agreement, which is what the credit card insurance needs to see. So that's one "type" of Priceline. But the other one is through blind bidding, then you pay the whole amount to Priceline. It is the Priceline that has your credit card, not the rental company. That credit card number will not show up on your rental agreement, to my knowledge, I don't think it will. Now, when you book it this way and go to pick up your car, then the rental company actually places $200 on hold on your credit card. This could actually be another credit card, not the one you used with Priceline. The rental car company places a "hold" for $200 (or whatever they call it) in case there is damage etc; then they cancel it when you return the car.

Having the same credit card for both the Priceline bidding and that "hold" when you pick up the car should help. But still...

Most likely I am thinking too deeply into this.....

lharris816

My credit card company asked me to use the card for the deposit and have them put it on the contract and I'm okay, they also have a record of notes of our conversation about this and the 15 day plus one day policy. I am to call their special number when renting the car if there are any problems. They said the rental car companies know the standard procedure as far as only allowing 15 days at a time for credit card secondary insurance.

Hope I don't have any problems. I also have my priceline receipt with car rental information which shows the last 4 digits of card which should clarifiy to the credit card company if there are any problems. I will let you all know.

lharris816

Had to rent for 15 nights and and will have to bring the car back to rent an additional night at my loss. Lesson learned. I love the hotel tho, craigslist worked just fine, met up with the seller for a drink when I got here, Timeshare people are aggressive, won't do it, gonna go to Snorkel Bob at 109 for Lanai landing. If you need the hotel info you can PM me as it worked out great and this guy is selling all the time, he is legit. Gonna go get ready for snorkeling tomorrow Aloha!