# New car rental fee on Hawaii [merged]



## teepeeca (Jul 13, 2010)

The Hawaii legislature has passed a "new" fee for car rentals.

Effective September, 2010, there will be an additional $3.50 PER DAY charge for car rentals rented at airport locations.  The "facilities charge' is supposed to go to "enhancing" airport facilities, BUT, I wonder if it will go down the same path as the $3.00 per day car rental charge, that did NOTHING, except go into the stat's coffers/general fund.

I guess it's "business as usual"---SHAFT the tourists !!!

Tony


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## Kona Lovers (Jul 13, 2010)

...and will shuttles gladly take you to off-airport rental locations, where available?  Right.   :hysterical:


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## KauaiMark (Jul 13, 2010)

*Car rental tip (for some)*

(This only works only if the resort has an inexpensive airport shuttle service...)

The last few years we haven't picked up the car until the day after we arrive and returned it the night before we left. That saves us 1-2 rental days (and the additional rental "taxes" ).

The Kauai Marriott's shuttle service is free and takes less than 10mins from airport pickup to drop-off. 

Just something to think about and factor in the cost of transportation on the islands.


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## riverdees05 (Jul 13, 2010)

Sounds like another cash cow for the governments.  Like the central car rental places at a lot of airports.  They have to be money makers for the airports, and it raises the rental cost a lot.


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## Cathyb (Jul 13, 2010)

*What if you book now for 1/2011?*



teepeeca said:


> The Hawaii legislature has passed a "new" fee for car rentals.
> 
> Effective September, 2010, there will be an additional $3.50 PER DAY charge for car rentals rented at airport locations.  The "facilities charge' is supposed to go to "enhancing" airport facilities, BUT, I wonder if it will go down the same path as the $3.00 per day car rental charge, that did NOTHING, except go into the stat's coffers/general fund.
> 
> ...



Can they tack on the increased fees on an all-ready confirmed reservation for Jan 2011?


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## Luanne (Jul 13, 2010)

Cathyb said:


> Can they tack on the increased fees on an all-ready confirmed reservation for Jan 2011?



You might want to read the fine print on your existing reservation and see if that is addressed.


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## teepeeca (Jul 13, 2010)

YES--- they can---and do---add the extra fee on existing reservations.  I believe the car reservation form/contract says that rental price is an "estimate", and if there are additional fees/taxes, the price will be "adjusted".\\Tony


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## K2Quick (Jul 13, 2010)

It's a complete rip-off to be sure.  But before casting stones at Hawaii, you might want to check what the fees are like at your own local airport.  It's rare to rent a car where the junk fees and taxes aren't 25% or more of the base rental.  Phoenix and Seattle stick in my mind for some reason as being especially egregious.

When cities want to build stadiums, they often build them with car rental and hotel taxes.  That way, their own citizens don't have to pay them.  The problem is their own citizens have to pay them every time they go on vacation because everyone else is doing it too.


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## LisaRex (Jul 13, 2010)

K2Quick said:


> Phoenix and Seattle stick in my mind for some reason as being especially egregious.



Yup, Phoenix is the worst I've ever seen.  Doubled the price of the rental.  Of course, I think all cities should model their car rental shuttle system -- no waiting for your particular rental car company's van; everyone shares the same one.  It drops you off at the huge parking garage that houses all the rental companies under one roof.


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## Luanne (Jul 13, 2010)

LisaRex said:


> Yup, Phoenix is the worst I've ever seen.  Doubled the price of the rental.  Of course, I think all cities should model their car rental shuttle system -- no waiting for your particular rental car company's van; everyone shares the same one.  It drops you off at the huge parking garage that houses all the rental companies under one roof.



There are several cities that do this.  Albuquerque, Las Vegas....and I'm sure there are others, those are just the ones I'm familiar with and can remember.  Of course I also like the ones where all you have to do is walk across the street and all the rental cars are there.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Jul 13, 2010)

K2Quick said:


> It's a complete rip-off to be sure.  But before casting stones at Hawaii, you might want to check what the fees are like at your own local airport.  It's rare to rent a car where the junk fees and taxes aren't 25% or more of the base rental.  Phoenix and Seattle stick in my mind for some reason as being especially egregious.
> 
> When cities want to build stadiums, they often build them with car rental and hotel taxes.  That way, their own citizens don't have to pay them.  The problem is their own citizens have to pay them every time they go on vacation because everyone else is doing it too.



The airport fees in Seattle are so high that it comes out cheaper for me to rent locally at about $35/day than to obtain the same car at an airport location for about $20/day via Priceline.

When I pick up a car at a downtown Seattle location I have to slice my finger and sign in my own blood a statement attesting that I haven't arrived at SeaTac airport withing the last 36 hours or else they slap the fees on as well.


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## K2Quick (Jul 13, 2010)

Luanne said:


> Of course I also like the ones where all you have to do is walk across the street and all the rental cars are there.



When I was travelling for business (thankfully I don't anymore), I would fly to secondary airports as much as I could just for this reason.  When you're travelling every week, shaving 10 or 20 minutes off your trip time each way means a lot.  All the major airports I've flown to in Canada (Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal) all had car rentals at the terminals unless something has changed in the last ten years or so.


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## MuranoJo (Jul 13, 2010)

Luanne said:


> There are several cities that do this.  Albuquerque, Las Vegas....and I'm sure there are others, those are just the ones I'm familiar with and can remember.  Of course I also like the ones where all you have to do is walk across the street and all the rental cars are there.



Houston does this too (at least as of May), and it is nice.  I agree, used to be nice to walk across the street.


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## Cathyb (Aug 10, 2010)

*Check your Hawaii auto rental*

On our Alamo car rental that I reserved back in April there was a charge called Customer Facility Charge $1.00/day.

I just went back to check (after a Tugger's email a while back about the increase in $$$) -- what a shock  

My rental charge just for that item went from $14 to $63 (from $1.00/day to $4.50/day which for our two week rental was a huge increase)

You may need to see your increased charge so when you are price checking, you have all the right numbers to check.


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## DeniseM (Aug 10, 2010)

Any Hawaii rentals from Sept. on will include the $4.50 increase - it's a state tax, even if you already have a reservation - no way to avoid it.


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## MuranoJo (Aug 10, 2010)

Sounds like they are really encouraging the tourist trade in HI.  Not!


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## Kauai Kid (Aug 11, 2010)

On my January 2011 rental the base fee is $304 

Total Taxes:  $17.24 is 5.67% 
Total Fees  :  $151.93 is 49.97%  
Taxes+Fees:  $169.47 is 55.74%  

Of course the politicians will tell you that the taxes on a rental car on Kauai are only  a little over 5%

Sterling,


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## AKE (Aug 11, 2010)

And politicians wonder why tourism is down in Hawaii... you can only rip off the public for so long before they change their vacation plans.  Some years ago Hawaii weeks were scarce on RCI - the other day I saw over 600 weeks including top notch resorts like the Shearwater.  We have been going there for many years and have noticed a significant drop in tourism.  Funny but even before this latest tax hike we decided that our trip there this fall will be our last for some time - we are definitely not going next year as there are many other cheaper (e.g. airfare, no yimeshare tax, no electricity surgcharge, no water surchagre etc)  places to visit where they don't tax you to death.


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## Sandy VDH (Aug 12, 2010)

I bid on and won on priceline, so basically I have prepaid my car rental at $12 day for a Full Size.  I ended up with Alamo.  Not my first choice but the price is right.  A week was $120 including all taxes.

Since I already paid in full, can they still jack up the rate?


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Aug 13, 2010)

Sandy Lovell said:


> I bid on and won on priceline, so basically I have prepaid my car rental at $12 day for a Full Size.  I ended up with Alamo.  Not my first choice but the price is right.  A week was $120 including all taxes.
> 
> Since I already paid in full, can they still jack up the rate?



Good question!  A Priceline bid includes all fees.  Would be interesting to check the terms and conditions for the bid to see if additional fees can be added.

******

I clicked on the "taxes and fees" link from the last Priceline car rental I did, and the pop-up gave the following info:


> *Charges for Taxes and Fees*
> 
> In connection with facilitating your Name Your Own Price® rental car transaction, we will charge your debit or credit card, in addition to the price you name, a charge for Taxes and Fees (an amount that will always be disclosed to you before you elect to proceed). This charge includes an amount to recover the amount we pay to the rental car supplier in connection with your reservation for taxes, fees and surcharges owed by the rental car supplier including, without limitation, sales and use tax, excise tax, value added tax, airport or facility taxes, surcharges or fees and/or other similar taxes, surcharges or fees. _The amount of this charge is intended by us to be sufficient to cover the maximum amount we may be required to pay to a rental car supplier, and may be greater or less than the amount we actually pay the rental car supplier in connection with your reservation for taxes, fees and surcharges. _The balance of the charge for Taxes and Fees is a fee which we retain as part of the compensation for our services and to cover the costs of your reservation, including, for example, customer service costs and additional fees which may be charged from time to time by the rental car suppliers. The charge for Taxes and Fees varies based on a number of factors, including, without limitation, the amount you pay to priceline.com and the location at which you will pick-up your car from the rental car supplier.



The highlighted language above suggests to me that Priceline is at risk for increases in fees after booking.


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## PClapham (Aug 16, 2010)

Do I understand this new tax correctly- not just at the airport but anywhere in Hawaii?
Thanks
Anita


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## DeniseM (Aug 16, 2010)

I "think" it's airport rentals, only:



> Some projects will be funded primarily by visitors, including a $497 million plan to build consolidated rental car facilities at airports. Starting in September, the state will raise a current $1-a-day rental vehicle facility surcharge to $4.50 a day. That hike represents about a 30 percent increase in the $11.47 in typical fees and taxes due on a $45-a-day *airport *car rental.



http://www.staradvertiser.com/business/businessnews/20100726_Repairs_tab_may_top_32B.html


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## carolbol (Aug 25, 2010)

Oh my.  We are planning a three week trip in May 2011.
I wonder if we took a month lease on a car, if we would come out ahead.
Something to check into possibly.


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## DeniseM (Aug 25, 2010)

carolbol said:


> Oh my.  We are planning a three week trip in May 2011.
> I wonder if we took a month lease on a car, if we would come out ahead.
> Something to check into possibly.



Aren't you going to more than one island?  There is no practical way to move a car between islands for just a short vacation stay.

An option is to rent at off-airport locations.  (Although I haven't done that yet - but I will be finding out about it before our next trip.)


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## carolbol (Aug 25, 2010)

Hi Denise,
cancel that thought     :hysterical:    I realized that as soon as I sent it but by time I got back in to correct it, you had already responded.


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## Former Cruiser (Aug 26, 2010)

Just an FYI - I've been watching and looking for rental cars for Hawaii in May.  So far I've found the best price, by far, when looking through the Marriott site.


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## hotcoffee (Aug 26, 2010)

AKE said:


> And politicians wonder why tourism is down in Hawaii. . . .



I suspect the reason tourism is down is due to the economy rather than any additional taxes Hawaii puts upon tourists.  Moreover, I suspect they could get away with a lot more taxes.  (Hmmmm. Elvis Presley's Hawaiian Wedding Song just happened to start playing on my computer.  Wow!  Would I like to be in Hawaii rather than here!)


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## BluEyezNSC (Aug 27, 2010)

Former Cruiser said:


> Just an FYI - I've been watching and looking for rental cars for Hawaii in May.  So far I've found the best price, by far, when looking through the Marriott site.



Thanks for this information, it saved me almost $100 on our rentals in Hawaii!


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## PClapham (Aug 29, 2010)

Could you indicate how to find the Marriott information?  We're owners but have never looked on line.

Thanks

anita


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## BluEyezNSC (Aug 29, 2010)

PClapham said:


> Could you indicate how to find the Marriott information?  We're owners but have never looked on line.



I went to the regular marriott.com web site then:

-click on the "explore & plan" tab
-click on the "air, car & vacation packages" sub-category
-click on the "rent a car" column which opened up a new page where you can input your rental requirements

It will give you many choices. Mine were in no particluar order so I kept scrolling through until I found something I liked.

Good Luck!


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