# First time to Maui - advice about renting a car



## Work hard to play harder :)! (Jan 27, 2015)

My husband and I plan to vacation in Maui in late May; this is our first time to Hawaii :whoopie:.

Does anyone have any advise on renting a car? I figure we should rent the car, upon arrival, in order to check in and purchase groceries. Then I think we'd return it thereafter and rely on the hotel shuttle, public transportation, or transportation from any tours we sign up for.

We saw, via Kayak, that a one day rental for a compact car from Advantage car rental starts around $50+.

Any advise is greatly appreciated. We want to stock up on food from Costco or Safeway.


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## DeniseM (Jan 27, 2015)

Maui is very rural, and pubic transportation, and resort shuttles are very limited.  If you don't have a car, you will be extremely limited in what you can do and see.   

Skip the tours, apply the money to a car rental, and you will come out ahead.

This is who we use to book our rental cars in Hawaii - no money upfront, and you can keep check-in for lower rates, cancel and rebook:

www.discounthawaiicarrental.

Be aware that Costco is on the opposites side of the island than the resorts, so if you are going to do Costco, stop there after the airport.


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## Luanne (Jan 27, 2015)

I agree about needing a car.  If you don't have one you are pretty much stuck at your resort.

I suggest checking Costco travel for car rentals.  I always check both Discount Hawaii and Costco and every time Costco has come up with the best rates.  You do need to keep checking back as the rates change (up and down).  There is no penalty for cancelling and re-booking.


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## shade (Jan 27, 2015)

I look a couple of times a week at almost all the car rental sites. Find discount codes and give them a try. Rent with Autoslash.com. They keep looking for lower prices right up to your departure. Cancellation no problem and no cost. discounthawaiicarrental.com is good, but I have been able to beat them. It is fun to search and find deals. When you get one, you have to jump on it. You should be able to get a mid-size car for $30-$40/day, all included.
Please rent a car. You really want to explore Maui and all the activities, dining opportunities, and entertainment beyond WKORV.


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## Luanne (Jan 27, 2015)

Right now on Maui in March through Costco (and Discount Hawaii) we are getting a standard SUV for $555.00 all in.  That breaks down to just under $40/day.  Smaller cars are of course much less.  Just wanted to compare to the OP's $50/day rental.

And just for fun I went to the Costco site, plugged in a week in late May for Maui.  Got back a rate on a compact car from Budget for $264.74 all in.  That breaks down to $37.82/day.


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## Fredward (Jan 27, 2015)

*definitely need a car!*

I agree completely with the other members- you can find great deals with both discounthawaiicarrentals and Costco.  You may want to compare different car sizes though- we have been able to get bigger (midsize and full size) cars for less cost than our usual compact prices.  We have been there in both May and September and always were able to rent for a week for less than $200 total.  One great suggestion to add- refill your car at Costco before returning it to the rental agency,  Costco is very close to the airport and their gas has been priced 40-70 cents a gallon cheaper than other stations.


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## shade (Jan 27, 2015)

Gas at Costco was exactly $1/gal cheaper yesterday at $2.49. You will have to wait in line though. Took 30 mins. to get to pump. Build that into your timeframe.


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## gvic (Jan 27, 2015)

Costco Travel..... save $$$ on a car rental.


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## vacationtime1 (Jan 27, 2015)

shade said:


> I look a couple of times a week at almost all the car rental sites. Find discount codes and give them a try. Rent with Autoslash.com. They keep looking for lower prices right up to your departure. Cancellation no problem and no cost. discounthawaiicarrental.com is good, but I have been able to beat them. It is fun to search and find deals. When you get one, you have to jump on it. You should be able to get a mid-size car for $30-$40/day, all included.
> Please rent a car. You really want to explore Maui and all the activities, dining opportunities, and entertainment beyond WKORV.



This is good advice:  recheck prices over and over, or at least until you get to about $30/day on Maui.  No logic to the rental agencies' pricing structure.  May is a good time to get cheap rentals.

Keep the car the entire week; you need it for sightseeing, restaurants, and getting back to the airport.

Costco is much cheaper than Safeway on Maui.  Note that the Costco is about a mile from the airport and 20-30 miles from most of the resorts.


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## Passepartout (Jan 27, 2015)

Not renting a car on Maui is false economy. Might as well stay home. You'll save even more.  follow the advice here. Enjoy. It is a wonderful place.

Jim


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## n777lt (Jan 28, 2015)

*Timing too*

I always reserve a car at least 9 months out, using the best discount code I can find, and then give it to the discount car rental site (link in a post upthread) to try to beat, and check monthly on my own. My reservation made last April for a full-size car for 2 weeks in March is $575, and I'll probably end up with a cross-over SUV (my status gets me upgrades).


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## Work hard to play harder :)! (Jan 28, 2015)

shade said:


> I look a couple of times a week at almost all the car rental sites. Find discount codes and give them a try. Rent with Autoslash.com. They keep looking for lower prices right up to your departure. Cancellation no problem and no cost. discounthawaiicarrental.com is good, but I have been able to beat them. It is fun to search and find deals. When you get one, you have to jump on it. You should be able to get a mid-size car for $30-$40/day, all included.
> Please rent a car. You really want to explore Maui and all the activities, dining opportunities, and entertainment beyond WKORV.



Thank you very much. I'll start looking into it. 

We will be there May 28 -June 4. Also, since we are SVN owners does anyone know if we are subject to overnight parking fees?


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## Work hard to play harder :)! (Jan 28, 2015)

shade said:


> Gas at Costco was exactly $1/gal cheaper yesterday at $2.49. You will have to wait in line though. Took 30 mins. to get to pump. Build that into your timeframe.



Thanks for the heads up about building in time to fill up. I hate to admit it but I'm always pushing it when getting to the airport to catch a flight.


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## DeniseM (Jan 28, 2015)

Work hard to play harder :)! said:


> Thank you very much. I'll start looking into it.
> 
> We will be there May 28 -June 4. Also, since we are SVN owners does anyone know if we are subject to overnight parking fees?



Starwood resorts don't have parking fees for owners.


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## Work hard to play harder :)! (Jan 28, 2015)

Luanne said:


> Right now on Maui in March through Costco (and Discount Hawaii) we are getting a standard SUV for $555.00 all in.  That breaks down to just under $40/day.  Smaller cars are of course much less.  Just wanted to compare to the OP's $50/day rental.
> 
> And just for fun I went to the Costco site, plugged in a week in late May for Maui.  Got back a rate on a compact car from Budget for $264.74 all in.  That breaks down to $37.82/day.



Thanks. Will check Costco for that rate with Budget. I've seen rates a bit lower with Advantage car rental, but I'm not too familiar with the company. 

I've rented from Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, and National and did not have any problems. 

I also rented from Alamo but had issues with their cars.


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## Work hard to play harder :)! (Jan 28, 2015)

DeniseM said:


> Starwood resorts don't have parking fees for owners.



Thanks. This is the fourth SVN property we are vacationing at. We bought our resale at the end of 2013. We only been to WMH and WDW since they are a little less than two hours away as owners, and WL on an explorer package. 

I remember wanting to purchase at WL, but then I found this wonderful forum .


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## Luanne (Jan 28, 2015)

Work hard to play harder :)! said:


> Thanks. Will check Costco for that rate with Budget. I've seen rates a bit lower with Advantage car rental, but I'm not too familiar with the company.
> 
> I've rented from Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, and National and did not have any problems.
> 
> I also rented from Alamo but had issues with their cars.



We also need a car for one day on Oahu.  I found a good price through Discount Hawaiian for "Brand 6".  Turns out it was Advantage.  I checked the online Yelp reviews for Advantage at that location and they were terrible.  I thought I'd heard some negatives about Advantage and wanted to check it out.


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## Luanne (Jan 28, 2015)

Rental through Costco just dropped another $20 for the two week period.  We're getting a standard SUV, this time through Alamo.  And yes, I'll keep checking up until the day before we leave. 

Just checked again today (Thursday) and the price is down again, now to $482 for the standard SUV through Budget.  The price has gone down almost $100 for the 2 week period since I started looking.


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## BocaBoy (Feb 2, 2015)

I am surprised no one has mentioned Priceline's name your own price.  I always reserve through either Costco or Discount Hawaii, then check occasionally to see if the price has come down, and then about 10 days before the trip starts I start trying Priceline.  I beat the other prices at least half the time this way on Maui, although last November/December Costco was the winner.


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## artringwald (Feb 2, 2015)

BocaBoy said:


> I am surprised no one has mentioned Priceline's name your own price.  I always reserve through either Costco or Discount Hawaii, then check occasionally to see if the price has come down, and then about 10 days before the trip starts I start trying Priceline.  I beat the other prices at least half the time this way on Maui, although last November/December Costco was the winner.



The trouble with Priceline is that you pay in advance and there's no refund if you have to change. We had to cancel a trip at the last minute once because our dog got sick (not covered by travel insurance), and we didn't get a penny back from Priceline. Fortunately, we were flying Southwest and got full credit toward another flight.  discounthawaiicarrental.com and rentalcars.com let you cancel and rebook for no charge.

Recently, I had a good rate on a little car for two weeks on Kauai, but when my son's family decided to go with us, I started looking at minivans. It was holding steady at $1150 until about 3 weeks out when it started dropping $50-$100/day. I kept canceling and rebooking until it bottomed out at $590 with 2 weeks to go. It's been going up and with less than a week now, it's $830. It's like playing the stock market.


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## Ken555 (Feb 2, 2015)

artringwald said:


> The trouble with Priceline is that you pay in advance and there's no refund if you have to change. We had to cancel a trip at the last minute once because our dog got sick (not covered by travel insurance), and we didn't get a penny back from Priceline. Fortunately, we were flying Southwest and got full credit toward another flight.  discounthawaiicarrental.com and rentalcars.com let you cancel and rebook for no charge.




How is this a problem? Priceline is usually going to save you money compared to other options, but it's obviously not the same product since you don't have the same recourse to cancel. You also don't get the second driver free as you would if reserving from certain others such as Costco. I also often check Priceline just prior to a trip (even up to day of, or day before, the trip) and it can sometimes be less. 

For a trip in March I've already rebooked the car four times, currently with a standard SUV for less than a mid-size at an average cost of $27 per day after taxes and fees. I expect it will be less by the time I travel and wouldn't at all be surprised if I can get a mid-size from Priceline for $15-18/day.



Sent from my iPad


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## Luanne (Feb 2, 2015)

BocaBoy said:


> I am surprised no one has mentioned Priceline's name your own price.  I always reserve through either Costco or Discount Hawaii, then check occasionally to see if the price has come down, and then about 10 days before the trip starts I start trying Priceline.  I beat the other prices at least half the time this way on Maui, although last November/December Costco was the winner.



I used to use Priceline, but no more.  The last few times I've tried them they couldn't beat the price I got with Costco.  The other problem was that the last time we used them we found we had to pay for the second driver.  Since I picked the car up, but dh was really going to be the driver, we got stuck on that.  So, no more Priceline for me.  Plus, you can't cancel it once the reservation is made.


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## mjm1 (Feb 2, 2015)

I typically use Costco and have very good results. Does anyone have experience with renting from Enterprise on Maui? I have used Alamo through Costco and had good luck. Right now Enterprise is a bit less expensive.

Thanks

Mike


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## Luanne (Feb 2, 2015)

mjm1 said:


> I typically use Costco and have very good results. Does anyone have experience with renting from Enterprise on Maui? I have used Alamo through Costco and had good luck. Right now Enterprise is a bit less expensive.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Mike



On Maui I think all rental companies are located in about the same off airport location.  Personally I'd go with whoever is cheapest.  Right now our cheapest rate is with Budget, but by the time we go who knows who it will be with.


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## Ken555 (Feb 2, 2015)

mjm1 said:


> I typically use Costco and have very good results. Does anyone have experience with renting from Enterprise on Maui? I have used Alamo through Costco and had good luck. Right now Enterprise is a bit less expensive.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




The lowest cost vendor changes based on your travel dates and type of car.  I was reserved with Budget but this morning switched to Avis. Now at $26/day after taxes and fees for a full size. I'd rather not reserve with Budget due to the long lines at their office (my favorite is Alamo since its so quick and easy to get thru their office). I haven't rented from Avis in Maui before so not sure how quick they'll be.


Sent from my iPad


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## Ken555 (Feb 2, 2015)

Luanne said:


> On Maui I think all rental companies are located in about the same off airport location.  Personally I'd go with whoever is cheapest.  Right now our cheapest rate is with Budget, but by the time we go who knows who it will be with.




Advantage is off property and usually less expensive. But, as I posted a while ago, they often don't have a car selection available for you and they aren't the easiest to deal with. I usually check their rates a few weeks before a trip and if it's more than a few dollars less will book with them. 


Sent from my iPad


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## Luanne (Feb 2, 2015)

Ken555 said:


> Advantage is off property and usually less expensive. But, as I posted a while ago, they often don't have a car selection available for you and they aren't the easiest to deal with. I usually check their rates a few weeks before a trip and if it's more than a few dollars less will book with them.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad



We also need a car for one day on Oahu.  When I was checking Discount Hawaii "Brand 7" had a similar price to Costco, and said it would be a Mazda 6 (or similar).  So I selected it.  Turns out it was Advantage.  I thought I remembered reading some negatives about Advantage so I checked their reviews for Honolulu.  They were terrible.  The price wasn't that good.

I don't think I've ever seen Advantage come up through Costco.


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## Ken555 (Feb 2, 2015)

Luanne said:


> I don't think I've ever seen Advantage come up through Costco.




You won't.


Sent from my iPad


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## Luanne (Feb 2, 2015)

Ken555 said:


> The lowest cost vendor changes based on your travel dates and type of car.  I was reserved with Budget but this morning switched to Avis. Now at $26/day after taxes and fees for a full size. I'd rather not reserve with Budget due to the long lines at their office (my favorite is Alamo since its so quick and easy to get thru their office). I haven't rented from Avis in Maui before so not sure how quick they'll be.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad



For our dates the standard SUV is double with Avis what it is with Budget.  I signed up for Budget Fastbreak, so hopefully if that is who we end up with we'll get some kind of break with the lines.

I'm an Avis member, but can't remember if I've rented through them on Maui the last few times we've gone. Since we are preferred, or whatever their club is, we have a special check in line.

I agree that Alamo is easy to get though if you've rented through Costco.


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## Ken555 (Feb 2, 2015)

Luanne said:


> For our dates the standard SUV is double with Avis what it is with Budget.  I signed up for Budget Fastbreak, so hopefully if that is who we end up with we'll get some kind of break with the lines.




I was going to do that as well since I reserved the car with Budget some time ago. But, I then read their policies and they require three reservations per year in order to keep membership active and I think I also saw some penalties if it wasn't met. You might want to read the details if this would apply to you. I don't like any travel company that requires minimum purchases like this to get perks, but I understand the desire for them to encourage frequent renters.



Sent from my iPad


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## Luanne (Feb 2, 2015)

Ken555 said:


> I was going to do that as well since I reserved the car with Budget some time ago. But, I then read their policies and they require three reservations per year in order to keep membership active and I think I also saw some penalties if it wasn't met. You might want to read the details if this would apply to you. I don't like any travel company that requires minimum purchases like this to get perks, but I understand the desire for them to encourage frequent renters.
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad



Thanks for the heads up, I hadn't read that.  But I'm not terribly good at reading all of the small print.  Since I just got it I wonder if there is some kind of grace period?

I just went and read the information.  I would think that for the first year I'd be fine.  And I couldn't see any kind of penalty other than your Fastbreak membership would be dropped if you hadn't met the minimum 3 rentals per year.  Right now we have two rentals scheduled through Budget for this year, so I might even make the minimum.


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## gregb (Feb 3, 2015)

Ken555,

We arrived on Sunday a week ago at about 12:15pm on Alaska Air and the line a Budget was over 45 minutes. Looked like several planes landed at about the same time.  By the time we left, the queue was more than an hour.  It could have gone faster, except they kept trying to up-sell everyone.

Kind of reminded me of when we used to fly United and had to wait forever for our bags.  Alaska Air rocks! With them the bags hit the belt before we even get to the claim area!

Greg


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## Luanne (Feb 3, 2015)

gregb said:


> Ken555,
> 
> We arrived on Sunday a week ago at about 12:15pm on Alaska Air and the line a Budget was over 45 minutes. Looked like several planes landed at about the same time.  By the time we left, the queue was more than an hour.  It could have gone faster, except they kept trying to up-sell everyone.
> 
> ...



Since Kahalui is a Fast Break location hoping having that will help with our check in.  

We usually have one person get the luggage and the other get the car, then come back to the airport for luggage and other travelers.


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## Ken555 (Feb 3, 2015)

gregb said:


> Ken555,
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Thanks for confirming my suspicions. I was unhappy the last time I rented from Budget due to the poor staffing and slow lines. 

Anyone have info on how fast Avis is in Maui? That's my current reservation though if it's also a long wait I'll pay a bit more and just rent from Alamo. $20 or so just isn't worth 45 minutes after a flight to me.


Sent from my iPad


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## capjak (Feb 3, 2015)

Also try http://www.autoslash.com we found the lowest rate at this site and it continues to look for lower ones and will rebook at lower price.


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## nanc65093 (Feb 3, 2015)

I recommend Costco, keep checking back cuz prices drop frequently.  I'm on Maui now with a 2 week Hyundai Santa Fe for 588.00 total.  It's from Alamo.

Aloha,
Nancy


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## Luanne (Feb 3, 2015)

Ken555 said:


> Thanks for confirming my suspicions. I was unhappy the last time I rented from Budget due to the poor staffing and slow lines.
> 
> Anyone have info on how fast Avis is in Maui? That's my current reservation though if it's also a long wait I'll pay a bit more and just rent from Alamo. $20 or so just isn't worth 45 minutes after a flight to me.
> 
> ...



Ken, we've actually found most of the car rental sites on the Hawaiian island to be slow (island time).  So when we find one that's more efficient it's just a plus.  I'm sure we must have rented from Avis in the past, but since we've been using Costco not so much lately.

And many times the problems are with waiting for the shuttle buses to pick you up at the airport.


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## BocaBoy (Feb 3, 2015)

Ken555 said:


> Anyone have info on how fast Avis is in Maui? That's my current reservation though if it's also a long wait I'll pay a bit more and just rent from Alamo. $20 or so just isn't worth 45 minutes after a flight to me.


I suspect it is hard to generalize here, but I have rented from Avis a few times on Maui and I don't remember any unusually long wait times.


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## Ken555 (Feb 3, 2015)

Luanne said:


> Ken, we've actually found most of the car rental sites on the Hawaiian island to be slow (island time).  So when we find one that's more efficient it's just a plus.  I'm sure we must have rented from Avis in the past, but since we've been using Costco not so much lately.
> 
> 
> 
> And many times the problems are with waiting for the shuttle buses to pick you up at the airport.




Usually Costco sends me to Alamo on Maui, but yesterday's reservation is with Avis. And yeah...the shuttles...sigh.


Sent from my iPad


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## Ken555 (Feb 3, 2015)

BocaBoy said:


> I suspect it is hard to generalize here, but I have rented from Avis a few times on Maui and I don't remember any unusually long wait times.




Thanks


Sent from my iPad


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## mjm1 (Feb 3, 2015)

Thanks Luanne and Ken.

I generally go with the low cost leader. Interesting, I just checked again and Enterprise went from $425 for 2 weeks (intermediate size) to $680. Alamo only went up $7. Glad I already reserved it. It is crazy how the prices fluctuate. You just have to keep watching. We are still a couple of months away, so they will probably drop again.

Mike


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## gregb (Feb 3, 2015)

When we rented from Alamo in the past, I completed the application online, and it took almost no time to process the rental at the center.  

Budget doesn't seem to have that, without joining their club, with what ever requirements they have to use their card.  You would expect that any major rental company would have an online "check-in" process.  It effectively shifts the work from their counter employees to the renter.  But to get a fast checkout, I am willing to make that trade-off.

I haven't use Avis in a long time on Maui, so no advice there.


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## capjak (Feb 3, 2015)

capjak said:


> Also try http://www.autoslash.com we found the lowest rate at this site and it continues to look for lower ones and will rebook at lower price.



Also join the rental agency customer program so you do not have to wait to get your car, you can usually just pick your car up directly or they have a separate line for you.

FYI just booked Avis standard size car for $426 for 2 weeks on Maui economy was quoted at $371 for Feb 2015


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## eakhat (Feb 4, 2015)

I book a rental as soon as I know my flight schedule and keep looking.  When we arrived in Kauai in early January, I had a reservation for $607 for 15 days for a full-sized car on Maui starting Jan 25.  I kept checking Costco, while in Hawaii, and found $438 for the 15 days.  We were upgraded to an SUV.  Unfortunately, we were in that very long Budget line!


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## n777lt (Feb 4, 2015)

Ken555 said:


> The lowest cost vendor changes based on your travel dates and type of car.  I was reserved with Budget but this morning switched to Avis. Now at $26/day after taxes and fees for a full size. I'd rather not reserve with Budget due to the long lines at their office (my favorite is Alamo since its so quick and easy to get thru their office). I haven't rented from Avis in Maui before so not sure how quick they'll be.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad



With Avis Preferred it's usually in and out - very fast.  But I've never noticed long lines at the regular desk -- on the shared bus, many more people are heading over to Budget than to Avis.


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## Luanne (Feb 4, 2015)

Wow!  I went into Costco travel this morning to look for a minivan for our March Maui trip (may have an additional person going).  Booked the two weeks for $493 with Budget.  I went back in this afternoon because the Budget Fastbreak number didn't get entered.  I was going to re-book and then cancel the original. The price is now $1513 with Budget, same size, same dates.


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## Ken555 (Feb 4, 2015)

n777lt said:


> With Avis Preferred it's usually in and out - very fast.  But I've never noticed long lines at the regular desk -- on the shared bus, many more people are heading over to Budget than to Avis.




Thanks for the info. 


Sent from my iPad


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## Ken555 (Feb 4, 2015)

Luanne said:


> Wow!  I went into Costco travel this morning to look for a minivan for our March Maui trip (may have an additional person going).  Booked the two weeks for $493 with Budget.  I went back in this afternoon because the Budget Fastbreak number didn't get entered.  I was going to re-book and then cancel the original. The price is now $1513 with Budget, same size, same dates.




Yup, I also looked earlier today and many rates have changed. My existing Avis reservation for next month increased by more than double. Change is to be expected.


Sent from my iPad


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## Luanne (Feb 4, 2015)

Ken555 said:


> Yup, I also looked earlier today and many rates have changed. My existing Avis reservation for next month increased by more than double. Change is to be expected.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad



But in the same day?  That was what surprised me.  Usually the rate will stay stable for a couple of days.


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## gregb (Feb 5, 2015)

Luanne,

I think that most car companies are using demand pricing, driven by computers, just like airlines.  That may be why the asking prices make such dramatic changes.  If they get several inquires for rates in a short time, the computer can up the rate.  

Still, more than doubling in a day is rather amazing!

We are in Maui now, and our two week compact car rental with Dollar is about $360, all in.  Made the reservation with Discount Hawaiian rentals, I think back in October.

Greg


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