Hawaii car rentals are going wild again

[uop1497]

This is our second time to visit Maui .Normally, we always rent a car during our trip, but not this time. I check car rental pricing on Costco for our week and it cost nearly $1000 . So, we decide to go with a taxi/ shuttle service from airport to hotel and vice versa. I will continue to check car rental pricing to see if it goes down.

We plan to rent a car a day or two maybe thru hotel or a near by car rental location if needed. I also check one way car rental, to pick up at airport and return at hotel, but unable to do so thru Costco because Grand Wailea is not participating as car rental drop of location.

At this point, I do not know how our trip turn out without a car this time, but I hope it is not too bad. I read online that there is a shopping center name The Shops at Wailea , which is not far from Grand Wailea. I will check out this location to see if we can get some drink, snack foods or even meals here.

 

[uop1497]

I actually looked at their rates earlier this week and they only charge $20/day plus $1.50 mileage (or so). But I can't see myself doing that...

I do not know how to drive a U haul. And if even if I do, not sure if the valet attendance will accept to park a U-Haul on my behalf

 

[Ken555]

I do not know how to drive a U haul. And if even if I do, not sure if the valet attendance will accept to park a U-Haul on my behalf

It's just a pickup truck. You can drive it.

 

[Luanne]

This is our second time to visit Maui .Normally, we always rent a car during our trip, but not this time. I check car rental pricing on Costco for our week and it cost nearly $1000 . So, we decide to go with a taxi/ shuttle service from airport to hotel and vice versa. I will continue to check car rental pricing to see if it goes down.

We plan to rent a car a day or two maybe thru hotel or a near by car rental location if needed. I also check one way car rental, to pick up at airport and return at hotel, but unable to do so thru Costco because Grand Wailea is not participating as car rental drop of location.

At this point, I do not know how our trip turn out without a car this time, but I hope it is not too bad. I read online that there is a shopping center name The Shops at Wailea , which is not far from Grand Wailea. I will check out this location to see if we can get some drink, snack foods or even meals here.

The Shops at Wailea have a few restaurants. There is also a small grocery store there. Does the hotel offer shuttle service there? It's not a far walk. How does your husband do with walking?

Here is a link to the shopping center. You can check out the restaurants and shops.

The Shops at Wailea ::: Home Page

The Shops at Wailea is located in the heart of the Wailea Resort on the island of Maui. It features over 70 shops and restaurants including luxury brands, local favorites and art galleries.

www.theshopsatwailea.com

 

[uop1497]

The Shops at Wailea have a few restaurants. There is also a small grocery store there. Does the hotel offer shuttle service there? It's not a far walk. How does your husband do with walking?

Here is a link to the shopping center. You can check out the restaurants and shops.

The Shops at Wailea ::: Home Page

The Shops at Wailea is located in the heart of the Wailea Resort on the island of Maui. It features over 70 shops and restaurants including luxury brands, local favorites and art galleries.

www.theshopsatwailea.com

Not sure at this point if hotel will provide shuttle service to the shopping center. I just hope near the day of our departure, the car rental pricing drops down so that we can rent a car for our trip.
My husband has limited mobility and I will probably take a walk there myself . Google map shows the distance is only half mile long.

 

[daventrina]

This is our second time to visit Maui .Normally, we always rent a car during our trip, but not this time. I check car rental pricing on Costco for our week and it cost nearly $1000 . So, we decide to go with a taxi/ shuttle service from airport to hotel and vice versa. I will continue to check car rental pricing to see if it goes down.

We plan to rent a car a day or two maybe thru hotel or a near by car rental location if needed. I also check one way car rental, to pick up at airport and return at hotel, but unable to do so thru

How close will all of those come to adding up to $1000

 

[linsj]

Not sure at this point if hotel will provide shuttle service to the shopping center.

It doesn't have shuttle service.

 

[Luanne]

Not sure at this point if hotel will provide shuttle service to the shopping center. I just hope near the day of our departure, the car rental pricing drops down so that we can rent a car for our trip.
My husband has limited mobility and I will probably take a walk there myself . Google map shows the distance is only half mile long.

Go ahead and make a car rental reservation now. Then register it with Autoslash and they will do the checking for you for a lower price. If the prices don't come down you can always cancel the reservation before you leave for Maui.

Also I don't know how Google maps is measuring the distance from the hotel to the shops. The hotel itself is set quite a ways back from the road. The grounds are huge, so you may even have a bit of a hike to get to the lobby. There may be a back way to get from the hotel to the shops, more along the beach side.

 

[Deb from NC]

We’re on Kauai now! Thanks to advice in this thread, I got a car rental through RCI at Avis just last week for $ 399 plus 4,000 points for 10 days. We have a Nissan Sentra which is just fine for the 2 of us. So check RCI if you can!

PS ) This is our first trip to Kauai and we are loving it!!!!!

 

[rickandcindy23]

It doesn't have shuttle service.

It's VERY close to shopping from the main lobby. I wouldn't worry about a shuttle at all. We actually walked to the Grand Wailea from the Marriott AC in Wailea and walked by the shopping center on the way to pick up our rental car at Grand Wailea. It's like .2 mile from where you are staying, maybe less. An easy walk. Some good restaurants, a small grocery store and lots of shopping.

Our best rental car rate was at the Enterprise at Wailea. I would try searching for Wailea for a car rental. But then you have to pay for parking as well. So maybe a car rental any day you want to drive somewhere would be a better option.

 

[rickandcindy23]

We’re on Kauai now! Thanks to advice in this thread, I got a car rental through RCI at Avis just last week for $ 399 plus 4,000 points for 10 days. We have a Nissan Sentra which is just fine for the 2 of us. So check RCI if you can!

PS ) This is our first trip to Kauai and we are loving it!!!!!

I am so glad. I couldn't believe the rates we found through RCI. It's a much better option and saved our daughter-in-law over $700 on a minivan rental for their trip in Orlando. We booked Orlando for about $564 for 3 weeks + some worthless Wyndham points we have on deposit.

 

[Luanne]

It's VERY close to shopping from the main lobby. I wouldn't worry about a shuttle at all. We actually walked to the Grand Wailea from the Marriott AC in Wailea and walked by the shopping center on the way to pick up our rental car at Grand Wailea. It's like .2 mile from where you are staying, maybe less. An easy walk. Some good restaurants, a small grocery store and lots of shopping.

Our best rental car rate was at the Enterprise at Wailea. I would try searching for Wailea for a car rental. But then you have to pay for parking as well. So maybe a car rental any day you want to drive somewhere would be a better option.

My concern is that if @uop1497 husband is disabled, he won't be able to make the walk to the Shops. That limits them to eating on site at the very expensive restaurants. Or I guess she could walk to the Shops, get take out from one of the lesser expensive restaurants there.

We walk every morning we're on Maui from our unit at Maui Hill to the Rainbow Mall to get coffee. But I wouldn't want to be making that walk later in the day when it's warmer, and we don't walk down there if we're eating at one of the restaurants in that area.

 

[Ken555]

You can create a company to get your awd code. Kenco might be good, lol.

Bill

Thanks for posting this. It took Avis 10 days but this morning I received my corporate AWD number.

My two week reservation in September after taxes was higher than my existing reservation at Costco, but compared to current rates it was excellent. I did make several other reservations including one-way rentals in Maui (OGG-JHM and reverse) which saves ~$90 total (over two days) compared my Costco rez. And I have a few others not in Hawaii that I reviewed and switched to Avis since they were lower. Another reservation I'm trying to lower is in the UK and unfortunately Avis is higher than my existing rez.

I suspect Avis offers different corporate discounts based on other posts in this thread and elsewhere I've read, since my prices are still higher than others here. Nevertheless, this seems good. It's certainly better pricing that my corporate Sixt account.

Does anyone here have a corporate Alamo account? Do they offer better rates than Avis? I tend to prefer Alamo, based on past experience, though Avis is fine.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Thanks for posting this. It took Avis 10 days but this morning I received my corporate AWD number.

My two week reservation in September after taxes was higher than my existing reservation at Costco, but compared to current rates it was excellent. I did make several other reservations including one-way rentals in Maui (OGG-JHM and reverse) which saves ~$90 total (over two days) compared my Costco rez. And I have a few others not in Hawaii that I reviewed and switched to Avis since they were lower. Another reservation I'm trying to lower is in the UK and unfortunately Avis is higher than my existing rez.

I suspect Avis offers different corporate discounts based on other posts in this thread and elsewhere I've read, since my prices are still higher than others here. Nevertheless, this seems good. It's certainly better pricing that my corporate Sixt account.

Does anyone here have a corporate Alamo account? Do they offer better rates than Avis? I tend to prefer Alamo, based on past experience, though Avis is fine.

Thanks for this.
I received my Corporate AWD immediately. (Did it online)

Saved $180 over our current Costco Rental (made months ago), and over 50% lower than current Costco rate.
This is for next Saturday- so great to get an AWD number right away.

Avis AWD - $450
Costco (months ago)- $630
Costco Current - $980

Intermediate Car - 7 days (Sat-Sat)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ken555]

Thanks for this.
I received my Corporate AWD immediately. (Did it online)

Saved $180 over our current Costco Rental (made months ago), and over 50% lower than current Costco rate.
This is for next Saturday- so great to get an AWD number right away.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Excellent. Of course, I also applied online…no idea why it took them ten days to update me.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[zentraveler]

Excellent. Of course, I also applied online…no idea why it took them ten days to update me.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have a business as well; any tips on how where to find the link for setting this up?

 

[Ken555]

I have a business as well; any tips on how where to find the link for setting this up?

It’s…right on their web site. They really didn’t hide it!

Partner 1

Looking for a small business car rental program? Save up to 30% with the Avis for Business Program. Enroll today to enjoy exclusive rates and perks.

www.avis.com

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[WManning]

I thought car rentals would be easier this year. Last year Maui ended up at $350/week which was ok. I am now looking for our Nov trip and booked weeks through costco in early December for 8 days in Maui @$484 and 8 days on Kauai @ $317. Looking at airfare, I was thinking of going a day earlier to Maui but now the rate is over $1000 for either island. I sure hope they come down as the year moves on.

What rate is everyone else seeing

I have heard about reservations not being honored. Customers showing up and the car is not available.

 

[Luanne]

I have heard about reservations not being honored. Customers showing up and the car is not available.

Yep, and you also hear about people who have no problems picking up their rental cars. Stuff happens. And stuff like that happened even prior to Covid and the rental car shortages.

 

[Ken555]

Reserved a car in Kauai for early next year and Avis (with corporate discount) is more expensive than Costco by ~$130. So, this proves I still need to check elsewhere and can't rely upon the corporate discount rate.

 

[Luanne]

Reserved a car in Kauai for early next year and Avis (with corporate discount) is more expensive than Costco by ~$130. So, this proves I still need to check elsewhere and can't rely upon the corporate discount rate.

Yep. These days you need to keep checking.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Excellent. Of course, I also applied online…no idea why it took them ten days to update me.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Budget has one, but couldn’t find one for Alamo.
Budget Corp code was a bit less ($10) expensive that Avis.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[artringwald]

Rates are still crazy. On Feb 11, I booked 2 weeks in Kauai and 1 week on Maui for next winter. I checked again today, and the Kauai rate was almost half and the Maui rate was almost double. I rebooked Kauai, but I'll keep checking both.

 

[Luanne]

We're renting with Avis on Maui. The second day we had the car the "oil needs to be changed soon" light came on. After conferring with Avis on the phone we drove back to the airport to exchange it. We happened to get the manager who made the exchange. He upgraded the vehicle and also wrote a note on the contract that we do not have to return the car with a full tank.

 

[DaveNV]

We're renting with Avis on Maui. The second day we had the car the "oil needs to be changed soon" light came on. After conferring with Avis on the phone we drove back to the airport to exchange it. We happened to get the manager who made the exchange. He upgraded the vehicle and also wrote a note on the contract that we do not have to return the car with a full tank.

Good customer service! Hope your vacation is going well otherwise.

Dave