Car rental prices!

[klpca]

I am preparing for an upcoming trip by printing out confirmations etc and took a moment to reprice my car rentals on both the Big Island and Kauai. I booked them last Oct. for late spring weeks. They are now almost double - from $185 to $370+. I've never seen the prices this high for off season weeks. There must be a lot of people traveling now.

This is through Costco btw. I haven't checked anyone else yet.

 

[Kapolei]

Try this also ..... https://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com

Sometimes booking through frequent flier site or professional affiliations can help

 

[Sugarcubesea]

I am preparing for an upcoming trip by printing out confirmations etc and took a moment to reprice my car rentals on both the Big Island and Kauai. I booked them last Oct. for late spring weeks. They are now almost double - from $185 to $370+. I've never seen the prices this high for off season weeks. There must be a lot of people traveling now.

This is through Costco btw. I haven't checked anyone else yet.

I have been looking every day for cheaper rental car rates for my trip to SDO and the price has doubled in the last month...its weird.

 

[Kapolei]

I have been looking every day for cheaper rental car rates for my trip to SDO and the price has doubled in the last month...its weird.

I always start my vacation planning by locking in car rental reservations. Sometimes I have 3 or 4 differet Costco reservations booked. Onice my travel plans are final. I cancel the reservations I don't need. It costs nothing to do this.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

I always start my vacation planning by locking in car rental reservations. Sometimes I have 3 or 4 different Costco reservations booked. Onice my travel plans are final. I cancel the reservations I don't need. It costs nothing to do this.

I pretty much do the same, I booked these 3 months ago but since my trip is not for another 7 months, I'm hopeful the price will come down a bit...

 

[Luanne]

I had always found the best prices about 6 months out and don't bother to check as it get close to the date. However, after being prompted to do so I checked a couple of days before the trip we are on now. The rates for Alamo, which is who we were booked with (through Costco) were 4 times as much as whenI'd booked! But Budget was $60 less than the best price I'd gotten. So from now on I will check at the last minute.

 

[Southerngirl528]

I do as Sugarcube and Kapolei. For our annual Hawaii trips I book the cheapest car I would be happy to drive as far in advance as possible. And then I check, check, check and re-check prices over the months. Many, many times I find a better rate as the dates draw closer but not always. with very few exceptions I have found my best Hawaii car rental rates through Costco Travel or www.discounthawaiicarrrental.com I just got back from 3 weeks on Maui and was surprised to find my best rate directly through a car company. For me, that has been rare.

One nice perk to booking through either Costco Travel or DHCR is that they generally (*read the fine print as this is not the case every single time) include a 2nd driver at no add'l charge.

One caveat to newbies to booking Hawaii trips: make SURE to book a rental car far in advance. It is astronomical how pricey rental cars can get at busy times. Hawaiian islands have limited numbers of cars and they can't just "drive some more down from Dallas" if ya know what I mean. SO prices can get CRAZY. Book something you can live with way in advance and then if you like, keep checking and hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised to find a better rate. Just make certain NOT to book a car rental that requires pre-payment or a credit card to secure as these reservations are often NOT changeable or cancellable. Hope this helps!

 

[dougp26364]

I follow car rental prices pretty closely for a few destinations we travel to frequently. For the last 3 or 4 months, prices have been considerably higher than normal. I've seen this happen in the past where prices spike and stay high for several months, then just as suddenly they return to "normal". I'll only reserve a rental car when it makes sense. If the prices are to high, I'll select different destinations that have reasonable alternatives to renting a car.

 

[tompalm]

Supply and demand. Right now demand is high because of spring break. Six months ago, not many people had reserved cars and demand was low. Spring Break is the most busy time of the year.

 

[klpca]

Supply and demand. Right now demand is high because of spring break. Six months ago, not many people had reserved cars and demand was low. Spring Break is the most busy time of the year.

I agree 100% but I am looking in May, which in my experience is one of the less busy times to go. Who knows?

Speaking of busy times and car rentals, in 2015 we were in Hawaii for three weeks - Kauai, then BI, then Maui. When checking all of our reservations a month before the trip, I discovered that I had booked car rentals on Kauai, BI, and...BI again. No Maui reservation for our Thanksgiving week reservation. I figured that we were screwed, but amazingly I was able to get a car and the price was about the same as the other reservation. Thank goodness because our airfare for that week was ridiculous.

 

[suzanne]

I am finding the same thing. I booked thru Costco couple of months ago, I check everyday to see if there is a price drop. I am amazed at how high the rate has gone. I reserved a standard size SUV for 2 weeks on the Big Island to accommodate me and my 2 friends and all of our camera gear. We will be there from August 26th thru Sept. 9th. Hoping the rate drops after Spring Break and before summer vacations start.

Suzanne

 

[The Haileys]

I lucked into this as well ... through Discount Hawaii, I have a full size reserved with a rate of $218 all in for a week. Later checking saw the rates nearly double.
HOWEVER, I just checked again today and the rates have dropped quite a lot. I may cancel the full size and rebook an intermediate SUV for the same price!

 

[rickandcindy23]

I had so many RCI points to use, I paid for our car rental with RCI Points (and my points are cheaper than most). Anyway, the cash prices through the RCI portal are pretty good for Hawaii. SFX also has some good car rental rates. Check those out and see if you can get a better deal. The problem with booking cars can be the fine print. If the price goes down with RCI Points, I am stuck because no refunds for cancellations. That is new.

Costco was always my go-to place for car rentals. It's not been as great the last year or so. I usually do well in Orlando, but our last trip it was quite high for a car rental.

 

[LisaRex]

Thanks to a tip several years ago from another Tugger whose name I unfortunately did not commit to memory, if you have a Chase card and collection Ultimate Rewards, their car rental "prices" with points are some of the best I've ever found. I routinely book rental cars through the Chase portal now.

For instance, for my trip to Grand Cayman the week before Easter, I booked an SUV for ~32,000 URs. Considering I earn about 10,000 URs per month via routine spending on my Chase platinum card (annual fee $150 after $300 rebate on travel, but I earn 3x on dining), that's a great return.

 

[alohakevin]

We have used auto slash.com the last couple times to Hawaii and have been very pleased with outcome. The biggest advantage is they constantly check for a better price and will reserve for you. They then send an email letting you know the new (lower) price. I find this very useful given It saves me from having to stay on top of it to find a better deal.

 

[ronandjoan]

We have used auto slash.com the last couple times to Hawaii and have been very pleased with outcome. The biggest advantage is they constantly check for a better price and will reserve for you. They then send an email letting you know the new (lower) price. I find this very useful given It saves me from having to stay on top of it to find a better deal.

We always use autoslash! Love how they do things --

 

[bobpark56]

We always use autoslash! Love how they do things --

We do, too...but on our last visit to Oahu, it took me more than 40 minutes to get Budget to find/recognize our autoslash reservation. They kept insisting I had no reservation.

 

[bobpark56]

I am finding the same thing. I booked thru Costco couple of months ago, I check everyday to see if there is a price drop. I am amazed at how high the rate has gone. I reserved a standard size SUV for 2 weeks on the Big Island to accommodate me and my 2 friends and all of our camera gear. We will be there from August 26th thru Sept. 9th. Hoping the rate drops after Spring Break and before summer vacations start.

Suzanne

Higher than usual prices are not just in Hawaii. I just rented a Hertz car to be picked up in Malaga, Spain in March of next year, and the price has gone up about 50% over the rates I paid for 2 rentals this year. And it's not just Hertz...Avis was even more pricey.

 

[easyrider]

For next winter we reserved an intermediate suv with Thrifty through Discount Hawaii car rental. 2 weeks in Maui for $404. I will be checking Costco and others on price until we go but I think this is it.

Bill

 

[blackjack]

Yeah, the prices are high enough where I am considering not renting a car as we don't drive some of the days while on the island. I will be traveling with my wife and a four year old. Any suggestions on best ways to get resort from airport. Assuming there is uber, will they let me put a car seat in the car? What are some of your experiences without renting a car with small children on Maui? Thanks.

 

[Aaron Kristen]

im watching over christmas timeframe as well for Kailua-Kona
prices are silly. but usually come down around the 6mo out point

 

[Terri Decker]

I am preparing for an upcoming trip by printing out confirmations etc and took a moment to reprice my car rentals on both the Big Island and Kauai. I booked them last Oct. for late spring weeks. They are now almost double - from $185 to $370+. I've never seen the prices this high for off season weeks. There must be a lot of people traveling now.

This is through Costco btw. I haven't checked anyone else yet.

Costco has always been the best for me- Have you tried Priceline- name your own fare?

 

[Luanne]

Costco has always been the best for me- Have you tried Priceline- name your own fare?

I used to use Priceline. But the last time I tried bidding (which was quite a few years back) I didn't do any better than the reservation I already had. The two strikes I find with Priceline:

1. You're locked in. Once you book it you can't cancel or change.
2. They don't always include the extra driver. Found this out the hard way with a Pricline rental we did some years back.

 

[DianeG]

The second driver is the big bonus for me with www.discounthawaiicarrental.com. The second driver doesn't need to be your spouse or someone from your household. The fact that I can cancel any time also scores big time.
I no longer pay attention to the actual rental company, as they're all the same (especially at KOA) in terms of car stock and staff (musical chairs). You'll always risk hitting that one counter person who is a pain and really pushes the 'upsell', even to the point of telling you that you cannot get the car that you booked - that's when a call to DHCR comes in useful and they can talk to a supervisor on your behalf. DHCR has the volume edge on the other brokers and that counts on the islands.

 

[bobpark56]

Costco has always been the best for me- Have you tried Priceline- name your own fare?

Those of us who are USAA members will usually find that the USAA discount on car rentals beats the Costco discounts. The USAA discount has also been good for us for Hertz rentals in Europe...but that may be changing, as prices seem quite a significantly higher now. Autoslash has at times been the winner in Hawaii.