Costco has bargain deals for Hawaii car rentals, specifically Kauai

[rickandcindy23]

I was searching Costcotravel.com, as I do often for our car rentals. Two days ago, I booked a full-size car for $390 all taxes and fees included. Today, the same rental is $100 less. Both cars were Alamo, our first choice.

Our trip is the last few weeks of August.

 

[eal]

Thanks so much for posting - I got a reservation for 4 weeks on Maui in November for a very good price- the best I have seen so far.

 

[ajlm33]

In May 2013 we booked with Budget thru Costco a mid-sized car for 8 days for under $200 in Kauai. It ended up being a brand new (only 7 miles on the odometer) Nissan Altima and was a great ride and deal ! I highly recommend booking thru Costco !

 

[brigechols]

Generally, I receive much lower rates booking a mini van throough costco.com but this time Discount Hawaii Car Rentals came through with a lower rate.

 

[Luanne]

I'll check both Costco and discounthawaiian again, but so far my corporate discount with Avis is still giving me the best price for Maui at the end of August.

Wow! Just checked. The prices though Costco are now almost $200 lower than what I have reserved through Avis. Rental is with Alamo, which is usually not my first choice. I wonder if Avis will price match? Can't hurt to ask.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Luanne, Alamo is always our first choice because they let us pick our own car, and sometimes there are new cars on the lot from which to choose.

Rick has been very pleased with the quality of the vehicles, and we have our American Express insurance, so it's easy to use the do-it-yourself kiosk, avoiding the counter "insurance and full tank" pitches. We just swipe our card, DL, and enter the confirmation #, then we just go to the lot ourselves and pick our own car.

There is a kiosk on Maui, but I don't think on Kauai.

We rented from Budget at LAX last week and had to be very rude to the woman who was trying to sell us car insurance. She kept saying our Amex didn't cover everything. Yeah, duh, it sure does, and we also have our car insurance, which also covers anything we would need.

 

[Ken555]

FYI, Costco prices lowered at the beginning of the month for Kauai, at least that's when I checked and updated my reservation. For the dates of my travel, even when searching today, the least expensive is Budget. It really doesn't matter in Kauai, from my experience, since all the cars are filthy...

 

[PearlCity]

Ugh not lower for big island discount Hawaii is lower for a minivan in October by over $100.

 

[Elli]

I'll check the rates through Costco for the Big Island again, but I've checked a few times during the last month, and the rates haven't gone down at all. It's for Oct. 2013.

 

[cgeidl]

Pick any car

Our last Oahu car rental from Alamo they said to pick any car from subcompact to mid size and we were renting an economy and ended up midsize. We have often rented compacts and they try to upgrade you and when you say no you get the upgraded car anyway as that's all they have.

 

[Luanne]

I've also been checking Costco for Big Island and rates are still high. But I think part of my problem may be that we're picking up at one airport and dropping off at another.

 

[lprstn]

Thanks I just saved $322 on my rental for Maui

 

[Saintsfanfl]

You usually can't beat costcotravel for car rentals. I booked a Volkswagon Passat for $12 / day for an in-law family reunion in MO. I recently canceled my Mom's mid size week Alamo reservation because I booked an Alamo full size for $125 less on costcotravel.

 

[dioxide45]

Generally, I receive much lower rates booking a mini van throough costco.com but this time Discount Hawaii Car Rentals came through with a lower rate.

Same experience here for a mini van in November for both LIH and KOA. Costco is at least $130-$200 more than Discount Hawaii Car Rentals.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Rates change drastically for car rentals. Today, they are significantly higher than when I booked. As the dates get closer, I may even get a better deal than I have.

 

[Steve A]

I like Costco the best because they do not charge an extra fee for your spouse to drive. With other car rentals you never can tell what they are going to do and it winds up costing more than you expected.

 

[radmoo]

I was holding AARP, COSTCO and Hawaii Discount Car rentals. Just checked back today and both AARP(Thrifty) and COSTCO(Enterprise) are under $200 week Aug 18-25. Any experience with either outfit at Lihue?

Thanks

 

[DaveNV]

I was holding AARP, COSTCO and Hawaii Discount Car rentals. Just checked back today and both AARP(Thrifty) and COSTCO(Enterprise) are under $200 week Aug 18-25. Any experience with either outfit at Lihue?

Thanks

I've rented from both Thrifty and Enterprise in Lihue. The cars were fine. In fact, last time I got a convertible through Thrifty that only had about 250 miles on it. Great car.

Dave

 

[DaveNV]

A tip if you end up renting through Thrifty: Sign up for their Blue Chip program (free internal frequent renter thing) and make sure your reservation shows that Blue Chip number. When I arrived at the Thrifty counter, the regular line was out the door. Blue Chip line had zero people in front of me. They had my paperwork all ready done, I had my convertible, and I was out the door within about five minutes. As I was walking out, I heard someone in the other (huge!) line say, "Hey, how come he got through so quick?" I just smiled and kept walking.

Dave

 

[radmoo]

Thanks, I do have Thrifty Blue Chip number so think I will stick with them

 

[Luanne]

I like Costco the best because they do not charge an extra fee for your spouse to drive. With other car rentals you never can tell what they are going to do and it winds up costing more than you expected.

The only time I experienced this was when we rented using Priceline. Renting directly through Avis, which is who I use when they have the best price, the second driver is always included.

 

[dioxide45]

A tip if you end up renting through Thrifty: Sign up for their Blue Chip program (free internal frequent renter thing) and make sure your reservation shows that Blue Chip number. When I arrived at the Thrifty counter, the regular line was out the door. Blue Chip line had zero people in front of me. They had my paperwork all ready done, I had my convertible, and I was out the door within about five minutes. As I was walking out, I heard someone in the other (huge!) line say, "Hey, how come he got through so quick?" I just smiled and kept walking.

Dave

Though I think if you book through Discount Hawaii Car Retals, you can't add your loyalty numbers to any of the reservations or you lose the rate and they lose their commission.

 

[DaveNV]

Though I think if you book through Discount Hawaii Car Retals, you can't add your loyalty numbers to any of the reservations or you lose the rate and they lose their commission.

I called DHCR and asked them if they could add my Blue Chip number to an existing reservation. They were happy to add it. I got the initially quoted rate, and the Blue Chip service. So it worked for me.

Dave

 

[dioxide45]

I called DHCR and asked them if they could add my Blue Chip number to an existing reservation. They were happy to add it. I got the initially quoted rate, and the Blue Chip service. So it worked for me.

Dave

Good to know. It must depend on the car company. The reservation that we have through Avis indicates the following.

BEWARE-adding Avis Preferred membership info to this reservation will erase this rate from the Avis system. You lose the discount and we lose our commission.

 

[DaveNV]

Good to know. It must depend on the car company. The reservation that we have through Avis indicates the following.

It may be something new, as well. My experience was last Summer, so maybe things have changed since then.

Dave