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Mini Van Rental in Kauai

slip

slip

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2011
Messages
12,549
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Location
U'alapue/Kaunakakai, Hawaii
Resorts Owned
Pono Kai, 16 wks; Maui Schooner, 1 EOY Wk; 1 week Ke Nani Kai; WaveCrest Condo, Molokai, HI
I have a friend going to Kauai 1-13-18 to 1-20-18. He's going to need a mini van. I have never rented anything that big before. Can some one give me a good price range he can expect to pay for the week? He is a Costco member and right now it's $495 total. Thanks for any input.
 
I think somewhere in the $250 to $350 range should be a realistic goal. If they are the adventurous types and have at least a couple of kids in the group I would suggest a full size SUV might be a better option at that price? Looks like the current price would be $550 for a Tahoe/Yukon type vehicle.
 
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Thank you, that gives me a guideline. He will have all adults. It will be him and his wife, son and daughter in law and adult daughter and her girlfriend. Tahoe /Yukon type vehicle would be better if he wanted to go to Polihali too. I'll mention that to him and keep watching prices.
 
The last time we rented a minivan it was on Maui, for two weeks, in March, 2015. We paid $493 all in. Reservation was with Budget, made through Costco.

You can tell your friends to reserve a minivan, then go to autoslash and enter their rental information there. Autoslash will keep looking for a cheaper price for them.
 
Yes, I did mention that to him too. I haven't had any luck with it myself. I have tried it on our last three Kauai trips but I have had really great rates already when I set up the Autoslash search.
 
Jeff, Costco.com just now shows a minivan out-the-door for those dates is $495 with Alamo. I'd suggest he reserve the car now, then watch for the rates to drop, just like with any other vehicle. Discount Hawaii Car Rental was about $50 higher. But he's a year out right now, so rates likely will come down. But he needs to have a starting place, so Id say start with this rate, and watch for a better deal.

Dave
 
Thanks Dave, exactly what I told him to do, along with Autoslash. For years now, I've been paying about $160 a week all in for my rentals so I always book early and hope to fall to that level. I have never booked more than a full size though.

I work with him and it's his first Hawaii trip. It's great to see his enthusiasm even at a year out. It really ramped up since I was able to book his room at the Pono Kai last week. I got him one of the few oceanfront two bedroom loft units and by the time he's there it will be newly renovated. He said he wants to take his own picture so he can have the same wallpaper as mine for his computer.:D
Although he'll be closer to the ocean than this picture. He'll be in the building on the right in this picture. 17 days and I'm there.:cheer:

848320705260534.jpg
 
slip said:
Yes, I did mention that to him too. I haven't had any luck with it myself. I have tried it on our last three Kauai trips but I have had really great rates already when I set up the Autoslash search.
Click to expand...
I usually do better with Costco, and by just continuing to check back with them, but with a rental this far out it can't hurt to use autoslash as well.
 
Every time I see a thread asking about car rentals, it reminds me to go check current rates for my own rental reservations. I already have a killer deal with Costco on a two week rental late this Spring. ($343 out the door for two weeks, pick up in Denver, drop off in Phoenix. Excellent rate!) But when I checked last night, I was able to drop the price by another $16. Not enough to make me rich, but hey - it's a fast food lunch for two! (Down to $327 for 14 days. :banana: If I scheduled my vacation just one week later, the rate nearly quadruples. Yikes!)

Dave
 
Like Dave I keep checking my rates. Right now we have a midsize SUV for two weeks on Maui in March for $581.75 all in. That was better than the price for a full size sedan. Currently the prices for both the sedans and the SUV are around $700 - $800. I got my rate back in September, about 6 months before our trip. This seems to be my experience. The rates go their lowest about that far out.

I just checked the rates again. For a full size sedan the rate is now $934 and for the SUV it's $896.
 
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The best minivan rentals are through Costco Travel website. We got a full week van on the Big Island and Kauai for about $325.
 
Right now it's $495 for the week but we'll keep watching.
 
Keep watching the Costco Travel website. The prices usually go down and you can get a great deal. Gas is always the cheapest at the Costco on the island. All of the islands except Molokai have a Costco.
 
Keep Checking...I originally booked 1/14 for 10 days on the big Island and 10 days on Kauai and rates were $331 for SUV and 367 For an intermediate on the two islands respectively. 2/12 they were 308 and 333 and today they were 293 and 320. This is also with Costco.


I usually will also try and low ball a priceline bid a week or so out but like having the 2nd driver included with costco
 
Tooooo early to worry! ! ! Check Costco rates at these timleines prior to pickup .... 10 days; 3 days; 24 hours. You will be "surprised".
Happy Travels,
gvic
 
gvic said:
Tooooo early to worry! ! ! Check Costco rates at these timleines prior to pickup .... 10 days; 3 days; 24 hours. You will be "surprised".
Happy Travels,
gvic
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I've never had that experience with Hawaii. However I just checked and saved $30 on a rental on Maui that is coming up in a few days. Thanks!
 
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I've been going to Hawaii for years and my findings have always been more like Luanne's but I was never trying to book such a large vehicle. I do always check up to when I'm leaving and Costco has usually always had the best price. It's a long way out but the do have it booked at $495. Hopefully it will drop.
 
Just checking Costco and a mini van through Alamo was $295 all in for the week. We will keep checking but it will probably be hard to beat that price.
 
He ended out getting the mini van for $290 all in. He will keep watching. Now for the airfare. He checked today and found $799 round trip out of Madison. I'll find out tomorrow if he grabbed it tonight. I think should, it's way out but I haven't gotten Lihue out if Madison for under $900 in years.
 
slip said:
He ended out getting the mini van for $290 all in. He will keep watching. Now for the airfare. He checked today and found $799 round trip out of Madison. I'll find out tomorrow if he grabbed it tonight. I think should, it's way out but I haven't gotten Lihue out if Madison for under $900 in years.
Click to expand...

Have him take a look at autoslash.com I rented a van for $221.00 through their system from 3-5 till 3-12-17


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Yes, he did enter it in Autoslash too. We have a perks website at work at it has always been high but it did have it at $260 for the week so we're getting down there.
 
I was recently in Oahu with a Minivan from 3/5 - 3/19, 2 weeks. My original price was $510 for a 7 passenger minivan with Alamo. This would have been a Chrysler T&C, I think. I paid an upgrade fee of $165 to get an 8 passenger minivan. Ended up with a Sienna LE. so my total was $675 for 2 weeks. My understanding is that this was a busy time and I had never seen rates so high, even for the other car classes. Typically, for a full size vehicle, I'm usually around $350-$400 for 2 weeks, but I had trouble finding anything under $500.
 
I think that's a pretty good price. We researched for our recent trip as well and looked into all different rental companies for the best deal on a minivan rental. Minivans in Hawaii seem to be more expensive to rent than any other type of vehicle, presumably due to the high demand and limited inventory. If they really NEED a minivan due to the number of passengers, they need to book as early as possible (which I'm sure they know). Best of luck on that!
 
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