Aulani free shuttle offer - good idea or no?

[happymamma]

I just called to check something about our Aulani reservation (we arrive next week) and the person said there is an additional promotion we could add to our reservation that would include free shuttle service and a free one-day (24 hours) mid-size car rental.

We were planning to rent a car at the HNL Alamo for $234 for the full 8 days. 5 nights of our reservation is through the hotel (the other 3 are DVC), so we would pay around $175 in parking fees. So a little over 400 total to have the car.

We were only planning on leaving the resort for sightseeing on two days - a Saturday and Sunday probably - and from a quick check it looks like it would cost around $88 to rent a car for one day at the Aulani Alamo via Costco. Similar price on Alamo web site for the Aulani location. I still need to figure out how it works with that location closing at 5 p.m. - do you need to have the car back by then to avoid the parking fee?

Theoretically we would save money - and have added convenience of not having to drive around in a new place late at night (flight arrives late, and we have a late flight home), BUT, we did plan on stopping at Target or etc. for a few groceries (hotel room, no kitchen) on the way to the hotel or the next day, and we might end up wanting to leave more often if we want other dining options, or need to run out to get something we forgot, etc. I wonder if we could pay the shuttle service additional to stop at a store? Or look into a grocery delivery? Or just get what we need at the store in walking distance?

Can anyone who has been there (or not) weigh in on what you would do? Is there some way of getting the lower-cost car rental once we are at Aulani.. do they ever do drop-off? Is there some other way of doing this that I'm not thinking of?

Thanks!

 

[Girimama33]

It's hard to say since you don't know how much you may want to use the car.
I think it is a really nice promotion. When we were there in July 2014, we did not rent a car and used the SpeediShuttle service to and from the airport. Very easy. Not sure if they will make an additional stop to a store. There maybe others to drop off since the shuttle is not private.
There is a small market across the street from Aulani, or you

can get a taxi out front, and they will take you to Target or Safeway for $10 each way.
We also rented a car from Alamo for a day of sightseeing. We were able to bring it back anytime that night (we didn't get back till 11pm), and you just drop it off with the valet.

 

[abdgeek]

If you're only planning on sightseeing two days, I'm not sure I would rent the car for the entire time. When I went in 2012, I only rented a car for three of the eight days I was at Aulani from the Alamo because those were the only days I was going sightseeing. I took a shuttle from the airport to the resort. When I went in 2014, I didn't rent a car, but used Speedi Shuttle to get back and forth from the airport. It is a shared ride, so unless you book a private vehicle, I'm not sure that they will stop at the grocery store. Aulani does have a small store and there is the ABC store across the street that also has grocery items. Maybe check out the grocery list on DVC to see if it has items you want. I usually just get what I need for breakfast from there, but I also don't cook on vacation--I know others do.

As the OP said, there is a market and some restaurants across the street. There is also a resort bus that goes between the hotels at the marina. If you haven't already, try to decide how many nights you will want to go off property for meals and try to work around that. If you plan to go to Waikiki to eat or shop/sightsee, you will need a car.

 

[nkereina]

Not to hijack, but for the Alamo that's on-site, do you need to make advanced reservations for that or could you rent a car as a walk-up? If they accept walk-ups, is there any issue with rental car availability? Do they sell out?

We have the same dilemma as OP in that we aren't sure which 2-3 days out of our 8 days there we will want to leave to go sightseeing. Having a car for the duration gives us plenty of flexibility. But if we can rent a car on the fly from the onsite Alamo, then we'd have the same flexibility essentially.

 

[abdgeek]

Not to hijack, but for the Alamo that's on-site, do you need to make advanced reservations for that or could you rent a car as a walk-up? If they accept walk-ups, is there any issue with rental car availability? Do they sell out?

We have the same dilemma as OP in that we aren't sure which 2-3 days out of our 8 days there we will want to leave to go sightseeing. Having a car for the duration gives us plenty of flexibility. But if we can rent a car on the fly from the onsite Alamo, then we'd have the same flexibility essentially.

I would suggest calling the Aulani Alamo to see how feasible that is. When I went in 2012, I booked my car in advance. While I was waiting to get my car, people who were trying to get cars on a walk up basis were being told there was no availability. I'm not sure if that is still the case.