Aulani.... need a car?

[psimon]

http://discounthawaiicarrental.com/rates.shtml are great. They quote a minivan rental as low as $279/week with a free additional driver. We're using them on all 5 islands. We have a convertible rental for 8 days on Oahu in May for $375. I never found anything even close offered from another site.

Is "Brand X" at the airport? What is "Brand X"? Which rental agency did you use?

Thanks.....

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[MissMet]

Is "Brand X" at the airport? What is "Brand X"? Which rental agency did you use?

Thanks.....

---Paul in Southern NJ

I picked brand x, really I just said I wanted the lowest rate possible, for all my rentals on 4 islands. Somewhere on the website it breaks down which agencies are which. I'm sure it's different for everyone but here's what I was assigned.

Oahu - thrifty- at the airport (convertible 8 days, 2 drivers $375)

Maui - Alamo (economy 2 days, 2 drivers $75)

Big Island - Avis (economy 1 day, 2 drivers $37)

Kauai- Avis (eceonomy 2 days, 2 drivers $75)

*these are grand totals, including all taxes, fees, etc.

We're spending a week on Oahu & then boarding the NCL Pride of America, that's why the other car rentals. Figured I'd share in case others doing a similar itinerary can get an idea. We're going the beginning of May, which is a lower season. As you can see on the site, different rates depending on the time of year.

I was also told to book as early as possible. Once you're within 3 months of the trip the rates get higher. No cost to book, no cost to cancel. Also, you can keep checking back for lower rates. Since I checked that I was on a cruise, they made sure to use the rental agency that shuttles to the port. Made it easy for me.

 

[gonzalj1]

Mouse savers had the best rates with their Southwest Airlines code even over the discount car rental site. Sign up is free.

 

[Dean]

Is "Brand X" at the airport? What is "Brand X"? Which rental agency did you use?

Thanks.....

---Paul in Southern NJ

They work with several companies depending on who has the cheapest rates. You'll get the most info by emailing them. It seems most of their options are with thrifty but it depends. The second driver included can be a nice discount for some groups, Costco also has the same benefit.

 

[jekjones1558]

Again--Don't know your dates but the Budget code I mentioned gives me a rate of $392 plus fees for a minivan for 10 days and Budget automatically includes spouse as a driver for free. You can also add a coupon to lower the total further. For a minivan this is a great rate.

 

[mjankow1]

I thought as long as the reservation was booked on points (whether you are the member or are renting from a member) that parking was free.

If you book the villas with cash on the Aulani site then parking is $35 a day.

Maybe i'm wrong though, but that's how I understood it.

I hope you are correct. It would be nice to save the $35/day. Anyone else know about this?

 

[LisaT91403]

I hope you are correct. It would be nice to save the $35/day. Anyone else know about this?

This is correct. We rented points, are not DVC members, and self-parking was free.

 

[LisaT91403]

It's a perk reserved for DVC members staying there on points.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

This is not true. Anyone staying there using points gets free self-parking.

 

[jekjones1558]

From another thread:

I can now confirm that there is free self-park if you booked with DVC points and are staying in a DVC unit. We spent a week in December -- rented pointed -- we are NOT DVC members. The hotel treated us as if we were DVC members -- they do not seem to distinguish between DVC members and DVC guests.

Our room key was programmed to allow access in and out of the parking garage. We told the valet that our reservation was DVC when we arrived. They assured us that self-park was free. They temporarily parked our car during our check-in, and then my husband moved it to self park once we settled into our room.

It was a great experience. We did not have any problems.

 

[mjankow1]

From another thread:

That is GREAT news. Sure does make renting a car a no brainer for me now. Trying to plan a trip for Feb 2014 and going to rent points from David's. Thanks for the information!

 

[MissMet]

That is GREAT news. Sure does make renting a car a no brainer for me now. Trying to plan a trip for Feb 2014 and going to rent points from David's. Thanks for the information!

I would call the resort & hear it from them. I'd hate to rent a car based on this info & then get there to find out that this is not the case or has since changed. Usually, any DVC benefits you have to show your DVC card to get them. Aulani may do things differently or this poster was lucky. I would want to have a CM's name that told me this so that if at my arrival they try to charge me, I can have a source connected to DVC, no the DIS boards, to be sure I'm not charged.

 

[LisaT91403]

I would call the resort & hear it from them. I'd hate to rent a car based on this info & then get there to find out that this is not the case or has since changed. Usually, any DVC benefits you have to show your DVC card to get them. Aulani may do things differently or this poster was lucky. I would want to have a CM's name that told me this so that if at my arrival they try to charge me, I can have a source connected to DVC, no the DIS boards, to be sure I'm not charged.

It's not just one lucky person -- this has consistently been the experience at Aulani. They could change their policy, but I'm not sure how having a CM's name will matter in that case. If they change it, they change it.

 

[MissMet]

It's not just one lucky person -- this has consistently been the experience at Aulani. They could change their policy, but I'm not sure how having a CM's name will matter in that case. If they change it, they change it.

I haven't looked into the situation further myself since I am a DVC member & it doesn't apply. I was simply responding to this thread based off of what I was reading in this thread alone & my experiences as a DVC member. After reading thru this post I was worried that someone would plan to rent a car or not off of that one post that I saw, without looking into it further. Which is what it appeared was happening.

I'm not trying to debate if it's allowed or not, I'm simply saying, get your important, financial deciding info from Aulani, as things change/there are exceptions, etc.

Also, I meant if the policy was changed since the original poster had visited & the reader hand't followed up with Aulani itself. Not that the policy changed after you called, you'd be able to get the charge removed with that CM's name.

 

[Mickey Mantle]

I've found hawaiidiscount.com and costco travel to be among the best options for HI.

I did rent through Costco.

 

[Mickey Mantle]

I've found hawaiidiscount.com and costco travel to be among the best options for HI.

I did rent through Costco.