HNL / Aulani Car Rentals

[gpts@disney]

So I've read all of the posts regarding getting the HNL lowest car rental rates via discounthawaiicarrental.com, Costco Travel, Budget coupon codes, etc. I booked a minivan through discounthawaiicarrental.com via Dollar at a pretty good price for our August Aulani trip. Subsequent to the booking I looked at the reviews (Yelp and Google) for HNL Dollar and they are horrible mostly due to long wait times upon arrival. Budget, Thrifty and Alamo are not much better. I'd rather spend a few bucks more so that I don't have to wait in line for 1-2 hours. Has anyone has good experiences with Budget, Dollar, Alamo or Thrifty at HNL ? Or is it simply that the poor reviews are just a reflection of people who review only when they've had a bad experience vs. when they've had a good one? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[lablady]

We booked our Jeep through that website also! Ours was through Alamo, and we didn't have a long wait at all once we made it to the Alamo office. The longest wait was for the shuttle. It was confusing to just stand in the meridian area waiting for a shuttle. There's no designated area with a sign, which seems weird to me. The Alamo workers were nice, though the parking lots guys didn't jump in to help as we tried to figure out how to open the back with the soft cover in the dark!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We used Avis both trips to Aulani. February 2012 and February 2012. In 2012 it cost about $300, in 2013 it was about $100 more. We use Avis because my husband belongs to their frequent rental program. I think that's key when using any rental car agency. It means you bypass the lines and go straight to the car.

 

[Cinderpamela]

We used Budget for our trip this past December and it was great. I booked a great deal with the coupon code from that other thread you mentioned.

Taking the Shuttle from HNL to the Rental office was really easy... maybe took 20 minutes to catch the shuttle and get to the rental site. It helped that we got off the shuttle quickly and into the line ahead of other passengers who were moving more slowly, we were soon in our car without much of a wait.

As PP SandyinMonterey said it helps to sign up for the different rental "clubs" as often you can bypass the line.

I had though about doing that and didnt, but we had pretty good line luck this past time. Probably because we arrived late... around 10 pm Hawaii time.

When DH and I went in August 2012 we used Alamo and the wait was really long ... we arrived mid afternoon... I was wishing I would have joined their club so I could have avoided that line for sure!