Rental Car in Maui

[wvjules]

Holy cow! I am trying to price shop for a rental car in Maui and the cheapest car at the cheapest rate is still over $100 per day! Any suggestions on where to find a cheaper rental? I've gone to kayak, orbitz, went through Hawaiian Airlines and even AAA.

Why are rental cars on Maui so expensive???????

 

[crisi]

We just rented one for $30 a day in Maui. Used hotwire.

Are you going over Easter or at another high demand time?

 

[Kitty-chan]

Rental cars on Maui seem to have been trending a bit more expensive in the last couple years. I think it's because when the tourism economy softened, they gradually let their fleets shrink through attrition (and being an island, they can't easily ship cars around like they do in the continental US).

That being said . . . yeah, $100/day is unusually expensive. I usually spend a week on Maui each February, and it's ranged from $200-$400 most years, including taxes.

I've found the best rates through the AAA web site, so if you're a member that's worth a look. Also, I second the Hotwire suggestion!

 

[wvjules]

We just rented one for $30 a day in Maui. Used hotwire.

Are you going over Easter or at another high demand time?

We will be in Maui Dec 25-29 so yes probably a very high demand time. lol

I reserved through AAA for now for a total of $445 for 4 days! But I don't them to run out of cars. lol Avis is already sold out of cars for pick up on Christmas day.

 

[Kitty-chan]

I usually book my car as soon as I've got my flight times. Then, I check back at least once a month to see if prices have improved. There's almost always a better price at some point during the year -- I just have to keep checking for it. Oftentimes it's about 6 weeks before travel, but not always.

 

[Green Tea]

My best HI rates have been through Costco. Book what you can, then keep checking back. Once you have what you're comfortable paying, try bidding on the Name your own price section of Priceline. Bid lower than what you've got and hope for the best.

 

[mtblujeans]

We will be in Maui Dec 25-29 so yes probably a very high demand time. lol

I reserved through AAA for now for a total of $445 for 4 days! But I don't them to run out of cars. lol Avis is already sold out of cars for pick up on Christmas day.

I was going to suggest AAA.

My best HI rates have been through Costco. Book what you can, then keep checking back. Once you have what you're comfortable paying, try bidding on the Name your own price section of Priceline. Bid lower than what you've got and hope for the best.

You can go to the Costco site, click on travel, and check out rates to a couple of rental agencies with their discounts. I tried to check for you but there appears to be more than one pick up location in Maui.

 

[pezaddict231]

We didn't go to Maui but found car rentals on Oahu to be really high too. I tried all the normal websites, costco, AAA but everything was still around $50 a day. I then tried priceline's name your own price function and we got the car for $17 a day through Hertz. The whole thing was great, no hidden fees or anything. We even returned one of the cars later than I had on the rental agreement and there was no hidden fee or astronomical increase in rate for it.

The bad thing is you don't know which agency and you can't cancel once but to us it was the difference between renting a car and not.

 

[Bearvet]

We used discounthawaiicarrentals.com for car rentals on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island last summer. They had the best prices by far and we had no problems at all. Your rental is booked with a major company through this site. I highly recommend them.

 

[ChisJo]

I don't remember the place that I rented from, but it was basically a rent-a-wreck type of car, and it cost me $100 for a week. My car was a few years old, but totally reliable. There was a little dent in the front, but I didn't care. I was only driving it to and from the places I needed to go, and wasn't so concerned about style. But...I did that trip on a total budget. I was in Maui for 8 days, and the total cost (flights, airfare, food, hotel, etc.) cost me less than $1000. It can be done.

 

[wvjules]

I don't remember the place that I rented from, but it was basically a rent-a-wreck type of car, and it cost me $100 for a week. My car was a few years old, but totally reliable. There was a little dent in the front, but I didn't care. I was only driving it to and from the places I needed to go, and wasn't so concerned about style. But...I did that trip on a total budget. I was in Maui for 8 days, and the total cost (flights, airfare, food, hotel, etc.) B. It can be done.

Wow! I'm hoping to stay below $10,000! lol

I reserved a car from Hertz for 4 days and it is $445. Still expensive but not as high as I originally found. I'm just happy I got a car. According to Budget and Avis they are sold out of cars for pick up on 12/25.

 

[Green Tea]

beatofhawaii.com has a link to car rentals. I think you'll find a cheaper price than that from their vendor. I think it is the link someone above mentioned.

 

[findmewdw]

I'm not sure which discount car rental place I actually booked ours last October, but we had a rental from Thrifty for 70 for two days. I just checked my receipt. Sorry, couldn't find where I actually got the deal. Join the BlueChip Program. Check out some forums on Maui and there will be some discount car rental threads. You can find a better price.

 

[KodakFigment]

We used discounthawaiicarrentals.com for car rentals on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island last summer. They had the best prices by far and we had no problems at all. Your rental is booked with a major company through this site. I highly recommend them.

I second this! They were way lower than anyone else and we had NO problems. We went during a major holiday period and the other companies were over $800.00 for the week We got a compact for only $280. They routed us through Alamo.

If you are going at a busy time book early! Many car companies were sold out the week we were there.