Car rentals on Kauai are too high

I keep looking for car rentals for our dates, 4/15-4/30, and the rates are outrageous, even with my Costco discount codes.

Airfare from Denver on USAirways is reasonable, at $611 per person, taxes included.

The rental car companies are going to hurt Kauai's tourism (there is a love-hate relationship going on with Kauai and tourism), and this will keep many from traveling there. My best price is crazy high, at well over $600!

Anyone have any discounts?

Local knowledge

Hi,

We had three cars and 10 folks with us in November...Used Alamo Yikes...but their kiosk worked great...paid no more than $25/day for full size...somethings wrong....Is there a big event at that time?

I would talk to the Makai Guy for his insight to real local firms...In fact I have a Kauai phonebook...www.hawaiirental.com...island cars 245-9500...rent a wreck 821-9582....pacificisland rentals 821-9090....westside 332-8644.

So maybe they can help

John

Cindy-

What kind of vehicle are you looking for? Normally, have pretty good luck looking, but some discounts are based on vehicle-size.

Maui is infinite in cost...

In Maui this week and next and there are NO rental cars available for Feb - this started in Dec.

Reason? The economy is dead and the airline fares were so high that ALL the car rental companies on Maui decided to sell off 1/2 their inventory of cars just to make it thru. Result is no rental cars or rental rates equal to the airline fares.

Hotel occupancy in Maui for the past 30 days is 57% - the car rental cars forecasted it right.

I made our car reservations 1 year ago at $175 per week for a mid sized car.

budget is a bit cheaper at the moment (unless you are looking at a specialty car)

starlifter said:

Cindy-

What kind of vehicle are you looking for? Normally, have pretty good luck looking, but some discounts are based on vehicle-size.

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We only need a compact, but we would rather get a mid-size. It's only 3 of us. We have squeezed our three suitcases and carry-ons in a compact before.

Last year at this time, I was finding awesome rates with the Costco discounts, but this year, even Hotwire is expensive.

Try Priceline

I just got back last week from Kauai and I got a Midsized G6 from Alamo for a priceline bid of $19.00 a day. Try $19 or $20 and increase your bid the next day if you need to. I was in Mauai the week before and I got a Mustang Convertible for $31 dollars a day from Hertz and priceline. There were plenty of cars at both locals.

Good luck,
Joe

I recently reserved a car for our week on Kauai in Oct., and only for one week, so it's not much of a comparison, but I was running into high rates...even over $400 with our so-called 25% off Hertz Marriott cert. I wasn't having any luck with Priceline, either. I ended up doing pretty well, I thought, with a full size w/National for a total of $217. I got it through Hotwire.

Booked with Hertz

I booked a one week rental in Kauai for March/09 trip. I reserved a standard SUV (Chevy Trailblazer or similar) to accommodate family of 5 and room in the back for our luggage. I first booked it in November/08 for $409.94 plus tax which included the 10% Marriott Rewards discount.

I usually book a vehicle at least 6 months in advance and then keep checking for better deals. In January, I found a slightly better rate.. $378 plus tax, so I was able to change the reservation and keep the same car.
This is the lowest rate I have found for this size of vehicle among all the rental companies. Plus Marriott was offering a Triple points offer through their partnership with Hertz.

Ever since we bought our Marriott timeshare, we have been using Hertz as we get Marriott points with every rental. They usually offer double or triple points rentals a few times a year.

I have never booked a car through any of the websites like hotwire or priceline, as you have to pay in advance with no refund for cancellations.
I will still keep checking to see if any better rates come up.

This has been my whine for about two months now. I made my car reservations for starting next Sunday (yippee) on the Big Island in late November for what I thought was high and have been checking religiously. We're paying way more than last year in February, but I'm glad I reserved when I did as it has gone up a lot since then.

I guess I should be happy we HAVE a car reserved.

BevL said:

I guess I should be happy we HAVE a car reserved.

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. . . and even happier when they have it!

rickandcindy23 said:

The rental car companies are going to hurt Kauai's tourism (there is a love-hate relationship going on with Kauai and tourism), and this will keep many from traveling there.

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It is certainly keeping us away this year as much as we wanted to experience another island. Instead, we'll do the Big Island and pay $133/week for the rental car.

This year I'm having issues with car rental prices for ALL of our planned trips. What use to be a range between $125 and $175 has turned into rental rates of $350 to $400. The simple solution will be that we just won't rent a car if they keep the rates that high. We just won't rent.

On the other hand, I rencently reserved a car from Hertz through Priceline for $105 for the week. I had reserved a car through Thrifty nearly a year ago for approx. $170 but had continued to shop. The lates prices were between $350 and $450. I hadn't had a need for Priceline for the last couple of years because it was just about as reasonable to rent direct and, I could use our prefered renter status to skip the lines. But, I'll stand in line to save $200 or $300 if that's what I have to do.

I don't know what's changed but, IMO, the rental car comanies picked a really bad time to jack their rates. The economy is hurting, tourism is down and they think NOW is a good time to double or triple their rates? Sounds like the investment bankers from Wall Street have found new jobs to me.

Timeshare Von said:

. . . and even happier when they have it!

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Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where his rental car isn't there. "You know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to hold the reservation and that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can take the reservation."

I hope I'm not pulling a Jerry next weekend. We are counting on not one but two full sized reserved for two couples - it was cheaper than one SUV that we normally rent to cart (mostly their) stuff around.

I used Costco to reserve my car rentals for our last couple of Hawaii trips, but found lower prices this year at hawaiidrive-o.com. A mid size car with Alamo was came to $227.83 w/tax and with Thrifty it came to $240.23 w/tax. I may go with the Thrifty rental. I used them a few years ago on Kauai & Maui, both cars were very new and very clean.

Bee said:

I used Costco to reserve my car rentals for our last couple of Hawaii trips, but found lower prices this year at hawaiidrive-o.com.

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I agree with Bee. Right now the best prices are on hawaiidrive-o.com. Found your dates in a mid-size for $440.66 with Thrifty. "The above indicates FINAL price quotes at base rate and including ALL taxes and surcharges." Really good price, these days, for 15 days. I did not find it anywhere else, with coupons/discounts for under $600.

We were in Kauai over Valentine's Day weekend. Had our reservations for sometime, but was trying to get a larger vehicle. I was checking websites daily for a week prior and the smallest cars were going for $100/day. Stayed with what we had!

BevL said:

Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where his rental car isn't there. "You know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to hold the reservation and that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can take the reservation."

I hope I'm not pulling a Jerry next weekend. We are counting on not one but two full sized reserved for two couples - it was cheaper than one SUV that we normally rent to cart (mostly their) stuff around.

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The Seinfeld episode was exactly how our Florida vacation played out . . . had a reservation and NO CARS available, period! For ANYone!!!

starlifter said:

I agree with Bee. Right now the best prices are on www.hawaiidrive-o.com. Found your dates in a mid-size for $440.66 with Thrifty. "The above indicates FINAL price quotes at base rate and including ALL taxes and surcharges." Really good price, these days, for 15 days. I did not find it anywhere else, with coupons/discounts for under $600.

We were in Kauai over Valentine's Day weekend. Had our reservations for sometime, but was trying to get a larger vehicle. I was checking websites daily for a week prior and the smallest cars were going for $100/day. Stayed with what we had!

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Hey, thanks, I went ahead and reserved the Thrifty mid-size. I appreciate it, but I will be watching for lower rates, hopefully finding something for less, but for now, I am better off with this one.

Discount site for rentals in Hawaii

We just got back from Hawaii and booked car through this site. Much cheaper than anything else we found.

http://www.carrentalinhawaii.com/

Susan

I also ran into sticker shock for our trip to Maui next month. I booked last summer expecting it to be one of many booked and rebooked reservations but it appears as if I will keep my original reservation. This is the first time I have ever kept my original car reservation. I'll still keep checking right up to the day before our departure but based on what I am reading I am doubtful things will change especially since our trip runs into the Easter weekend.

jaypea said:

I have never booked a car through any of the websites like hotwire or priceline, as you have to pay in advance with no refund for cancellations.
I will still keep checking to see if any better rates come up.

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That's why I generally wait until last minute to use these sites. I'll book at the best possible price through traditional sites. Then, about 3 to 5 weeks prior to our arrival date, I'll look to Hotwire and Priceline. If the price is significantly lower than what I already have booked, I'll use those sites.

Hotwire shows you the price up front but not the company. I'll generally underbid that price using Priceline. So far I've been able to get the rental cheaper through Priceline.

Rates do change frequently with Hotwire so it's best to watch those prices along with the prices through a traditional site along the way. I still won't pre-pay until I'm closer to my actual travel dates. I might toss a couple of really lowball bids out there 8 to 10 weeks before we travel but, to date, I haven't ever hit on one of those. If I did I'd be extremely happy I got the bid.

Car Rentals in Hawaii

jaypea said:

I booked a one week rental in Kauai for March/09 trip. I reserved a standard SUV (Chevy Trailblazer or similar) to accommodate family of 5 and room in the back for our luggage. I first booked it in November/08 for $409.94 plus tax which included the 10% Marriott Rewards discount. In January, I found a slightly better rate.. $378 plus tax, so I was able to change the reservation.

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I booked a minivan for July, 2009 through the Priceline "Name Your Own Price." After much research and several $350 to $400+ all in quotes, I bid $30 ($294.69) and it was accepted (then I wished I would have started lower).

I am happy - only downside is that it is a prepaid, no cancellations or changes.

dougp26364 said:

… Hotwire shows you the price up front but not the company. I'll generally underbid that price using Priceline. So far I've been able to get the rental cheaper through Priceline.

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That is always a good strategy to follow with any PL bidding. Knowing what you can get from HW, bid less on PL. If your PL bidding succeeds, you've saved money vs HW. If PL doesn't work, then take the HW offer.

When doing that with hotels you often need to drop the HW hotel ratings by about 1/2* to 1* to keep them comparable. The best strategy to do this is to compare the reports of facilities received and the * ratings using sites such as biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com.

Of course, you also need to be sure that HW is offering you a better rate than you can get on your own. Often that is not the case.

dougp26364 said:

… Rates do change frequently with Hotwire so it's best to watch those prices along with the prices through a traditional site along the way. I still won't pre-pay until I'm closer to my actual travel dates. I might toss a couple of really lowball bids out there 8 to 10 weeks before we travel but, to date, I haven't ever hit on one of those. If I did I'd be extremely happy I got the bid.

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HW also keeps track of what offers it has made to you and will often move it's rate higher if you come back and repeat a request.

I've had situations in which I navigated away from HW, then returned an hour or so later when I couldn't find a better deal. I repeated the HW request and they came back with a higher rate. I then backed up to the original offer using the browser history and the rate for that HW session was still valid.

We just reservered a 7 day full size car rental on Maui for the end of November at $222.71 including taxes and a similiar car for +10 day in Kauai for $343.81 including taxes through www.hawaiicarrentals.net. I use this as a base for bidding on priceline. The taxes seem to vary between vendors and are very expensive.

We're in Kauai now driving a PT Cruiser from Thrifty. Our estimated total is a smidge under $30/day. Booked a "Wild Car!" (mid-sized or better) offered by Thrifty using an emailed promotion.