Rental cars

[Rjbeach2003]

I don't think there are many alternatives. Some are renting thru Turo, with those owners jacking the price through the sky. If you stay in Kailua-Kona for the most part you can probably get by walking and Uber or Lyfting.

Keep checking through Costco, Discount Hawaii Car Rental DHCR.com, up to the day you leave. If you see a car available, reserve it and keep looking. Most experienced Hawaii visitors will reserve a car, sometimes two, as soon as they book their airline tickets. I know we did back in January for a July trip. When it gets closer to your arrival date some of those overbookings will be released and will come available.

Don't cancel your trip, though you will have to figure out transportation from the airport. KCR has a nice pool area and nice grounds. It's right on the ocean, but not swimmable. All lava rock. There is, or used to be a sort of trolley that ran from the town out to Keauhou Shopping center.

Turo is kind of an Airbnb for cars. I have never used it, but it is something you could check out. Good luck

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Also try autoslash. We had a flight change so tried to extend our car for another 3 hours - we were told it would revert to market rate to modify our reservation i.e. another $1000 on top of our $550 rental for an extra 3 hours!

Fortunately I remembered that I booked a second car at another provider that was expected to be returned 2 hours later. We will use that rental and it is about $80 cheaper for a standard SUV. It's crazy out there. Glad I booked the autos once we reserve air tickets.

 

[DaveNV]

Take what you can get, then try Autoslash. It worked well for me, so far.

I booked a car with Alamo through Costco.com for the end of August, even though the rate was outrageous. ($766 for an intermediate sedan for a week.) I then set it up with Autoslash. Later that same day I got an email from Autoslash telling me they found a cheaper rate: $433 for the same car. Quite a change! The only difference was the lower rate was with Hertz instead of Alamo. Trying to book directly on the Hertz site gave me similar numbers as Costco initially, so the Autoslash discount was a good one. i booked the Autoslash quote, then registered the Hertz rental with Autoslash, and now, we wait. I'm hoping rates drop to reasonable numbers before I need them. but if not, I'll take the $433 price, if I have to.

Dave

 

[Kildahl]

I think I found several Segways on Kauai for July.

 

[skimble]

Check this thread for alternatives:

Rental cars are so expensive that tourists in Hawaii are driving moving trucks

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/rental-cars-are-so-expensive-that-tourists-in-hawaii-are-driving-moving-trucks/

tugbbs.com

I read those. Most of those people are referring to May. This is June... it's not about high prices... it's about ZERO inventory. Even if I was willing to pay $250/day, the vehicles are there.

Take what you can get, then try Autoslash. It worked well for me, so far.

I booked a car with Alamo through Costco.com for the end of August, even though the rate was outrageous. ($766 for an intermediate sedan for a week.) I then set it up with Autoslash. Later that same day I got an email from Autoslash telling me they found a cheaper rate: $433 for the same car. Quite a change! The only difference was the lower rate was with Hertz instead of Alamo. Trying to book directly on the Hertz site gave me similar numbers as Costco initially, so the Autoslash discount was a good one. i booked the Autoslash quote, then registered the Hertz rental with Autoslash, and now, we wait. I'm hoping rates drop to reasonable numbers before I need them. but if not, I'll take the $433 price, if I have to.

Dave

It's crazy... they have about 5 vehicles left, and they're starting at about $359/day. :-(

 

[skimble]

I think I found several Segways on Kauai for July.

I'm also looking at an electric bike or a moped. I supposed public transportation or Uber if worse comes to worse.

 

[skimble]

The problem is the result of the semiconductor shortage. I was told the car rental industry has not been getting new car shipments. And, they purged during the pandemic. So, there's a severe car shortage.

 

[HGVC Lover]

The problem is the result of the semiconductor shortage. I was told the car rental industry has not been getting new car shipments. And, they purged during the pandemic. So, there's a severe car shortage.

This is basically the crux of the problem plus most websites are showing no cars available for the summer on the Big Island....we reserved for a two month rental at KOA Hertz 6 months ago and feel fortunate to have made the reservation then.....now it would probably be nearly impossible for us to secure a car.....

 

[echino]

Three weeks? Just buy a car! Arrange for the car seller to pick you up at the airport.

big island cars & trucks - craigslist

big island cars & trucks - craigslist

honolulu.craigslist.org

 

[VacationForever]

I'm also looking at an electric bike or a moped. I supposed public transportation or Uber if worse comes to worse.

Both Uber and Lyft are in short supply as well.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Expect that there will be some cars available at the last minute because travelers are double booking at two different companies in case of overbooking and will cancel or abandon the extra reservations once they have secured their auto. I realize that last minute is no way to plan a vacation but if you can go a few days you could check back in for cancellations.

 

[tompalm]

Looks like you live in CA. You can ship a car for $1000 and than ship it back for $1000. That was the cost last year, but that might be higher now.

 

[skimble]

Looks like you live in CA. You can ship a car for $1000 and than ship it back for $1000. That was the cost last year, but that might be higher now.

That's interesting. The costs of rentals almost make that a viable option.

 

[billymach4]

Insane. Even local domestic rentals are sky high!

 

[BJRSanDiego]

I have been doing some searching and on Sunday, the "cliff" (the date where there was virtually NO AVAILABILITY was August 1. I did it tonight (3 nights later) and the cliff seems to have moved out a week. Yikes. I was checking on Costco.

 

[HGVC Lover]

Expect that there will be some cars available at the last minute because travelers are double booking at two different companies in case of overbooking and will cancel or abandon the extra reservations once they have secured their auto. I realize that last minute is no way to plan a vacation but if you can go a few days you could check back in for cancellations.

Can you verify what you said or is this just speculation?

 

[controller1]

Can you verify what you said or is this just speculation?

It's not speculation. Read Post #48

 

[dioxide45]

It's not speculation. Read Post #48

I know that people are double booking. We had a vew reservations booked for an upcoming trip, though for different days as we were unsure exactly when we could travel. Now that our plans are set, we cancelled the reservations for the dates that we didn't need. My question is, do I need backup reservations from other companies in the event the company we reserved through doesn't have cars.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I had the same situation as @dioxide45. I just released several reservations for times that didn't work. Keep checking.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Maybe it would be good to use the "hire a local" service I used to see talked about on TUG. Hire a local with a car and have them show you around. Might be worth it.

We got $1,000 for two weeks on the Big Island at Hertz through Autorentals.com

 

[controller1]

I feel very fortunate. I reserved for September in Maui about eight months ago. I have 15 days for $740 for a full-size. I just priced it at the same location and it would now go for around $1,200.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

IMO...Although cars are less expensive on BI, I am more nervous about making sure we have a car there than on Maui. We could live without a car on Maui because there are public transit/Uber options but not on BI. I just checked Instacart for grocery delivery in case cars are overbooked. It works on Maui (Times Market but no Costco) but not on BI.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

Double booking by customers for rental cars seems like the auto rental Companies are playing a game of musical chairs. Has anyone here on TUG booked a car, shown up for it, and found zero cars available? If so, how have you been compensated either financially or with a rental car from another competitor? How does this work during these difficult times?

I'll be there staying for a few months and am actually thinking of having my friend from Hawaii buy a good used car for me to use while I am there, and unload it when I finally leave (I am thinking of a used Japanese or Korean vehicle). With the current price of rentals I think it could be a worthwhile venture versus paying some Company $1,000 per week for the car and then turning it back in. Of course I will have to live with what he selects, and hope it runs without any issues.

Thoughts and opinions are welcome......




.

 

[Ken555]

It's not speculation. Read Post #48

Let’s not forget #53


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[csodjd]

I just sat down to reserve cars for an early July and another late July trip to Oahu. I found nothing available showing on Costco, Southwest, National, Avis, Hertz, Dollar, National and probably a couple others -- looking at a variety of locations, except some at $600/nt and up. However, EXPEDIA had a variety of cars available in the $150/nt range. I went ahead and booked a car for each trip. The first is Jun 29-Jul 8 (10 days), total cost $1766. The second is July 22-28 (6 days), total cost $1018.

I'll keep checking especially as we get closer to look for those cancellations. I've not heard of AutoSlash, so I'm giving them a try also.

I also looked at buying a car, with a price of under $6,000. There are some, to be sure, mostly high miles.