hawaii car rentals

[Joshua1]

We are off soon to Hawaii from the UK is it easy to rent a car on the islands when you get off the boat or do you have to pre book?

[Druke I]

Supply and demand can be a problem.

 

I prefer pre-booking, rather than taking my chances.

[jfv379]

We are off soon to Hawaii from the UK is it easy to rent a car on the islands when you get off the boat or do you have to pre book?

 

I suppose the question becomes, when doing this in the UK, do you get screwed on the price like you do with the cruises?

 

Trying going direct to the rental companies online to make your booking.

[Nanatravel]

Pre-book due to supply and demand.

[gargoyle999]

I haven't been yet. But in researching for my cruise in April to Hawaii I have read several people posting about others being disappointed who did not book in advance.

 

I would say pre-book otherwise make sure to have a backup plan if you can't get a rental car!

[beachchick]

It's best to reserve in advance. Not just because of supply and demand (and that walkup rates can be quite high), but because the rental companies are not actually at the piers. They are mostly (not all) at the nearby airports. How would you decide which shuttle to try to get on to try to find a car that day? In some ports (such as Hilo), most of the rental places are basically together, but at others they can be quite a ways apart. If you choose one that has no cars available (or only the high-end ones at astronomical rates), how do you get to another? And how much or your day do you want to spend just trying to find a rental car? As well, sometimes the shuttle drivers have lists of passengers with reservations and will only allow those passengers on the shuttle. If you don't have a reservation, you could be left waiting for quite a while as the shuttles take care of those with advance reservations.

 

It really is best to do it in advance. The online sites are generally best for us; we've even used them for rentals in Scandinavia. I'm not sure what special requirements there might be for the US and the various states. I remember that my DH had to get an international license for Scandinavia, but I don't remember if he had to get one for other countries.

 

beachchick

[Nancyquilts]

We always pre-book on line. We Google "Hawaii rental cars" and usually end up with Thrifty. Whatever we get works out well for us. The only caveat is that if you're going into Kona, you want to get a car available at the King Kamehameha Hotel, rather than the airport. I think that's Thrifty and Alamo, but am not sure. There's also Enterprise fairly close to the pier.

[Giantfan13]

beachchick said it all. You might spend 2 hours going from one rental agency to another, trying to find a car. Why bother. It doesn't cost anything to pre book. They might ask for a CC number, usually they don't, and you are under no obligation to rent that car. Many of the renters, pre register with the company they plan on using, like Thrifty has a 'Blue Chip' service, where you give all your info ahead of time, and when you arrive and pick up your car, basically all you need to do is sign for it and away you go.

 

Frankly I do not understand why anyone would not pre book, as there is no penalty for not showing up, so rent a way.

[Ryan009]

My family and I are on the POA 2/13 sailing. Our travel agent booked Alamo for us in Oahu and said it can be dropped at the pier. Is that correct?

[sceptic]

I think there is even a better way of putting it: there is zero downside to booking in advance. None whatsoever. If you choose to book in advance, the only thing that the rental companies would like is that if you decide you don't want the vehicle to call them and cancel the reservation for that island (even on the morning of the reservation). That's a mere courtesy to them; there is no charge if you don't show up regardless.

 

It is less expensive. The car will be there. If they are out of the type of vehicle you rented they will upgrade you free of charge. You will get specific instructions on where to go to pick up your car.

 

Like I said - no downside.

[Nancyquilts]

My family and I are on the POA 2/13 sailing. Our travel agent booked Alamo for us in Oahu and said it can be dropped at the pier. Is that correct?

That would be interesting. We've always had to return the car to the rental office and received a ride back to the pier. I'd check with Alamo personally - we haven't used them in Honolulu.

[MeLuvDaSea]

I just pre-booked with Avis, which is located at the airport in Kauai. It is shown to be about 1.7 miles from the cruise terminal. Should I take a taxi there? Do they have shuttles? Also, can I pay with a check -card? I do everything with my VISA check card, but I am not sure if they will work with car rentals. Please advise...

 

One more thing: Is there overnight parking at the ship terminal? We don't have to return it until the next day.

 

Don

[Nancyquilts]

I'd bet they would have a shuttle, but I'd call the office in Kauai to confirm it.

[beachchick]

I just pre-booked with Avis, which is located at the airport in Kauai. It is shown to be about 1.7 miles from the cruise terminal. Should I take a taxi there? Do they have shuttles? Also, can I pay with a check -card? I do everything with my VISA check card, but I am not sure if they will work with car rentals. Please advise...

 

One more thing: Is there overnight parking at the ship terminal? We don't have to return it until the next day.

 

Don

 

I don't know about whether they will accept a check card. But they do send (or that is have sent) shuttles to the pier for cruise passengers.

 

There is no overnight parking at any of the piers, due to security, space, logistics, etc. (There used to be, but much has changed in the past decade; the first cruise we took, we were able to park inside the fenced pier area--but that was 10 years ago.) There is overnight parking in a part of the lot at the nearby shopping area, which is only a couple of blocks from the outside of the pier area. It is not free and there are a finite number of spots available. They sell parking overnight parking passes, but you have to get one fairly early in the day because once the passes are sold out for the day/night that's it. We paid $10 for one, which we bought at about 11 am. We got one of the last ones that day.

 

beachchick

[MeLuvDaSea]

Alrighty then. Thank you both for your responses.

 

Don

[hal2008]

I just pre-booked with Avis, which is located at the airport in Kauai. It is shown to be about 1.7 miles from the cruise terminal. Should I take a taxi there? Do they have shuttles? Also, can I pay with a check -card? I do everything with my VISA check card, but I am not sure if they will work with car rentals. Please advise...

 

One more thing: Is there overnight parking at the ship terminal? We don't have to return it until the next day.

 

Don

 

 

A1. They have shuttles

 

A2. There is no car parking at cruise terminal. But there is a shuttle going to a shoppong plzza about half a mile away, next to the friendly beach. One of the shp there rents parking spot for $20 per night. If you really reasearch this board, you will find that others have posted about reseving your spot as soon as possible as it gets sold out.

 

On our cruise, few weeks ago, it did not sell out as most people simply parked in the shoppong place's parking lot (dont know how risky it is given Hawaii's very high car vandalism rate). We paid $20. But shuttle to that shoppinfg place starts only after 8:15 or so.

[hal2008]

That would be interesting. We've always had to return the car to the rental office and received a ride back to the pier. I'd check with Alamo personally - we haven't used them in Honolulu.

 

A1: No, you can not return your car at the peir.

 

A2. With Alamo, you have toi rent and return at the Discovery Bay location in west waikiki. THere is $40 one-way drop off charge for picking/dropping at airport (Alamo at airport does not have shuttle to the pier)

 

Thrifty and Hertz have shuttles from Airport to Pier but they are VERY slow.

 

Suggestion: DO not rent in Honolulu at al except on the day you want to go to North Shore and for that you can do morning to evening rental from near your hotel and avoid paying parking.

 

For other days, simply wlk or take city bus. (even for Pearl Harbor)

[Cash123]

We are off soon to Hawaii from the UK is it easy to rent a car on the islands when you get off the boat or do you have to pre book?

Hi Ya,

 

We are also from London and are on the 6th March POA sailing, i have pre booked our car hire on all the Islands with a company i use here in the UK for my flights and car hire, by doing it through them i was able to save some money plus get teh max package which includes a full tank of gas/fuel, let me know if you want their details.

[Sue's Mom]

My DH and I were on a Hawaii cruise in November/December and hired a car for three islands - Kaui, Maui and Hawaii island. We booked with http://www.usrentacar.co.uk. We have used this company before and have always been very satisfied. As we only needed each car for a day, we booked the smallest car - I think it was about £22 per day, which included all taxes and insurance and 2 drivers. They were great cars and would certainly do it again. On Maui we rented a car from Dollar at Maui West airport. There was no Dollar transport so we used a taxi - $18. When we arrived we were told we should have telephoned them and they would have sent the van for us.

[gertz]

I would take insurance also.

[Hawaiian Mongoose]

A2. There is no car parking at cruise terminal. But there is a shuttle going to a shoppong plzza about half a mile away, next to the friendly beach. One of the shp there rents parking spot for $20 per night. If you really reasearch this board, you will find that others have posted about reseving your spot as soon as possible as it gets sold out.

 

On our cruise, few weeks ago, it did not sell out as most people simply parked in the shoppong place's parking lot (dont know how risky it is given Hawaii's very high car vandalism rate). We paid $20. But shuttle to that shoppinfg place starts only after 8:15 or so.

 

Does anyone have some more specifics on the name of the shopping center, if there is a shuttle and who to see about the parking? How about parking around the now closed Kaua'i Aloha Market? Many thanks, Patric. :confused:

[brreid]

We've got all our cars rented in every port, but are now thinking of renting a convertible as a treat in one location.

 

Which port would be the best for that?

[BopRN]

When making car reservations on the various islands, what time did you pick up your car up and what time did you drop it off? It's hard to judge not knowing exactly what we will be doing on each island at this point.

[mandychris]

Could you let me know the details of the car hire company you used from the UK. We want to pre-book car hire for end of February and would appreciate any info.

Many thanks

[Hawaiian Mongoose]

We've got all our cars rented in every port, but are now thinking of renting a convertible as a treat in one location.

 

Which port would be the best for that?

 

...Kona would be the best. It is more liely to be sunny and if you choose to drive towards Waikoloa, Hawi and Waimea you will have more opportunity for open road, top down driving! Enjoy. Aloha.