Budget Car Rental in Maui

[kellymonster23]

Can someone tell me if there is a shuttle from the pier to the airport for Budget car rentals in Maui? Right now I'm getting the cheapest rates from Budget but I don't see many people talking about them or their services. It seems that Thrifty if a very popular choice, right now their rates are higher but maybe it's worth it for better service?? Can anyone advise??

 

Thanks

[hal2008]

Assuming you are talking about Pier that is used by Pride of America near airport....

 

There is a continouous bus service from ship to Budget office.

Took that last month without any hassles.

 

Wherever you rent from, make a note of return location (or save it in your GPS - it is NEVER same as airport)

 

Also, depending on what you are going to do and cost of rental (during holidays it was approaching $100 a day!!), you may want to rent from 11 to 11.

 

(hana first day with khiei beach - less crowded, easy free parking and beautiful sand/sunset in evening)

 

(Crater next day morning - afternoon take Maui bus to Lahina or drive there if car rental is inexpensive)

 

It seems that during non-holidays, rental can be as cheap as $15 and during holidays as high as $100.

 

There is nothing special about thrifty.

It is the usual herd mentality seen on these boards with every port of call (such as flight operators in Ketchikan or Kawai - almost all are more or less same but someone give over enthusiastic review and others just start taking that "tip")

 

You are better off taking car rental agency NOT chosen by crowd on your ship.

 

By the way, on our cruise, it was surprising to see that many were expressing surprise that one can rent a car and do shore excusrsions for fraction of the cost and hassles of a bus herd.

 

Three more notes:

a) In Maui Enterprise is much closer to ship than any other agencies

b) Parking next to ship fills up by 4-5 pm but parking along the sea wall is plenty (both free)

c) Kona is only place where Dollar Rental had advantage over everyone else but most people dont need car in Kona (even the provate snorkel/beach bus to beach is only $5 roundtrip and very frequent)

[Giantfan13]

A lot of people use Thrifty because they have this Blue Chip Service, where you can pre sign up for any rentals and then just basically walk in and just sign for your car. No forms to fill out at the rental agency, no credit card checks etc, etc. I'm not sure if Budget has something like this, but most know thrifty does and they use it.

We used thrifty for just that reason. It eliminates a lot of the standing in lines and wasting valuable time waiting for your car.

A car is a car, and whomever can get you out on the road faster, should be your choice.

[kellymonster23]

I'm sorry, yes we will be on POA. Thanks very much for the replies. I think that I will go with Budget right now and if the rates change I can cancel and rebook. I just wanted to make sure that there was a shuttle from the pier for all rental agencies.

 

As always, this site has helped very much!!!