Alamo shuttle pick up in Hilo

[puddytat]

does Alamo airport location pick you up from the cruise dock or is there a particular rental location service the cruise dock.

Lots of people seem to go with Dollar, any particular reason?

Thank you.

[hawaiilvr]

The rental car shuttles will be there when you debark in Hilo. As soon as one bus leaves, another will be very close by. The airport is very close, and you'll be on your way in no time. We booked with Budget through the FastBreak program and had no lines. Plenty of people book with Alamo, they have large blue buses that pick up passengers. They know when the ships dock and are anxious to get your on your way (and get their money:)). Have a great trip. I don't know where you plan to go while in Hilo, but it is great place to start your Hawaiian adventure. If you plan to stay around Hilo, remember that it is very rainy there - it is green for a reason. The Wal-Mart close to the airport has great prices on Hawaiian merchandise - hawaiian shirts, macademia nuts, etc. Hilo Hattie's across the parking lot is nice, but very expensive.

 

That was more than you asked for. Enjoy your trip. I highly recommend the book "Big Island Revealed."

[shemo]

In regards to certain car rental companies being chosen for certain islands. For some odd reason you will find one company is cheaper on one island and more expensive on other islands. The competitor will be just the opposite. Go figure?! When we cruise the islands I usually have 2-3 different rental car companies ...just interested in getting the best price.

[EASYTRAVEL777]

If your time is more valuable then saving a few dollars, I would recommend using the car rental that is a liitle more expensive. There will be long lines both to catch the shuttle and at the counter for the cheapest rental.

[suziehmkr]

We used Alamo in all of our ports, including Hilo and have them booked for our land visit to Kona in December. When we got to Hilo - the shuttle was not there. But I had pre-loaded all of the local office numbers in my cell phone and called them. They were there very quickly. Enjoy your visit!!

[southpaw412]

We're going with Alamo. They were willing to give us a weekly rate for using them even though we're on different islands, so that saved us some $$.

 

This is an email I received from them regarding shuttle times.

All Hawaiian locations listed below provide free shuttle service to and from the cruiseship piers. A shuttle service runs every 20 minutes in correspondence to the cruiseship hours. Please be sure to check all docking times for the last bus.

In Hilo, it is available every day between 6 am and 6 pm

In Honolulu, it is available via our location on Ala Moana Blvd.

In Waikiki every day from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm.

In Kahului (Maui), it is available every day between 6 am and 9 pm.

In Lihue (Kauai), it is available every day between 6 am and 9 pm

In Kona, it is available every day between 5:30 am to 10:30 pm

In Kaanapali (Lahaina), it is available every day between 8 am to 4 pm.

[puddytat]

Thank you for all your replys. Really helpful. Couldn't get back to you soon enough since the family all got sick for a week. With a 9 month going daycare, I guess you who have kids all know what I am talking about.

I am going end of November on the Golden Princess.

[beachchick]

If your time is more valuable then saving a few dollars, I would recommend using the car rental that is a liitle more expensive. There will be long lines both to catch the shuttle and at the counter for the cheapest rental.

 

I disagree. What I mean is that rates fluctuate constantly so that what's cheapest today might be the most expensive tomorrow. Booking the one with the higher rate now is no guarantee that they didn't already have a big blowout sale for that port on that day. We always book the least expensive of the "name brand" rental companies. We've never had a problem with any of them for either land trips or cruises.

 

There will be lines at all the rental companies on days when a ship is in port. Because there is usually only one location and, in most cases, it's the one at the airport, cruise pax are also competing with visitors arriving by air. This is one reason I always recommend that people book early (at least 3 months before the cruise date) and then keep checking periodically for cheaper rates. It's so easy to cancel an online reservation and rebook we find a lower price. A few times, we've booked, cancelled, and rebooked four or five times in the interim. Yes, it takes a bit of time to quickly check prices every now and then, but it's worth it when we can lower our original rate by 50% or more.

 

Fortunately, most times the rental companies are efficient and prepared. It pays to sign up for whatever "express" program is available with the companies you are using. Do keep in mind that small ports, such as Hilo, are by nature likely to take longer simply because the small airports don't need large rental counters with many agents most days. It's unreasonable for us to expect them to increase size and staff for the 1 or 2 mornings and afternoons a week that cruise pax are in town. This again is a good reason to book early because the smaller ports do sometimes run out of cars. As well, the drivers often have lists of names of pax who have reservations and will not take anyone else on the shuttles. It's never a good idea to figure that it will be easy to disembark, hop on some company's shuttle, and go rent a car on the fly that day.

 

Some general notes: There are no rental companies and no rental car deliveries right to the piers. Period. It would be impossible in terms of space, logistics, staff/time, and security. Renting through the cruise lines does not get you any priority for the shuttles or in line at the rental company. I guess it's more a convenience for those who might not want to have to handle the rental themselves or if they want a last minute rental (because sometimes the cruise line will have "leftover" reservations available during the cruise).

 

You'll use the airport locations for Hilo (ITO), Kahului, Maui (OGG), and Nawiliwili, Kauai (Lihue airport; LIH). On the website, they often list a "cruise ship pickup" or similar location. This is not a separate physical rental location, but rather tells the company that you're coming in by ship and will need a shuttle. The thing is that the companies have really jacked up the prices for this so-called "cruise pier pickup" location. Of course, it does cost more to pick up pax at the piers than for people renting who fly in, but often the cruise location is double what the airport location is. That's insane. I can see maybe adding $5 or $10 to the cost of the overall rental (not per day) as an option if cruise pax want shuttle pickup. We used the airport codes and then called to let them know we were at the pier (if necessary). In fact for Hilo, we used the airport code and added a note that we were coming in on PoH. The shuttle driver had us on his "pickup list," no problem. Anyway, if the lines for the shuttle are long and you decide to skip waiting (and to get in line faster), these three locations are about a $10 (probably more now) from the pier.

 

You have options in Honolulu for the airport (HNL) or downtown (use the city name); the airport is further away from the port and not all companies will shuttle from the pier to the airport, only to their downtown location.

 

For Lahaina, Maui, you can use the West Maui Airport (JHM) at "rental row" (as I call it) just south of the airport. There are also a few locations at hotels in Ka'anapali (less than 10 minute shuttle ride north of Lahaina). Hertz and Enterprise both have locations in Ka'anapali. Don't be fooled by addresses that say "Lahaina" because most of those are actually on Ka'anapali at the beach hotels). Another option is Hertz, which is actually in Lahaina on Papalaua (a 15 minute walk or short shuttle ride from the tender pier; look for Papalaua on the address for the correct location). Do not under any circumstances reserve at OGG if you are tendered in Lahaina. It's almost an hour's drive down and across the island, and no company will shuttle to Lahahina from Kahului. (Besides, who wants to use 2 hours just getting to and from the rental location.)

 

For Kona, the best for cruise pax is either Thrifty or Dollar at the King Kamehmeha Hotel, across from the tender pier. These are only for cruise pax and there are a limited numbers of cars. The cars are right there at the hotel. It's somewhat more expensive than the airport locations, but the airport is a 25 minute shuttle ride north and not all companies will shuttle to the tender pier.

 

Hope that helps explain things a bit and helps it easier to decide which company to use. We've used Hertz, Avis, Alamo, National, Thrifty, and Dollar through the years and have never had any problems to speak of (either for land or cruise visits). I am not one of those who says Thrifty and Dollar are "best" for cruise pax. That has not been our experience because we've been fine with all of them.

 

If you have the Hawaii Entertainment book use it to check for prices. Most of the companies now allow the coupons (in addition to the EB disount code, which usually gets you a good discount) to be used in Hawaii. It used be that they were only good for "the contiguous 48 states and Canada," so check the back carefully. (I know, you're asking, "But it's the Hawaii EB, how can they not allow the coupons in Hawaii. It's because the rental car codes and coupons are good throughout the US. If you have the Hawaii EB and need a rental car in, for example, Seattle, you can use the codes and coupons right out of the Hawaii book. Plus, the dates they're valid are usually 6 months longer than the book itself. Also, there are a bunch of other national coupons, such as Ace Hardware and Safeway, that are valid everywhere. We've used those all over the place, even in our home city, to get more mileage out of our EBs.)

 

Well, I've rambled on quite long enough.

 

beachchick