Alamo at Honolulu airport?

[nkereina]

Anyone have experience with Alamo car rental from the HNL airport? It's my understanding that Alamo is off-site which requires a shuttle ride to their office and cars. However, the on-site car rental locations at the airport have higher rates for the time I need. I've never rented a car from an off-site location anywhere before, so how much of a hassle will this be? Thanks!

 

[jtba]

not much hassle at all. we just did this last sunday. i booked alamo then checked in online the night before our departure, and also selected the option to bypass the counter and kiosks as others have recommended here. took the computer printout with the barcode with me on the plane.

after we got off the plane, we retrieved our luggage from baggage claim, walked out to the curb, caught the alamo shuttle which was a 5-minute ride. then we handed the printout to the attendant in the parking lot (didn't even go into the office), selected our car, and were on our way to aulani within 5 minutes. easy peasy and highly highly recommend.

p.s. (assuming you're going to aulani) after you arrive in front of the hotel, you can hand the keys over to the valet, tell them it's from alamo, and they'll give you a receipt and return the car for you. could not be any easier.

 

[nkereina]

Great! Thanks for the info @jtba

 

[buffettgirl]

If you look on the map, alamo is right around the corner. Off site, maybe, but it's basically right there.

 

[marvfool1]

I used Alamo in 2015, it was a short shuttle ride- 5 mins to the off site terminal. check in was easy they had a large selection of cars. I would use them again.

 

[jodistrock]

We just got back a month ago & Alamo was a breeze to get to - no worries! Even if there are a lot of people, it was much like the Disney buses & they could accommodate everyone

 

[thorfromboston]

I rented from the Alamo at HNL last month and it was EASY to get to on the shuttle (3 minute drive) and everyone was VERY friendly. I had a great experience with the staff upon arrival. Next time, I am going with this location regardless if it's the cheapest option or not.

 

[spacecanada]

We had excellent experience with Alamo in HNL as well, and will be using them again next trip. They're my preferred car rental company anywhere in North America, actually.

Just be mindful of flight times and when the car rental office is open. I've had to call ahead when our flight time was delayed until after their regular closing hours. They kept someone at the office for us, and had someone waiting to pick us up from the airport. Very accommodating.

 

[Sepo]

I’m in the minority as I had a bad experience with them in June 2016, near 11am on a Tuesday.
1) shuttle was super packed,
2) crazy long wait back then, line snaked out the door, and the kiosk didn’t work for licenses from my state.
3) the car type I paid for wasn’t there and they tried to get me to take a smaller SUV. I declined and waited till what I paid for became available. In fact when I called them out on it the rep commended me for knowing. Bit random luck with regard to what car you’ll get in such a situation. They were bringing them out just-washed one at a time. I had to wait for my class of car to be available.
4) return was easy but shuttle back was sooo long; this was near 2pm on a Friday. Busy traffic there, maybe construction.

Anyway, from what jtba wrote above, the ability to pre check in would solve some of the wait headache. I always use Alamo but I remember that this one was frustrating.

Seems everyone here is happy w them though so maybe I had a fluke experience.
—
Planning to try the TURO service going forward. It’s like the Uber of renting cars. Supposedly they’ll pick you up at the terminal. No wait. Some “hosts”/owners are more like professional mini businesses with a fleet of rent-only cars as opposed to folks part-time renting-out their own. I booked through them for next summer. Got to pick the exact car I wanted.

 

[Alice Sr.]

I’m in the minority as I had a bad experience with them in June 2016, near 11am on a Tuesday.
1) shuttle was super packed,
2) crazy long wait back then, line snaked out the door, and the kiosk didn’t work for licenses from my state.
3) the car type I paid for wasn’t there and they tried to get me to take a smaller SUV. I declined and waited till what I paid for became available. In fact when I called them out on it the rep commended me for knowing. Bit random luck with regard to what car you’ll get in such a situation. They were bringing them out just-washed one at a time. I had to wait for my class of car to be available.
4) return was easy but shuttle back was sooo long; this was near 2pm on a Friday. Busy traffic there, maybe construction.

Anyway, from what jtba wrote above, the ability to pre check in would solve some of the wait headache. I always use Alamo but I remember that this one was frustrating.

Seems everyone here is happy w them though so maybe I had a fluke experience.
—
Planning to try the TURO service going forward. It’s like the Uber of renting cars. Supposedly they’ll pick you up at the terminal. No wait. Some “hosts”/owners are more like professional mini businesses with a fleet of rent-only cars as opposed to folks part-time renting-out their own. I booked through them for next summer. Got to pick the exact car I wanted.

Just an fyi, friends of ours used TURO when we went to Tampa for DH's conference. We all stayed a few days later. The TURO dude supposedly couldn't meet at their preagreed location (our hotel). We had rented a car and agreed to take them to the suggested new site which was on the other side of the bay bridge from where we were, I think it was like a 25 minute drive. No big deal for us but if we were not in a position to help them out it would have been an additional hassle for them.

 

[Brancaneve]

I’m in the minority as I had a bad experience with them in June 2016, near 11am on a Tuesday.
1) shuttle was super packed,
2) crazy long wait back then, line snaked out the door, and the kiosk didn’t work for licenses from my state.
3) the car type I paid for wasn’t there and they tried to get me to take a smaller SUV. I declined and waited till what I paid for became available. In fact when I called them out on it the rep commended me for knowing. Bit random luck with regard to what car you’ll get in such a situation. They were bringing them out just-washed one at a time. I had to wait for my class of car to be available.
4) return was easy but shuttle back was sooo long; this was near 2pm on a Friday. Busy traffic there, maybe construction.

Anyway, from what jtba wrote above, the ability to pre check in would solve some of the wait headache. I always use Alamo but I remember that this one was frustrating.

Seems everyone here is happy w them though so maybe I had a fluke experience.
—
Planning to try the TURO service going forward. It’s like the Uber of renting cars. Supposedly they’ll pick you up at the terminal. No wait. Some “hosts”/owners are more like professional mini businesses with a fleet of rent-only cars as opposed to folks part-time renting-out their own. I booked through them for next summer. Got to pick the exact car I wanted.

I just came back from Aulani a few days ago and Alamo was a breeze. However, I had a similar experience several years ago. My biggest suggestion is to have one person in your party not go to the luggage carousel( IF POSSIBLE) and go straight to the shuttle area. We all have to remember that sometimes an entire plane is renting a car and will try to get on that shuttle bus. Then the rest of the group can take the next shuttle with everyone else!

 

[nkereina]

I started this thread over two years ago and somehow its come back to life I'm happy to report we did end up using Alamo in September 2016 and had a fine experience. The shuttle came by frequently, and the office was adequately staffed to handle the volume. They were out of mid-size cars which is what we had booked, so they told us we could take any car in the full size row. Luckily we found a Camaro convertible for no additional cost! I wouldn't hesitate to book with them again. We didn't find the off-site factor to be much of a hassle either, so that will be less of a deterrent for me going forward.

 

[son3disfan]

Just used Alamo at HNL and they were fabulous. Our flight was at 11pm so shuttle was not packed. It came very quickly. Drop off was a breeze. Would recommend! Enjoy Hawaii!