Average Car Rental Price

[maciec]

Can anyone tell me what kind of rates you have gotten in the past for a rental SUV or minivan? I don't know what to expect for prices. Thanks!

 

[cgattis]

I’d have to go back and look for rates, but I can tell you the full size SUVs (like a Tahoe) were like double or more the price of a minivan. So, it was a minivan for our two Tahoe plus a Suburban family!! HATE vans but just could not justify the difference. Plus the minivans most all have a well under the floor where you can hide a purse or camera bag, where the SUVs don’t.

 

[maciec]

I’d have to go back and look for rates, but I can tell you the full size SUVs (like a Tahoe) were like double or more the price of a minivan. So, it was a minivan for our two Tahoe plus a Suburban family!! HATE vans but just could not justify the difference. Plus the minivans most all have a well under the floor where you can hide a purse or camera bag, where the SUVs don’t.

I'm with you on the vans! Right now the price of a Ford Edge is just about the same (within a few dollars) of a van. Right around $400 for 9 days.

 

[abdgeek]

You ask a loaded question. The price you pay will depend on which company you choose, when you travel, when you make your reservation, and where you pick up the car. While I’ve never rented a SUV or minivan, I have rented compact and midsize cars ($60-70 day) from Alamo Car Rental at AulanI. Based on the prices I’ve seen over the years, I don’t rent from HNL. I tend to only rent a car for the amount of time I plan to tour off property. You may also want to factor in the daily parking fee at the resort.

When I visited Aulani last December, I rented a compact car for 3 days and the total was about $300. Now, I did get the optional insurance so that drove the price up. I found the cheapest base rate on Costco Travel (you have to be a member). I always book as far ahead as I can and then check back frequently to see if the prices have dropped. Maui tends to have the highest prices and I paid about $700 for a compact car for a week in December. That rate did not include the optional insurance. Good luck with your search.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

I'm with you on the vans! Right now the price of a Ford Edge is just about the same (within a few dollars) of a van. Right around $400 for 9 days.

This is approximately what I paid last year. Rented a Ford Escape from the end of June through July 8th (I think) through Costco with a pick up in Kona.

 

[maciec]

You ask a loaded question. The price you pay will depend on which company you choose, when you travel, when you make your reservation, and where you pick up the car. While I’ve never rented a SUV or minivan, I have rented compact and midsize cars ($60-70 day) from Alamo Car Rental at AulanI. Based on the prices I’ve seen over the years, I don’t rent from HNL. I tend to only rent a car for the amount of time I plan to tour off property. You may also want to factor in the daily parking fee at the resort.

When I visited Aulani last December, I rented a compact car for 3 days and the total was about $300. Now, I did get the optional insurance so that drove the price up. I found the cheapest base rate on Costco Travel (you have to be a member). I always book as far ahead as I can and then check back frequently to see if the prices have dropped. Maui tends to have the highest prices and I paid about $700 for a compact car for a week in December. That rate did not include the optional insurance. Good luck with your search.

Thankfully we are DVC members and won’t have to pay for parking. This is our first time to Hawaii so I imagine we will go off property enough times that a car would be wise. We are a family of 4 so no way could we get away with a compact with our luggage.

 

[maciec]

This is approximately what I paid last year. Rented a Ford Escape from the end of June through July 8th (I think) through Costco with a pick up in Kona.

great! Thanks for the information! I’m going to book it and just be done.

 

[Nalshersmom]

Renting through Costco was awesome. You can change or cancel at any time. Our family of 5 ended up renting 5 cars/suvs/vans for our trip(San Francisco, 3 islands, and San Diego). I kept monitoring the prices and they always had the best deal. Their prices also changed, so I changed a few times to even better deals. I can't imagine not having a car in Hawaii.

 

[maciec]

Renting through Costco was awesome. You can change or cancel at any time. Our family of 5 ended up renting 5 cars/suvs/vans for our trip(San Francisco, 3 islands, and San Diego). I kept monitoring the prices and they always had the best deal. Their prices also changed, so I changed a few times to even better deals. I can't imagine not having a car in Hawaii.

Unfortunately we aren't Costco members

 

[Nalshersmom]

Unfortunately we aren't Costco members

We got our membership with some kind of deal, and it was so worth it. We stopped there for the best price on gas. They also has really good deals on fruit grown it Hawaii and other foods we needed. They also have the best cinnamon rolls.

 

[kyton]

A lot of mainlanders on Trip Advisor recommend using https://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com/ - apparently they are very competitive with Costco pricing.

 

[nkereina]

We rented a full size car from Alamo at HNL, returning to HNL as well. For 6 days, we paid roughly $300 so 9 days for $400 doesn't sound bad to me. Rental car rates can fluctuate quite a bit depending on the demand for them, time of year, where you're picking up/returning, etc.

Personally, I would suggest renting roundtrip from HNL. You will need transportation to and from the airport anyway, so it seems like a hassle to book and pay for that separately when you could just have the rental car for the duration - especially when you'll have free parking at Aulani staying on DVC points. We arrived around 12pm, and then on our way to Aulani, we stopped off at Target to get groceries. This worked out well because it was on the way to Aulani and by the time we got to the resort, our room was ready.

Doing daily rentals is an option at Aulani through Alamo. There's also Enterprise down the street at the Marriott. The only problem with this is that you will need to plan each day of your trip and pre-book these. Its common for daily rentals to sell out if not reserved in advance. We liked having the flexibility of a car for the duration so that we could change our schedule on the fly when we needed to.

Lastly, I always see recommendations for Costco here, but we opted not to go that route. I don't doubt their rental car prices are good, but we do not have Costco stores here in upstate NY so it wasn't logical for us to purchase a membership only for the rental car savings. As two adults, we also did not want the bulk size items for groceries and just wanted a few basic items, which we could get at Target or Safeway. So, getting a Costco membership just for our trip didn't make sense in our case. YMMV.

 

[Disney_Fan_01]

I suggest Alamo skip the counter. Then you don’t need to wait in line to pick up your car. Try not to prepay as car rental companies are strapped for cash currently and you never know which one goes under. Also, price is subject to demand. We have paid $350 for a week in May before. Currently, I have one an SUV booked for 5 days at $550 over Christmas in HNL and $500 for the remaining 6 days over New Years in Maui.
Finally, don’t wait last minute to book a Car as they are limited being an island. Also, can’t imagine not having a car for your stay. For us, it is essential to fully experience the place.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

I wholeheartedly agree with the above post - try to skip the counter. Our experience for pick up was excruciating long -- and that's with some of us staying and picking up luggage and one of us heading straight to the rental car pickup on a bus. Just such a long experience. Reminds me of PHL airport car rental (which has never left a positive experience in my mind).

 

[hetzeltj]

isnt there a car rental place at Aulani? I would most likely need the car for 1 day.

 

[abdgeek]

isnt there a car rental place at Aulani? I would most likely need the car for 1 day.

Yes, Aulani has an Alamo Car Rental. You can also rent from Enterprise at the Marriott if their rate is cheaper. Whichever you decide to do, make a reservation ahead of time online. As OP have said, the Alamo at Aulani will have a limited amount of cars and they do sell out.

 

[cgattis]

isnt there a car rental place at Aulani? I would most likely need the car for 1 day.

And remember as @nkereina said, you still have to get to and from the airport, which isn’t insignificant.

 

[pjacobi]

Note that gasoline in Hawai'i is quite a bit more expensive than the mainland. Be sure to figure that into your budget.


-Paul

 

[pjacobi]

Link for current gas price in Hawai'i:

https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=HI

 

[tamu91]

$400 for a mini van for 9 days isn't a bad price. I'd book it and look for better prices later. Another option is doing a rental through National by joining their frequent renter program, it's free. Even at the lowest status level, you can opt for their Emerald Aisle program by reserving a mid-size or larger which allows you to drive out any car in that aisle. This doesn't guarantee you a van or SUV but most locations will have larger sized cars you can take at no extra charge. It's worth looking into IMO.