Renting a car in Hilo?

OOPS! I got the wrong island in my previous post--I mentioned Kauai instead of Hilo. We have never been to Hawaii before. Sailing on the Grand 12/20 from San Francisco and would like to rent a car in Hiloi and visit the volcano. The Grand will be there on Friday, 12/27 from 7AM to 5PM. Does anyone know where the ship docks in Hilo? Is it possible to rent a car within reasonable distance from the pier? Has anyone done this before? Any info will be helpful. Thank you.

The rental places pick you up at the port and the Volcano National Park is an easy drive. It is also quite easy to keep going and see a black sand beach if you haven't seen one before. If you are going to walk through the lava tubes you should take a flashlight with you. Enjoy!

Cruise passengers often rent cars in Hilo but it could be a problem finding a car for 12/27 because the rental agencies usually sell out of them during the Christmas holidays - and they are sold out well in advance. However, sometimes a cancellation occurs and a vehicle will become available, so if you don't find one in your initial search, keep trying.

If you are a Costco member, try Costco Travel

Discount Hawaii is a good site - they arrange rentals through the major car rental agencies. In this link, try each brand (when you click on the Brand, it will take you directly to the agency - A = Avis, B = Budget, etc.) Use ITO as the pick up location.

OOPS! I got the wrong island in my previous post--I mentioned Kauai instead of Hilo. We have never been to Hawaii before. Sailing on the Grand 12/20 from San Francisco and would like to rent a car in Hiloi and visit the volcano. The Grand will be there on Friday, 12/27 from 7AM to 5PM. Does anyone know where the ship docks in Hilo? Is it possible to rent a car within reasonable distance from the pier? Has anyone done this before? Any info will be helpful. Thank you.

Not to be a wiseguy, but it docks at the Port of Hilo which is about a 5 minute ride on the car rental shuttle to the airport which is where the cars are.

1. Be sure to make a reservation using the "in this link" link in the above post & try to select Dollar. Their service is tops.

2. As you exit the ship you will walk through a long covered walkway to a parking area and ALL of the shuttles are there waiting.

3. If you have a portable GPS take it with you. You will be glad you did.

Not to be a wiseguy, but it docks at the Port of Hilo which is about a 5 minute ride on the car rental shuttle to the airport which is where the cars are.

 

1. Be sure to make a reservation using the "in this link" link in the above post & try to select Dollar. Their service is tops.

2. As you exit the ship you will walk through a long covered walkway to a parking area and ALL of the shuttles are there waiting.

3. If you have a portable GPS take it with you. You will be glad you did.

We just returned from Hawaii and the car rental in Hilo was a breeze. Make a reservation by the above or direct from Dollar. Shuttle picked you up at gate entrance per above. Personnel were terrific. Drove to Volcanoes Park, straight down highway from airport station where the rental was. GPS was great but not essential unless you are going to other locations than Park. Hope you have better luck with the Park than we had. Cold and very little activity at this time.

I made a car reservation in Hilo for the cruise Star Princess 02/18/2013. If anybody wants to join me in the tour I will be available.

We just rented a car from Budget in Hilo on Nov. 28th.

The shuttle picks you up right at the terminal. I had read online that they only allow the driver on the shuttle, but that wasn't our experience. They allowed the passengers on too. It was only about 5 minutes to the rental agencies at the airport. They're all lined up next to each other, so you can pretty much take any shuttle (the shuttle driver doesn't verify any documents).

A bit of advice....don't take any options, especially the pre-fuel option. They'll charge you for a full tank, not just what you use.

They area where you drop off the car and get the return shuttle isn't near the office where you pick up the car initially, so if the receipt they give you when you turn the car back in is inaccurate, you can't get back to the office to straighten it out. Not sure if they plan it that way or not.

We rented from Dollar two weeks ago. The line to get the car was the slowest one at the airport and, since we bought insurance, we were given a car with multiple damages. However, it ran all right and the trip to VNP was easy. Stopping at the orchid shop on the way down was expensive, however.:D