Car rental in Hilo?

I'm planning to rent a car for the day in Hilo in October. I have some free days to use up with National, but it looks like I'll have to make my way to/from the airport to get the car. Any experience with this? Does National run a shuttle to the cruise terminal? How is it getting a taxi first thing in the morning?

Thanks for the help.

We were on the Grand Princess March 22-April 16 (15 night Hawaiian cruise) and rented a car in Hilo. (Hertz) Shuttles from the car rental agencies continuously drive along the cruise terminal and it's a short ride to Hilo Airport. The car rentals are @ the airport (they look like little huts @ the airport); they are all lined up one next to the other one. NO need for a taxi---again we rented from Hertz-but, there were several others all together--very simple/easy process. Upon returning the car to the airport--they shuttle you back to the cruise terminal. Please check National's website: )

We tried to get the shuttle to the airport but it was chaos. No lines and people would push ahead. We finally took a taxi and beat everyone to the rental before the lines got long.

Our experience was the same as your Morriscats. There were no lines and it was total chaos with people trying to push to the front to get on a shuttle. Once we got to the airport, renting the car was a snap. It was just the disorganization at the dock thAt was crazy.

As the first person said, the shuttles will be lined up, a very easy process to get to the airport. In 2012, we had an orderly line and a pleasant experience with Dollar. Just make sure you're back in plenty of time before the last shuttle; a lot of people want to take the last shuttle back to the ship.

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We had no problems at all with Budget's shuttle. :)