Thrifty Car Rental Help at the Ports

[wrahn2002]

I've rented cars for my NCL 24 September 2007 Cruise on PoH at all the ports of call. However, I'm confused by the computer giving me choices between "Kahului Airport" and "Kahului Harbor Pickup Only" at Kahului, Maui and a similar choice at Lihue, Kauai. I understand the "Kona Cruise Ship Pick Up Only", and chose it, but I need real time information about Maui and Kauai. When I choose "Harbor" or "Cruise Pick Up" the price is much more than for the "Airport" Pick Up.

 

Anyone have the straight information about the two choices?

 

Thanks,

Wes

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

What rental company? I used Thrifty and didn't have to designate for either island. I just said Nawiliwili Kauai and Kahului Maui. They had shuttles at both piers waiting for us and I only paid about $30 or $32/day.

[beachchick]

There is only one location for Kahului, Maui and Nawiliwili, Kauai. The reason there are two choices is that they want to know if you're coming in by air or on a cruise ship. This lets them know to send a shuttle (or how many shuttles) to the pier on that day. As well, some of the rental companies often sell out in advance, so the shuttle drivers have lists of cruise pax with reservations and will only transport those pax. Both Kahului and Nawiliwili have the airport/close to airport locations for cruise pax. It's the closest (and only) and less than 10 minutes by shuttle.

 

So, do select the cruise/harbor pickup. There will be a shuttle to take you to the airport rental location. There are no rentals actually at the piers because of security, space, logistics, and personnel requirements.

 

beachchick

[sunsetme]

anybody have a particular discount code to use for thrifty? they are coming out much higher for dec rental.

[wrahn2002]

There is only one location for Kahului, Maui and Nawiliwili, Kauai. The reason there are two choices is that they want to know if you're coming in by air or on a cruise ship. This lets them know to send a shuttle (or how many shuttles) to the pier on that day. As well, some of the rental companies often sell out in advance, so the shuttle drivers have lists of cruise pax with reservations and will only transport those pax. Both Kahului and Nawiliwili have the airport/close to airport locations for cruise pax. It's the closest (and only) and less than 10 minutes by shuttle.

 

So, do select the cruise/harbor pickup. There will be a shuttle to take you to the airport rental location. There are no rentals actually at the piers because of security, space, logistics, and personnel requirements.

 

beachchick

 

Thanks for your quick reply. I quess what you're telling me is to chose Harbor/Cruise Pick Up rather than Airport, even though the price for Harbor/Cruise is much more. Does that mean people who pick Airport will not get a shuttle to the car rental location which is at the airport?

 

Thanks again,

Wes

[judyf]

Thanks for your quick reply. I quess what you're telling me is to chose Harbor/Cruise Pick Up rather than Airport, even though the price for Harbor/Cruise is much more. Does that mean people who pick Airport will not get a shuttle to the car rental location which is at the airport?

 

Thanks again,

Wes

 

 

I would not pick it of I had to pay more. It just doesn't make sense. There's only one prot where there's a pick up at the hotel by the poer that you will pay more for, omeone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that's Kona.

[beachchick]

Dreaded, darn double post.

[beachchick]

Thanks for your quick reply. I quess what you're telling me is to chose Harbor/Cruise Pick Up rather than Airport, even though the price for Harbor/Cruise is much more. Does that mean people who pick Airport will not get a shuttle to the car rental location which is at the airport?

 

Thanks again,

Wes

 

That pricing is bizarre! I guess it's because the pier is a big whopping 10 minute shuttle ride from the airport. The "shuttle" that you take when you come in by air is about 1 minute to the rental lots at the airport. (OTOH, I don't know Thrifty's location; they could be slightly off-airport.)

 

You could go ahead and book airport, but I don't know how (if at all) that would affect your getting on the pier shuttle. I just checked the Thrifty site. It is the same rental location for both OGG and cruise pick up. So, it looks like they are charging more to pick you up at the pier. They may be one of the companies which give their shuttle drivers lists of pax with reservations--and only allow those pax on the shuttles. (I don't know that they do, but there were many that did in various ports, including Thrifty in Hilo.)

 

Your best bet may be to call Thrifty (the local numbers--not the 800 number) and ask what the deal is. We rented through National for Maui on the PoH and did not have any issues like this. You just book the OGG location and then either get on one of the National shuttles that come to the pier or call them to send a shuttle if one isn't there.

 

Sorry I can't be more help here.

 

beachchick

[sunquest76]

I booked thru http://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com and they said to enter the OGG location for cruise ship passengers. I hope this means my quote includes the shuttle. Does anyone know if it would be a good idea to get a Thrify Blue Chip even if the rental is already arranged?

[swifs]

We booked Thrifty cars at Hilo, Kona and Kauai through the website that Sunquest76 posted. If you notice at the top there is something that reads, "Cruise Rentals click here". That's what we did and the rental prices were less than if you went on their website directly. The Blue Chip status doesn't seem to really affect your price; however it doesn't cost anything and it appears to speed the pickup/drop process considerably so I would definitely sign up for that. We picked up at the King K hotel in Kona and did not see any difference in price. The only thing I would do differently is that I would not bother with a convertible on the Big Island but pick the cheapest price that fits your number of passengers.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

I used the website listed above when I booked my Thrifty car rental for Kauai, Maui & HNL. After I booked the cars, I signed up with Blue Chip online then I called the Thrifty 800 number and gave them my existing reservation # and asked them to post my blue chip number to it and they did. When the shuttle picked me up, I was on their roster as blue chip & they directed me to a special counter for pickup. easy

[hurwitz5]

What does OGG mean? We are renting a car in Maui - sailing on the Pride of America on 10/27/07, and docking in Kahului. What is the difference - service wise - between renting from National Car Rental or Thrifty? We belong to National's Emerald Club and when we have rented cars in other places, we don't even have to go to a counter - we just get into a car and drive off. I noticed from previous posters that with Thrifty's Blue Chip Club, you still have to report to a counter. How long does it take to get a car at Thrifty from the time you are dropped from at the Thrifty location from the shuttle as a member of the Blue Chip Club? Does National and Thrifty both have many shuttles at the dock?

Thanks for your advice.

[gas103]

When I made my reservations it wouldn't let me click dock side at kona. If you don't within 48 hr they won't bring the car down and the airport is 20 min away and there are no shuttles. I had to cancel but there are plenty of cabs at the pier.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

What does OGG mean? We are renting a car in Maui - sailing on the Pride of America on 10/27/07, and docking in Kahului. What is the difference - service wise - between renting from National Car Rental or Thrifty? We belong to National's Emerald Club and when we have rented cars in other places, we don't even have to go to a counter - we just get into a car and drive off. I noticed from previous posters that with Thrifty's Blue Chip Club, you still have to report to a counter. How long does it take to get a car at Thrifty from the time you are dropped from at the Thrifty location from the shuttle as a member of the Blue Chip Club? Does National and Thrifty both have many shuttles at the dock?

Thanks for your advice.

Have you tried reserving with National? I personally would use National emerald aisle over Thrifty Blue Chip. Blue Chip has a different counter from non members but sometimes it takes just as long as the regular counter unless there is a huge line of people waiting.

[beachchick]

What does OGG mean? We are renting a car in Maui - sailing on the Pride of America on 10/27/07, and docking in Kahului. What is the difference - service wise - between renting from National Car Rental or Thrifty? We belong to National's Emerald Club and when we have rented cars in other places, we don't even have to go to a counter - we just get into a car and drive off. I noticed from previous posters that with Thrifty's Blue Chip Club, you still have to report to a counter. How long does it take to get a car at Thrifty from the time you are dropped from at the Thrifty location from the shuttle as a member of the Blue Chip Club? Does National and Thrifty both have many shuttles at the dock?

Thanks for your advice.

 

Sorry. OGG is the airport designator for the Kahului airport.

 

beachchick

[wasup254]

I am trying to book a car for Lihue.If I pick their off airport location(Thrifty), the cost is 20 dollars more then if I went to the aiport. 68 as compared to 48 if I went to the airport

 

what give here?

 

Also, tried Hhertz, they wanted 88 a day(off airport location)

 

Marlene

 

 

I booked my other car rental with enterprise and they pick up at cruise port...

[wrahn2002]

wasup254

 

It's even worse than you stated. The car pickup location is the same for both options, everyone goes to the airport. If I had to guess, the increased price is for the shuttle to go to the pier. However, based on my past experience, all the companies come to the pier when the ships dock; they want the business.

 

Wes

[wasup254]

I booked the Lihue Airport, as if you look further the two locations give the same exact address......so I booked the lower rate and got 35 for the day...we will see..

 

I got a confirmation and said I was cruise pickup also

 

MArlene

[hawaiilvr]

I booked on Thrifty.com with my Blue Chip membership. My reservation has this on the second page under Terms & Conditions:

 

"Pick up from PIER available depending on daily Ship Arrivals and Departures. First Shuttle begins one hour after Ship Arrivals and ends one hour before Ship Departure. Cust must call (877)283-0898. Thrifty is 5 minutes away."

 

My rate was $38.01 per day vs. 55.01 per day booking it at the Cruise Ship Pier location.

 

If they will pick me up either way, I'll take the lower rate :)

[Bucky3]

I am surprised at this price difference. We have never seen this, and we have been renting cars in Hawaii for years. I suspect that Thrifty may be capitalizing on all the cruise passengers it has been getting in the last couple of years! There has been so much on this board about car rentals and recommendations for Thrifty's Blue Chip membership.

 

We do make our reservations early. As soon as I book a cruise/trip, that's the first thing I do - get that darn car reservation out of the way! I hate that part of the planning. For our cruise in early December (Island Princess)we have reserved the following:

 

Hilo - Thrifty (Blue Chip Member) - $28 - Economy + taxes

Kona - Dollar at the King Kamehameha Hotel - Compact - $52.42 Total

Lahaina, Maui - Enterprise at the Kaanapali Sheraton Hotel - Around $40 +

Kauai - Thrify (Blue Chip Member) - $28 - Economy + taxes

 

We will not be going to Kahului, Maui on this trip, but our experience in that port was with Enterprise on a trip about two years ago. Their office was closer to the pier, not at the airport. There were only two of us and one other person on the shuttle to pick up the car, but the Thrifty shuttle had a long line of people getting on their shuttle. We felt we really lucked out as I'm sure we were in our car and on the road much sooner.

 

Sorry for the lengthy post, but hope it helps someone. I hate the car booking part of the planning the most! Good luck to you all and have a great cruise. Aloha!

[nekosimon]

I called Thrifty today and was told that they do no pick up at the pier any longer for airport location rentals (the less expensive rate). If you are picking up a car from a cruise ship, you don't have a choice.:( ....must pay the higher rate. The car will be at the hotel----a short distance from the pier.

[beachchick]

I called Thrifty today and was told that they do no pick up at the pier any longer for airport location rentals (the less expensive rate). If you are picking up a car from a cruise ship, you don't have a choice.:( ....must pay the higher rate. The car will be at the hotel----a short distance from the pier.

 

Well, there's a reason for that in Kona because of the two locations. The airport location is about 25 minutes by taxi (about $35 one-way, I think). The hotel location is at the King Kamehameha Hotel, directly across from the tender pier. If you are picking up a car from Thrifty or Dollar in Kona, you can use the airport (and pay for a taxi) or you can rent from the "cruise ship pickup only" location at the King Kam. In Kona, if you use the airport location, your reservation will not be valid for pickup at the King Kam hotel. They have a limited number of cars and almost always sell out there. It's more expensive to rent from the King Kam location for convenience and overhead costs. As well, they don't send shuttles from the airport to the pier for cruise pax because it costs a fair amount of time, personnel, and overhead costs to do so. They'd have to charge more anyway because airport rentals for customers arriving by air require almost no time or fuel costs to go from the airport rental desk to the car pickup lot.

 

So, in Kona the issue is completely different and unrelated to the locations where the only rental location is at the airport, but they charge cruise pax more to come get them by shuttle.

 

 

Frankly, the more I think about it, the more sense it makes because for customers coming in by air, it costs them only about 1 mile in fuel; for cruise pax, it costs about 5 miles. Now, that might seem like nothing (and I first thought "what's the big deal"), but over time, it can add up. I think charging maybe $5 for pier pickup is reasonable, but definitely not the $25 or $30 some companies are adding. (That's JMO, of course.)

 

beachchick

[beachchick]

Sorry, I wanted to edit, but didn't get to it in time.

 

For Kona, the airport is about 10 or 12 miles from the pier. The costs of sending shuttles to the pier adds up (fuel, time, and personnel). Thrifty and Dollar seem to have decided that cruise pax should rent from the King Kam or rent from the airport and pay for a taxi from the pier (about $35, I'm guessing). The other companies may or may not send shuttles to the pier from the airport. If they do, it only makes sense that they would charge more for this in Kona; again because of the increased costs to run the shuttles. Otherwise, they'd have to raise rates for everyone to compensate, even customers coming in by air, which would be unfair to the air pax, IMO. That much of a shuttle ride is going to cost somebody, so they've decided it should be the people who would use the shuttle.

 

beachchick

[wrahn2002]

I booked the Lihue Airport, as if you look further the two locations give the same exact address......so I booked the lower rate and got 35 for the day...we will see..

 

I got a confirmation and said I was cruise pickup also

 

MArlene

 

I just checked my contract with Thrifty and for the Lihue Cruise Pick Up the contract reads: "Airport bookings may only be picked up at the airport location." also it reads: "Shuttle will pick up customer between Harbor and Rental Location."

 

The contract for the Lihue Airport reads: "Pick Up from PIER available depending on daily Ship Arrivals and Departures. First Shuttle begins one hour after the Ship Arrivals and ends one hour before Ship Depature. Cust must call (877) 283-0898. Thrifty is 5 minutes away."

 

It seems that there is some confusion between the pier and airport pick up.

 

There may be some changes in policy due to the opening of the Hawaii Superferry which goes between some of the islands. It might be that the rate difference is caused by some confusion between the cruise ships and Superferry.

 

I just booked a Thrifty compact rental car for Lihue Cruise Pick Up and the total for 1 1/2 days will be $127.98, while the Airport Pick Up will be $69.36. I called the local office and I was unable to get a straight answer from the person who answered the phone. After paying all the money to get to Hawaii, I would hate to get cheap and mess up my visit, so to be on the safe side I might just "Pay The $2".

 

Wes

[beachchick]

I just checked my contract with Thrifty and for the Lihue Cruise Pick Up the contract reads: "Airport bookings may only be picked up at the airport location." also it reads: "Shuttle will pick up customer between Harbor and Rental Location."

 

The contract for the Lihue Airport reads: "Pick Up from PIER available depending on daily Ship Arrivals and Departures. First Shuttle begins one hour after the Ship Arrivals and ends one hour before Ship Depature. Cust must call (877) 283-0898. Thrifty is 5 minutes away."

 

It seems that there is some confusion between the pier and airport pick up.

 

There may be some changes in policy due to the opening of the Hawaii Superferry which goes between some of the islands. It might be that the rate difference is caused by some confusion between the cruise ships and Superferry.

 

I just booked a Thrifty compact rental car for Lihue Cruise Pick Up and the total for 1 1/2 days will be $127.98, while the Airport Pick Up will be $69.36. I called the local office and I was unable to get a straight answer from the person who answered the phone. After paying all the money to get to Hawaii, I would hate to get cheap and mess up my visit, so to be on the safe side I might just "Pay The $2".

 

Wes

 

IMO, that much of a difference is absolutely outrageous! Here's what we would do: Rent from the airport and take a taxi (maybe $10 to the airport) if they won't take you on the shuttle. Considering that the airport rental information says specifically that they will pickup up pax at the pier when a ship is in port (as if there's some other time pax would need to be picked up at the pier). And what's with shuttle pickup "between" the harbor and the rental location? I'm sorry you're getting such a run around from Thrifty on this rather confusing wording.

 

When you return the car, you can probably get on the pier shuttle to get back to the ship (assuming they don't have check lists as they do at the pier when the shuttles go for pickup). No doubt the shuttle drivers will have lists of pax who have reservations and, as they did at some ports in December, only take those pax on the shuttle. Considering that you're looking at a $50 difference, you could take a taxi to and from the rental location and still save money--Plus you don't have to wait for an available shuttle.

 

You know, you might consider booking with another company. We used National on Kauai in December, rented from the LIH (airport) location, and had no problem getting on the National shuttle at the pier. Frankly, it's beginning to sound as if Thrifty is taking advantage of the fact that many cruisers think Thrifty is the best company for car rentals for cruise pax. Some people think so, I completely disagree. All the car rental companies have a Blue Chip equivalent that you can sign up for; almost all the companies send shuttles to the pier in all the ports; some companies even have separate dropoff locations for cruise paxs to make it easier. I just don't see why so many people are hooked on Thrifty. We certainly have had good experiences with them, including on our PoH cruise, but we had good experiences with the other companies we used on the same cruise.

 

Now you've got Thrifty (at least, perhaps others) charging exhorbitant sums for pier pickup when we're talking about a few miles drive in most ports. Sure, charge $5 or $10 for a r/t shuttle, but charge the same rate for the actual car as for the airport location--because that's where cruise pax are going anyway.

 

Ridiculous!

 

beachchick