More rental car questions...

[penngater]

Hi there

We will be on PoAm 5/31 and were hoping to rent cars in both Maui (Kahului) and Kauai. I am relatively new to posting here so I apologize if this has already been asked

What pick-up/drop off locations do you select for

Maui (Kahului)

Kauai

 

And does anyone recommend any one particular company over another, I guess all we need is a shuttle at the pier to take us to where we can get the vehicles...

thanks!!!

[canadian cruise queen]

Hi there

We will be on PoAm 5/31 and were hoping to rent cars in both Maui (Kahului) and Kauai. I am relatively new to posting here so I apologize if this has already been asked

What pick-up/drop off locations do you select for

Maui (Kahului)

Kauai

 

And does anyone recommend any one particular company over another, I guess all we need is a shuttle at the pier to take us to where we can get the vehicles...

thanks!!!

When I rented for my cruise on May 10, I booked the airport locations as they send a shuttle to the port also. It is not far to either airport from the port. They usually have a number on your confirmation to call for pickup at port if the shuttle isn't there. They get alot of business from cruise passengers, last time we were at both ports all the companies had their shuttles there for transfer to airport office. You should shop all rental agencies to get prices. I booked Enterprise in Maui first for $38, then checked Alamo a couple weeks later and got a car for $28. In Kauai the best deal I got for my date was from Budget for $37. Some companies are charging up to $65 for a small car. Shop around and keep checking regularly as the price might go down. It's easy to cancel and rebook as you don't need credit card number to book. The companies that rent on most islands are Alamo, Thrifty, Enterprise, Budget. Good Luck:)

[CC Help Michell]

Hi there

We will be on PoAm 5/31 and were hoping to rent cars in both Maui (Kahului) and Kauai. I am relatively new to posting here so I apologize if this has already been asked

What pick-up/drop off locations do you select for

Maui (Kahului)

Kauai

 

And does anyone recommend any one particular company over another, I guess all we need is a shuttle at the pier to take us to where we can get the vehicles...

thanks!!!

 

Use OGG for Kahului, and LIH for Kauai (Lihue). The majors all have shuttles at the pier. I will say (and we had this experience) that while Thrifty is generally highly recommended here for Hawaii their Lihue office was unacceptable in their service to us. They took at least 2x longer when we picked up the car as they should have (two parties in the office, three clerks -- but it took 10 minutes before finally a fourth clerk came from a back office to wait on each party sequentially). When we dropped it off they cost us 20 minutes for no reason at all (we booked unlimited mileage and full CDW -- it didn't matter, legally, if we'd rolled up in a battered wreck of a car with 20,000 more miles than that morning ... we had paid to be covered -- but they still made us stand around for another 15 minutes, missing the first shuttle to the ship, before finally saying "oh, you can go."). My vacation time is the most precious time I spend every year, and based on my experience at Lihue, I'd book ANY other car rental company there.

 

Several others here haven't had those same problems, and will say they were great. But I'm not alone in my experience, either.

[whale-watcher]

Use OGG for Kahului, and LIH for Kauai (Lihue). The majors all have shuttles at the pier. I will say (and we had this experience) that while Thrifty is generally highly recommended here for Hawaii their Lihue office was unacceptable in their service to us. They took at least 2x longer when we picked up the car as they should have (two parties in the office, three clerks -- but it took 10 minutes before finally a fourth clerk came from a back office to wait on each party sequentially). When we dropped it off they cost us 20 minutes for no reason at all (we booked unlimited mileage and full CDW -- it didn't matter, legally, if we'd rolled up in a battered wreck of a car with 20,000 more miles than that morning ... we had paid to be covered -- but they still made us stand around for another 15 minutes, missing the first shuttle to the ship, before finally saying "oh, you can go."). My vacation time is the most precious time I spend every year, and based on my experience at Lihue, I'd book ANY other car rental company there.

 

Several others here haven't had those same problems, and will say they were great. But I'm not alone in my experience, either.

We used Hertz in LIH/Kauai, and the entire process (from exiting the ship to driving off the lot) took no more than 10 minutes. We chose Hertz over thrify at this port based on your review (as well as others who have reported major delays at this branch.

[PDAZ]

Ditto the problems with Thrifty in Lihue -- some folks on the ship were complaining about a two hour wait to get their car :eek:

 

We were lucky to be second in line and got out of there fairly quickly, but they just don't have enough people working at the counter to handle the crowds.

[penngater]

Thanks for all the info!

 

Now just need to decide what to do after picking up the cars :)

[pastfinder]

We used Thrifty at all ports on our Pride of Hawaii cruise 1/28/08. We had excellent service at all ports including Lihue. We signed up for Blue Chip and got e-mail notification of deals. I ended up re-booking 2 of the reservations when better deals came along. I normally use Hertz with several CDP offers but based on the info on CC and comparing offers, I decided to try Thrifty (who beat the prices) and was very pleased.

 

Kathy

[Cruise-neophyte]

So if the car rental shuttles pick you up at the pier, where do you drop the car off? Will they then take you back to the pier? We're looking to rent in Hilo and kauai.

[jasejase]

So if the car rental shuttles pick you up at the pier, where do you drop the car off? Will they then take you back to the pier? We're looking to rent in Hilo and kauai.

 

 

used thrifty in all but one port... and you return where you get the car from... and a shuttle brings you back to the pier. You just have to make sure you return when the rental company is still running shuttles, or you will have to arrange a taxi, etc to bring you back. Given the boarding times at each port, this was not an issue, except for in Kona... (i think), where the rental car desk closed at noon... but it had an after hours drop, and it was a 2 minute walk to the pier.