Shuttle, Taxi, or Lyft...to and from HNL?

ElenaJane

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 17, 2013
I am sure this has been asked a bazillion times but I could not find a thread. We are going to Aulani in February 2018, for the first time ever (squee!!). We are flying into HNL, spending 2 nights only (that's as much as I could convince DH) at Aulani and then flying out of HNL to the Big Island.

Since we are only on Oahu for 2 nights, and plan to spend our one full day at Aulani, I don't think we should rent a car. Does anyone have any experience with Taxis, Lyft, shuttles to and from HNL? I was looking at private town car and it was around $300 roundtrip! Are there taxis at Aulani, so we could get one to take us back to HNL if we needed to? Any idea of the cost? Anyone know of any "codes" or deals?

TIA!:car:
 
As of now, Uber and Lyft are not allowed to pick up people directly from the airport. If you put in your location as an airport, it will show you how far away you have to get in order to be picked up. They can drop you off, though. Taxis are very expensive here. I'd recommend looking up one of those fare finding websites online to get an estimate. I'm willing to bet it's around $100 or so each way. I'd take a shared shuttle to Aulani and use either Lyft/Uber or a shared shuttle to get back to the airport.
 
As of now, Uber and Lyft are not allowed to pick up people directly from the airport. If you put in your location as an airport, it will show you how far away you have to get in order to be picked up. They can drop you off, though. Taxis are very expensive here. I'd recommend looking up one of those fare finding websites online to get an estimate. I'm willing to bet it's around $100 or so each way. I'd take a shared shuttle to Aulani and use either Lyft/Uber or a shared shuttle to get back to the airport.
That is really good to know! I didn't think Uber/Lyft would not be allowed at an airport. Well, that narrows the options a bit!
 




I got a reasonable quote from King Shuttle to go from Aulani back to the aiport. Around $54 for four of us. I assume the price would be similar from the airport too.
 
We are not DVC (but renting DVC points), so we would have to pay for parking. And since it is such a short trip, I am thinking driving and dealing with a rental car would take away precious time! I will definitely look into King Shuttle. So far though, Charley's Taxi sounds like a winner! I will also look into them. Thanks everyone! Since this is my first Aulani trip, I am thinking this won't be my last question....
 
We're also staying on rented points (in april 2018) and I understood, if you're staying at point, you don't have to pay for parking, it doesn't matter they're rented (but I haven't tested this myself yet)
I feel that the rental DVC points are already such a good deal. Free parking would be a surprising bonus!
 
I feel that the rental DVC points are already such a good deal. Free parking would be a surprising bonus!

It's true that if you are staying even on rented points that parking is included. At Aulani, they don't differentiate between DVC owner vs. non-DVC owner. They only go by your reservation, so they differentiate between points vs. cash reservation. By renting points, you are staying on a points reservation so free parking is included. You'd simply insert your room key into the machine at the exit of the parking garage to get out. You won't be charged since it's a points reservation.

All that said, I also agree that renting a car isn't necessary for your short time. Even if it were cheaper than the shuttles, I'd still be inclined to pay more for the shuttle just for the convenience of it. As mentioned, Uber/Lyft can drop off at the airport but cannot pick up, which is very common at many airports due to agreements the airports have with taxi unions. But they can't prohibit the ride share services from dropping off, which is why that's permitted. However, we found Uber/Lyft to not be so reliable in the Ko Olina area where Aulani is. If your flight out is early or late, it would be even less reliable. I would either arrange a shard shuttle or take a taxi. Not sure if its available at Aulani, but we used SpeediShuttle on Maui and also to our hotel in Waikiki, before we picked up a rental car.
 
Another confirmation that parking is free if you are staying on points, regardless of whether you are a DVC member or renting points.

I agree that a two night stay is probably not worth renting a car. The only consideration is if you were interested in seeing the North Shore or Pearl Harbor (or any sites) on the way to the airport before you depart. For only 2 nights, I would probably just stay at the resort though.
 
We used speedi shuttle (shared shuttle service). The price for two of us wasn't bad but if you have a large family it may be more. You get a small discount if you book round trip. No problems returning to the airport but when we first arrived we waited at least an hour for a shuttle.
 
We used speedi shuttle (shared shuttle service). The price for two of us wasn't bad but if you have a large family it may be more. You get a small discount if you book round trip. No problems returning to the airport but when we first arrived we waited at least an hour for a shuttle.
It is just the two of us. It does seem like a shuttle would be cheaper. However, since it is such a short time I get at Aulani, I wanted to do something that would just be for us, to save time dropping/picking up other parties. I am excited about the $55 flat rate taxi. This would be like paying $27 a person for a shuttle, which is only about $7 extra per person to do direct with a taxi! If I did my math right...
 
If you reserve Charlie's Taxi it is $55 flat rate from the airport to Aulani. There are plenty of Taxi's at Aulani all the time if you need to get a quick lift and I remember seeing some Lyft's in the area (even though we did not use here but I did look one day).
 
If you reserve Charlie's Taxi it is $55 flat rate from the airport to Aulani. There are plenty of Taxi's at Aulani all the time if you need to get a quick lift and I remember seeing some Lyft's in the area (even though we did not use here but I did look one day).
Thanks! I am definitely going to reserve Charley's. Seems like a great bargain!
 

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