Worried about car rental situation.

[helenk]

I have 2 cars booked for our August trip. I have this horrible fear of getting to the rental office and being told they don't have anything. I know there are shuttles to book to get to Aulani. But what about Lyft or Uber availability to get to places close to Aulani if necessary

 

[Budzooka]

I’ve had the same thought. I actually double checked my reservation today just to be sure. I’ve got a good rate and don’t want to get bumped so they can double the price on someone else. Shouldn’t happen, but just being paranoid.

 

[surran12]

I left the island this past Thursday. Car availability was a bit slim at pick up. I booked our car last July and had a great rate for our 12 days. We landed on a Sunday afternoon and got to Alamo at 3. I had to wait an hour for them to process the returned cars. I had a midsize SUV booked. Intermediate and Compact cars went quicker but SUV’s had a 60-90 minute wait and Jeeps I was overhearing them tell people they didn’t have a time frame on.

 

[helenk]

I booked a 7 passenger mini-van and a compact car. There are 7 of us 5 adults 2 children. I wanted the compact for my daughter and her boyfriend in case they want to go and do some things on their own. I wanted to book that second car at Aulani but they had no cars available. I didn't book my cars until the 10th of this month and I am glad I did because now nothing is listed for my week.

 

[pinkgirlmommy]

Rates are crazy for November we are trying to decide what to do!

 

[monsterkitty]

Prepay for your cars if you haven't already. They have to hold cars for those who have already paid.

 

[nkereina]

I booked a 7 passenger mini-van and a compact car. There are 7 of us 5 adults 2 children. I wanted the compact for my daughter and her boyfriend in case they want to go and do some things on their own. I wanted to book that second car at Aulani but they had no cars available. I didn't book my cars until the 10th of this month and I am glad I did because now nothing is listed for my week.

The rental car desk at Aulani isn't currently open from my understanding. When we were there a few years ago, the Alamo at the airport was out of midsize vehicles by the time we arrived (Saturday around 1pm) so they let us take a full size at no additional cost. I'm not sure if they're doing that in the current environment given the demand, but that experience made me wonder about it given that they were out on what was an otherwise normal Saturday. I'd also suggest pre-paying for the cars if you're able to. Alternatively, Turo is akin to the VRBO or AirBnB for cars. Uber/Lyft is also pretty readily available, but car seats may pose an issue if those are needed.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I left the island this past Thursday. Car availability was a bit slim at pick up. I booked our car last July and had a great rate for our 12 days. We landed on a Sunday afternoon and got to Alamo at 3. I had to wait an hour for them to process the returned cars. I had a midsize SUV booked. Intermediate and Compact cars went quicker but SUV’s had a 60-90 minute wait and Jeeps I was overhearing them tell people they didn’t have a time frame on.

Woof.

Did you have any kind of status? Alamo Insiders or anything like that?

I'm hoping National Emerald Club helps me avoid some of the wait.

 

[juju]

We picked up an intermediate at Alamo at the airport on Sunday around 3:30pm and there was no line and no problem with car. Lucked out I guess. We had made the reservation several months ago.

 

[Diasmom]

I’ve been concerned about this also. I think we’ll go ahead and pay for it today. I’m pretty sure prices won’t go down for August.

 

[surran12]

Woof.

Did you have any kind of status? Alamo Insiders or anything like that?

I'm hoping National Emerald Club helps me avoid some of the wait.

Nope I have no Alamo status and did not prepay either. Hoping either of those might help out a bit.

 

[jodybird511]

Nope I have no Alamo status and did not prepay either. Hoping either of those might help out a bit.

The rental car issue isn't just in HI--it's nationwide, related to rental car companies selling off their fleets during the height of COVID, in order to survive. That said, we visited FL over spring break and had had our reservation through National for months, AND we are Emerald Club, and we waited no less than 45 mins. It was the situation described above, where they had zero cars, and we were just waiting in line for cars to get returned, cleaned/sanitized, and then turned back around. It was nuts, and I'm anticipating the same situation when we travel to Oahu in June.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

The rental car issue isn't just in HI--it's nationwide, related to rental car companies selling off their fleets during the height of COVID, in order to survive. That said, we visited FL over spring break and had had our reservation through National for months, AND we are Emerald Club, and we waited no less than 45 mins. It was the situation described above, where they had zero cars, and we were just waiting in line for cars to get returned, cleaned/sanitized, and then turned back around. It was nuts, and I'm anticipating the same situation when we travel to Oahu in June.

We panicked and moved our Aulani November to February. I need it to be normal when I'm there. No face shields, no plexiglass, no masks. Aunty's and 'AMA'AMA open.

 

[jodybird511]

We panicked and moved our Aulani November to February. I need it to be normal when I'm there. No face shields, no plexiglass, no masks. Aunty's and 'AMA'AMA open.

I hope things are normal by then for you!

 

[nikkistevej]

If i booked through Costco, and it's through Budget, I guess I can prepay on Budget's website?

 

[monsterkitty]

If i booked through Costco, and it's through Budget, I guess I can prepay on Budget's website?

You should be able to. However, our friends who booked through Costco ended up calling Alamo to pay.

 

[corgi_monster]

Just some random ideas on the rental car problem:

- Keep checking the Uber/Lyft prices for the route/time of day you plan on taking. Surge pricing is INSANE right now and for me, ridesharing is just not an option. I haven't been tracking HNL<-->Aulani, but the routes I used to use are 3x-4x the normal price. It's $30+ for a 1.5 mile, <10 minute ride - crazy!

- When we need to rent a truck to pick up furniture, building supplies, etc. we use https://www.drivehui.com/ - it's worth looking into for anyone who only needs a car for a day or two.

- The Home Depot near the airport rents trucks if you're really desperate

- Due to a lack of weddings, events, and Japanese visitors, there are a lot of limo/car service drivers that are out of work right now. Rates for hiring a personal driver might be competitive if you're seeing insane rental car prices.
.
- We were at Aulani last week and the Alamo window was open and there were people in the office. I didn't try to rent a car so I'm not sure if they're actually operational or just gearing up to open.

- One of the local news stations said Hawaii is expecting a new fleet of rental cars to arrive in May.

 

[helenk]

Fingers crossed the rental companies will get more cars. I did look through AAA and they have cars available with Thrifty and Budget. However while compact cars were "reasonable" minivans were about $2000 for the week. I am glad I booked when I did.. I will wait until it's closer to my dates in August and call Alamo directly to pay. I like using Costco because the second driver is free.

 

[OKW Lover]

Keep checking the Uber/Lyft prices for the route/time of day you plan on taking. Surge pricing is INSANE right now and for me, ridesharing is just not an option. I haven't been tracking HNL<-->Aulani, but the routes I used to use are 3x-4x the normal price. It's $30+ for a 1.5 mile, <10 minute ride - crazy!

Just curious if Charlie Taxi is still doing flat rate fares between the airport and Aulani, if you know.

We're going in September with some friends for 9 nights at Aulani. Thinking about it the other day and decided to tack on a couple of days in Waikiki on the front end. We plan on just doing a taxi or Uber to our Waikiki hotel as there's no need for a car there. We will plan on meeting our friends at the airport when they fly in a couple of days later. They are renting the car (actually a van) for the rest of the trip.

 

[heathernm6]

If i booked through Costco, and it's through Budget, I guess I can prepay on Budget's website?

I did the same thing! I called Budget directly to confirm they had my reservation, and they did. Pre-paying is probably a good idea though - thanks!