Car rental waiting lines?

[Victress2007]

How bad are they. I read person after person here recommending this - there must be 500 people in line! How bad is it, which port is best and which is worst? I would join the "club" for whichever company I rented through.

 

Thanks,

Vic

[pizzalady1]

We rented from Thrifty in every port but Kona (in Kona we used Enterprise). I joined the Blue Chip Club before renting on line. We did not have more than a couple of minute wait and all our paperwork was done. All we did was sign, get the keys and go.

[MrsGJ]

We only rented in Maui and Hilo when we were on the POA cruise. We rented from Thrifty in Maui and we were the first in line when we got there. But we got there mid-morning and probably missed most of the crowd. In Hilo, we rented from Alamo and we waited between 20-30 mins to get to the counter.

[pspercy]

If you rent from an airport location it depends when the big planes land ! This is usually in the afternoons. On the good side, the Alamo facility in Maui, for example, is huge, about fifteen or so agent positions !

[stuNYC]

No lines in Kauai or Maui where I stayed for a week after the cruise. I too expected long lines with so many people on the ship. Many took free shuttles to shopping malls

[Giantfan13]

We also used Thrifty and their Blue Chip service. You give all the necessary info on line, they send you a card and off you go. When you get to any Thrifty rental location, they have a special line just for Blue Chip people. Just sign on the dotted line, and off you go..

Like MrsGJ, we also opted not to rush off with the 2000 others, all trying to get off the ship at the same time. We decided to go eat a leisurely breakfast, and then about 1/2 hour after everyone else rushed their way off, we walked off, got the shuttle and got to the rental place with ZERO lines. In fact, twice we had to be upgraded to a convertible because they ran out of the cars we signed up for. What hardship we suffered. LOL

 

Cheers

 

Len

[strobellayjam]

Did you find that most car rental companies had shuttles waiting at port to take passengers to the pick up locations? Or did you have to call the rental companies upon arrival and wait for the shuttles?

[Giantfan13]

Did you find that most car rental companies had shuttles waiting at port to take passengers to the pick up locations? Or did you have to call the rental companies upon arrival and wait for the shuttles?

 

Since so many people rent cars from every ship that comes into port, it is usually a continuous flow. If there isn't a shuttle waiting, there is one usually on the way. Some ports the rental places are so close together, you probably can get on any of the shuttles and get to the right place. But, for the most part, you will not have to call for a shuttle, and, at the most, have just a few minute wait if one isn't there.

 

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[ehough]

We are Blue Chip members and found we often got to skip the (quite long) lines at the rental counter. HOWEVER, there were sometimes long lines getting a shuttle to the rental place (most notably Hilo, if memory serves correctly). We waited and waited for the Thrifty shuttle. Eventually a shuttle showed up that would take Thrifty and another company, and I assume because they took both companies they did not care about the Blue Chip because we did not make it on and had to wait some more. Perhaps if you plan to disembark a little later than the massive crowds, you'd have better luck!

[strobellayjam]

Thanks. I've rented with Hertz for all and am part of the #1 Gold Club member (supposedly to help by-pass the lines). Any experience with Hertz? It's been AGES since I last used them but got great rates for this trip...

[judibrown7]

Thanks. I've rented with Hertz for all and am part of the #1 Gold Club member (supposedly to help by-pass the lines). Any experience with Hertz? It's been AGES since I last used them but got great rates for this trip...

 

Hi,

I'd like the same info, too. We're set up to rent from Hertz on all of the stops of the cruise. We're also members of the #1Gold Club. Anyone out there with experiences with Hertz?