Rental car in Hilo

[rg123]

We have a car at the airport reserved for a 10:30 am pickup. We will be arriving in Hilo at 9:30. Will this give us enough time to get to the airport? I don’t want them to give our car away. 😬

[CruiserBruce]

I think you will make it fine, but rest assured they won't be giving your car away at 10:32.

[Therese S.]

On 8/24/2022 at 4:19 PM, rg123 said:

We have a car at the airport reserved for a 10:30 am pickup. We will be arriving in Hilo at 9:30. Will this give us enough time to get to the airport? I don’t want them to give our car away. 😬

Do you know if the car rental shuttles are running to the cruise dock or are you planning on a taxi/Uber to the airport?

[rg123]

I don’t believe they are running at this time. Hopefully we’ll be able to Uber.

[travellingwithnikki]

There were no shuttles in May but there were taxis waiting outside the port building and we were at the airport ten minutes later - it was very easy.

[Therese S.]

Just got off the phone with Discount Hawaii Car rental company who we've used multiple times for Hawaii car rentals.  Was told that only Budget/Avis is running one shuttle in Hilo from the cruise port out to the airport, so you might be spending valuable cruise time waiting for that one shuttle.

 

Shuttles have not resumed yet in Kauai due to under staffing.  We have a cars reserved in both Hilo and Kauai.  Now plan to look up cost for taxis to both airports and also cost of an Uber.  She also mentioned that all rental car companies are short staffed so once you get to the airport be patient and prepared to wait. 

 

FYI- our cruise is in October, for those cruising later maybe things will be different

Edited just now by Therese S.

[rg123]

33 minutes ago, Therese S. said:

Just got off the phone with Discount Hawaii Car rental company who we've used multiple times for Hawaii car rentals.  Was told that only Budget/Avis is running one shuttle in Hilo from the cruise port out to the airport, so you might be spending valuable cruise time waiting for that one shuttle.

 

Shuttles have not resumed yet in Kauai due to under staffing.  We have a cars reserved in both Hilo and Kauai.  Now plan to look up cost for taxis to both airports and also cost of an Uber.  She also mentioned that all rental car companies are short staffed so once you get to the airport be patient and prepared to wait. 

 

FYI- our cruise is in October, for those cruising later maybe things will be different

Edited just now by Therese S.

Thanks, Therese. If you could please post what you find out regarding the costs of Uber vs taxi, it would be very much appreciated. 

[Travelexpert35]

When we stopped in Hilo a couple of years ago, we were very disappointed with the taxi drivers. They only wanted to take people to the Volcano and not do runs into town or airport. Not many taxis either. Be prepared to wait around at the port for one.

[Bocadude85]

Why not look into renting a car via Turo? Probably a lot more convenient then having to go to the airport. Some of the owners will bring the car right to you for a small delivery fee. 

[Clay Clayton]

On 9/5/2022 at 6:21 PM, Bocadude85 said:

Why not look into renting a car via Turo? Probably a lot more convenient then having to go to the airport. Some of the owners will bring the car right to you for a small delivery fee. 

Great idea. Thanks for mentioning it.  I’ve been very pleased with Turo. 

[Therese S.]

On 9/5/2022 at 3:21 PM, Bocadude85 said:

Why not look into renting a car via Turo? Probably a lot more convenient then having to go to the airport. Some of the owners will bring the car right to you for a small delivery fee. 

I'm not familiar with renting via Turo.  Is it pretty much like renting through say Budget?   Does your private car insurance cover any damages or does Turo sell their own policy?

[Clay Clayton]

Turo is like Airbnb for cars. You’re renting from the Owner of the car. They do sell insurance but I found it much cheaper to add a rider to my regular auto insurance. It costs me about $16 for the year. 

[RonenLin]

Sorry to hop on your thread, I was thinking of renting a car when our NCL cruise docks in Hilo. My question is, what would be things that one might do with a rented car (ie places worth visiting)?

 

[CruiserBruce]

34 minutes ago, RonenLin said:

Sorry to hop on your thread, I was thinking of renting a car when our NCL cruise docks in Hilo. My question is, what would be things that one might do with a rented car (ie places worth visiting)?

 

Have you read around the board about doing things like visiting the volcano? There is more to see there beyond the visitor center.

[Clay Clayton]

32 minutes ago, RonenLin said:

Sorry to hop on your thread, I was thinking of renting a car when our NCL cruise docks in Hilo. My question is, what would be things that one might do with a rented car (ie places worth visiting)?

 

Our plan is to go to Volcano National Park and the black beach and anything else that strikes our fancy. The cost for the rental is less than the cost for one of us to take the ship’s excursion so we figure even with gas we should come out ahead AND we can go where we desire 😊

[rg123]

Clay, that sounds like what we’re planning to do as well. Maybe Rainbow Falls, a lava tube (I think the Thurston tube is closed), and maybe Liliuokalani Gardens. Just depends what time permits and how long we would like to stay at Volcano National Park. Thanks 

[Clay Clayton]

49 minutes ago, rg123 said:

Clay, that sounds like what we’re planning to do as well. Maybe Rainbow Falls, a lava tube (I think the Thurston tube is closed), and maybe Liliuokalani Gardens. Just depends what time permits and how long we would like to stay at Volcano National Park. Thanks 

After watching the movie Thirteen Lives, we decided we wouldn’t be doing any lava tubes😳

[rg123]

56 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

After watching the movie Thirteen Lives, we decided we wouldn’t be doing any lava tubes😳

Yikes! Will have to look that one up!

[Clay Clayton]

4 hours ago, rg123 said:

Yikes! Will have to look that one up!

It’s the true story about the Taiwanese baseball team that got trapped in some caves. Ron Howard directed. Very intense (and claustrophobic) 

[rg123]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

It’s the true story about the Taiwanese baseball team that got trapped in some caves. Ron Howard directed. Very intense (and claustrophobic) 

Ah yes, of course I’ve heard of that. Just wasn’t connecting it to lava tubes per se. Love Ron Howard. Maybe I’ll watch it, if I have a chance. Thanks!

[RonenLin]

On 9/12/2022 at 7:52 PM, Clay Clayton said:

Great idea. Thanks for mentioning it.  I’ve been very pleased with Turo. 

People should be aware that most travel credit cards who insure car-rentals do not insure Turo rentals (peer2peer service). I just checked with my service provider.

[Clay Clayton]

3 hours ago, RonenLin said:

People should be aware that most travel credit cards who insure car-rentals do not insure Turo rentals (peer2peer service). I just checked with my service provider.

That is correct but I was able to add a rider to my regular car insurance policy that does cover them. $16 annually which is much less than any of the policies Turo is happy to sell you! 😂

[RonenLin]

4 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

That is correct but I was able to add a rider to my regular car insurance policy that does cover them. $16 annually which is much less than any of the policies Turo is happy to sell you! 😂

I guess this only works for US citizens, I'm from Canada. By the way what do you mean you added a rider?

Edited September 20, 2022 by RonenLin

[Clay Clayton]

9 minutes ago, RonenLin said:

I guess this only works for US citizens, I'm from Canada. By the way what do you mean you added a rider?

In US insurance lingo, a rider is a supplement to an existing insurance policy.  Some folks add riders to their house insurance to cover expensive art or jewelry that isn’t covered by the standard policy.  In this case I added one, that covers all rental cars.