Car rentals at port

[Susanna12345678]

I am planning to fly into HNL and stay in a hotel before and after my POA 6 day cruise.  (We will only have 1 day in Maui on this cruise.)  I would like to rent a car at each port and venture out on my own rather than do the cruise excursions.   

 

Anyone rented a car in each port?  What are the recommendations on getting a car in Honolulu since I'd theoretical like to pickup the car at the airport and return near the port on the way there and vice-versa on the way back? 

 

For the other ports, I'd like to pickup and return to the same location near eaxh port.  I looked at Turo (not set on that, just looking at the most economical). I searched for "port" and didn't find a pickup with port in the name.

 

Any thoughts on renting from specific rental companies?  What about rental insurance?  If you have full coverage insurance on your personal auto insurance and rent using a credit card that offers rental car insurance as part of the benefits (AmericanExpress, for instance), do you know of any reason to purchase  the additional insurance from the rental company?

 

If you have thoughts on any of this, I'd appreciate your reply.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

There is lots of discussion in these pages about car rentals. If you search for them, be sure they are dated post Covid; lots changed due to Covid and other events.

 

I think Kauai is the hardest place to rent a car, unless you use Avis/Budget, which sends a shuttle from the airport. Any other national brand you need a way to the airport and the taxi line was an hour in October and Uber non-existent for the port area. 

 

Maui has Enterprise that is walkable (.7 mile, if I recall) and there are a couple of local agencies that are walkable, but since Kahului airport built their CONRAC, all the majors dropped their shuttles to the port since they don't have shuttles any more.

 

In my experience, Hilo was a bit easier port to get a taxi to the airport for a car.

 

The airports on Kauai, Maui and Hilo, are all only about 3 miles or less from the cruise port, getting to them easily is the main issue.

[princeton123211]

15 hours ago, Susanna12345678 said:

What are the recommendations on getting a car in Honolulu since I'd theoretical like to pickup the car at the airport and return near the port on the way there and vice-versa on the way back? 

In Honolulu how many days are you staying before and after and are you planning on renting a car for both of those stays? Parking is limited and extremely expensive-- we try and rent a car in Honolulu only for the day that we need it (and unless you are planning on examining Oahu in extreme detail you really only need one for a day to do the loop around). 

 

Renting a car one way (ie from the airport and dropping it off closer to the port), even though not physically far from each other, can be very expensive due to the airport locations of the major rental agencies being corporately owned and the ones that are downtown and in Waikiki tend to be franchised ones. The one way drop fees they charge can be significant. What I would recommend doing is taking an Uber/taxi from the airport to your hotel and finding a rental desk near there. This solves two things-- you avoid the one way drop and you don't have to pay for the expensive parking. 

 

As an example we frequently stay at the Royal Hawaiian when we're in Waikiki and will rent from Avis for the day which is just across the courtyard at the Sheraton. Picking up there and dropping off after hours (the downtown locations have shorter hours than the airport but there is a box you can drop the keys after they close) we have all the benefits of not having to go to the airport and also avoid the $65 per night parking fee the hotel charges. 

 

Personally if I had 2 stays in Honolulu on either side of a cruise I would rent the car on the front end and then use the last couple days after the cruise to just enjoy Waikiki and relax. 

 

You were given good advice above on the other islands. 

[Susanna12345678]

6 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

In Honolulu how many days are you staying before and after and are you planning on renting a car for both of those stays? Parking is limited and extremely expensive-- we try and rent a car in Honolulu only for the day that we need it (and unless you are planning on examining Oahu in extreme detail you really only need one for a day to do the loop around). 

 

Renting a car one way (ie from the airport and dropping it off closer to the port), even though not physically far from each other, can be very expensive due to the airport locations of the major rental agencies being corporately owned and the ones that are downtown and in Waikiki tend to be franchised ones. The one way drop fees they charge can be significant. What I would recommend doing is taking an Uber/taxi from the airport to your hotel and finding a rental desk near there. This solves two things-- you avoid the one way drop and you don't have to pay for the expensive parking. 

 

As an example we frequently stay at the Royal Hawaiian when we're in Waikiki and will rent from Avis for the day which is just across the courtyard at the Sheraton. Picking up there and dropping off after hours (the downtown locations have shorter hours than the airport but there is a box you can drop the keys after they close) we have all the benefits of not having to go to the airport and also avoid the $65 per night parking fee the hotel charges. 

 

Personally if I had 2 stays in Honolulu on either side of a cruise I would rent the car on the front end and then use the last couple days after the cruise to just enjoy Waikiki and relax. 

 

You were given good advice above on the other islands. 

Thanks so much for the tips.  We are coming in on Friday night before the cruise on Sunday, so really only Saturday to do anything.   We are staying at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa ($55/day parking).  The ship returns on a Saturday, and we're planning to do Pearl Harbor that day and will stay at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani ($45/day parking) Saturday night and fly home Sunday late morning.

[Susanna12345678]

8 hours ago, KeepCalmBearOn said:

There is lots of discussion in these pages about car rentals. If you search for them, be sure they are dated post Covid; lots changed due to Covid and other events.

 

I think Kauai is the hardest place to rent a car, unless you use Avis/Budget, which sends a shuttle from the airport. Any other national brand you need a way to the airport and the taxi line was an hour in October and Uber non-existent for the port area. 

 

Maui has Enterprise that is walkable (.7 mile, if I recall) and there are a couple of local agencies that are walkable, but since Kahului airport built their CONRAC, all the majors dropped their shuttles to the port since they don't have shuttles any more.

 

In my experience, Hilo was a bit easier port to get a taxi to the airport for a car.

 

The airports on Kauai, Maui and Hilo, are all only about 3 miles or less from the cruise port, getting to them easily is the main issue.

Thanks for the tips.  Have you tried Turo or do you only recommend the national brand rental companies?

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, Susanna12345678 said:

We are coming in on Friday night before the cruise on Sunday, so really only Saturday to do anything.   We are staying at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa ($55/day parking).  The ship returns on a Saturday, and we're planning to do Pearl Harbor that day and will stay at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani ($45/day parking) Saturday night and fly home Sunday late morning.

So I would rent a car from one of the Waikiki rental desks on the Saturday you arrive and use that day to drive up to the North Shore and explore Oahu. Return it after hours and avoid paying for parking at all. Renting a car from the airport won't make as much sense here because you'll have to go back to the airport to drop it off. 

 

There is zero reason to rent a car to go to Pearl Harbor from Waikiki-- it is a short, easy, and economical Uber ride. 

 

Personally I use Avis, and have for over 10 years on our several times yearly visits to Hawaii, but that's only because of company discounts and loyalty points-- there are a ton of options from all the national brands. Avis has always done a good job for us. People have had good things to say about Turo as well-- I just haven't used them so can't comment specifically. 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

3 hours ago, Susanna12345678 said:

Thanks for the tips.  Have you tried Turo or do you only recommend the national brand rental companies?

 

I've not used Turo in Hawaii, but I have in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City for personal travel. When I travel on Business I always use the nationals.

 

I've never used an off brand, purely local company, but if I was ever tempted to, a one day rental might be where I'd start.

 

I have learned to avoid companies with "money" names, Thrifty, Payless, Budget, Dollar, etc.

[elainmir]

We rented ours through Discount Hawaii Car Rental and when we did we had the option to purchase Collision Damage protection which was around 15 bucks and supplemental liability for 16 bucks ...Rentalcover.com was the company they used.  We've not cruised yet but knew if we wanted a convertible we'd best get it reserved. It was about 100 bucks a day plus the insurance. We just needed day rentals.