Help with Long-term Kona Car Rental

[fairsky1984]

I know this has been discussed many times, but now I need info.

 

We're in need of a car (unexpectedly) for an extended time in Kona, airport pickup/return. We're looking for a good rate obviously, but also one that does NOT charge for an extra driver.

 

Can anyone refer me to previous posts or save me the challenge of contacting each agency individually? Greatly appreciated...:)

[cmjaffe]

how long are you talking about?

I've been looking at a 2 week rental in Kona for August... it's pricy.

Are you a member of any "wholesale clubs" (ie. Costco) 'cause when you use their coupons at Alamo (I believe it's Alamo) they don't charge extra for 2nd driver. Also they have coupons... usually 5 night or more, get 1 day free... so doing a weekly rate get a bit of a discount.... every little $$ helps.

Good luck

Carolyn

[fairsky1984]

We need a mid-size car for a full month, Feb 2007.

 

In Feb 2006, Kona Alamo charged us $8/day for an extra driver. Talk about adding up!! That was an extra $240+ !!

 

For this Feb, we had a friend's car all lined up, but that has now fallen though (dang thing got sold! :mad: ). I'm trying to avoid a second-driver surcharge again.

 

I remember numerous posts here about Kona car rentals, but didn't play close attention. Now that I need the info, I'm trying here before phoning each car rental agency. And....I have Costco's latest travel brochure; will check that out. Thanks! :)

[cmjaffe]

Another "heads up"... found that Alamo for Costco doesn't charge a drop off (or was it National.. please check). You might want to do 4 weekly rentals and use the "free one day" rental coupon. You might also want to look into doing a price line bid. When your days get closer by. I did that for my DS for White Plains NY.

Got a rate of $310 incl. taxes w/Alamo using discount (which was barely 10% off) and then the fees. So I bid $22 first..got a counter offer for $29, knew it was "close" so I did another bid (for subcompact since we couldn't wait a day to rebid. it was for today) and bid $25 and got it for Avis. Saved over $100 of the regular rate of doing it on line (though tied up $$) and about $40ish over Hotwire (I checked out their rate for a comparison). Wish we could do this in December but we're flying into KOA and out of ITO... for the summer find the rate is higher (by about $50 per week) to rent in KOA vs. ITO so we're trying to fly into ITO on interisland and then leave for home from KOA..

Carolyn

[JohnL1935]

I reserved a car with Discount Hawaii Car Rental for 3 weeks in January in Honolulu and they were the cheapest I could get. It will be through Thrifty. I did Alamo the other day on a "prepay" and it came pretty close to what I have with Discount. Don't know if I want to commit to a prepay yet. Alamo sends me "deals" by e-mail all the time but they have to be taken within a few weeks. I'll see what they give me in December. I'll have to try the weekly rate with some discounts from Sams to see how that comes out.

 

Also, go with the lowest rate, if you can get by with Economy. We did that in Vegas and they had no Economy cars but plenty of SUV's. Guess what? I got a SUV at the Economy rate!

 

John L.

[fairsky1984]

Thanks everyone and always welcome more info from anyone else.

 

What's interesting is that on the Big Island in Feb 2006, there was a second-driver additional charge of $8/day, costing us an extra $240! There was no such additional charge on Maui in March and April 2006.

 

All the various tax rates remain the same statewide. It's the second-driver surcharge I'm trying to avoid on the Big Island.

 

Guess I'll need to phone each car rental agency, because internet info simply says something like "additional charges may apply".

 

Thanks again everyone. Keep the info coming! :)

[bobsydney]

We booked car at Kona through Dollar using HawaiiDiscountCarRental, which I found had by far the best rates I could find - see www.hawaiidiscountcarrental.com.

 

The booking is charged at their corporate rate, and as a a corporate customer, there is "no charge for additional driver listed on rental agreement". It is even on their website - at www.dollar.com/programs_services/business/corporate.aspx?r=5b87dff15224460b93b0350f95580c2d. I am led to believe that other companies do similar on their corporate plans.

 

Pick up was in town at the King Kamehaha Hotel, as was Thrify - which is very convenient for cruise passengers - but presume all companies are also at whatever Kona's inbound airport.

[JohnL1935]

Yep, Bob is right! Just looked at my reservation with Thrifty through DHCR and it states...Brand X charges approx $6.60/day with tax for spouse and other additional drivers, these fees are waived under our corporate benefit package... My contract is in Honolulu but I'm sure all the islands are the same.

 

That should end your research and phone calls.

 

John L.

[fairsky1984]

Thanks BobS and JohnL. But I'm confused :eek: You booked directly through hawaiidiscountcarrental.com, and they booked Dollar or Brand X for you?? How do I get a corporate rate? Was it booked at corporate automatically through that hawaiidiscount site? Help!

 

Again thanks much and very sorry, but I'm confused...:cool: :o

[fairsky1984]

Boy, bobsydney and johnl, you both sure were right!!! Thank you THANK YOU!! :)

 

Before your suggestion of hawaiidiscountcarrental, the best I could get was a Thrifty online quote (with an extra driver charge of $6.60/day) of $1,140. So I tried HDCR as you suggested.

 

I just received their quote of $795 with no extra driver charge like you said! (And that's the grand total!) Interestingly, it's with Thrifty also.

 

Obviously, I've booked with HDCR and it has been confirmed!

 

WOW, what a savings!

 

Thanks again to both of you.

 

....ain't these Boards grand??!! :)

[JohnL1935]

Hey Fairsky--Great savings!! Glad we could help. The extra money should let you have a few good feasts. Now that I know I have that freeby, I have to figure out how to get my wife to do some of the driving. LOL.

 

John L.

[bobsydney]

Glad to be of service. That's what these boards are all about ... helping each other. I learnt so much out from these boards before we went to Hawaii that I could not have otherwise found out about.

 

Cheers

Bob

[fairsky1984]

Hey bobsydney and johnl, we're frequent Princess Cruise people, so if you ever have a question about their cruises, etc., glad to reciprocate!