Travelling to Hawaii

Hello travellers to Hawaii!

We like to send out a newletter a few times per year when we have information we feel will help you when you are travelling to Hawaii.

Oahu Travellers

The first item affects visitors to the Island of Oahu during the dates of November 7 - 13. There is a large APEC Summit happening - the President of the United States and the leaders of 20 other countries will be on the island with their motorcades and security forces.

Also present will be the CEOs of 150 worldwide corporations. Their travel will take them between Waikiki and Ko Olina, and there could be some street closures, delays, and possibly a shortage of rental vehicles during this period of time.  http://www.civilbeat.com/topics/apec-2011-hawaii-survival-guide  found this link - it might help.

December Travellers

Anyone travelling to Hawaii over the holiday season? If you have not booked your mini vans yet, get a hold of us asap, as some dates are already completely sold out. As the time gets closer, all vehicles may be totally sold out or blocked out at our rates, so if you already have your dates, contact us and get your bookings while the rates are still good and available.

Last year, there were so many sold outs over the holidays, many last minute travellers were left without vehicles, or subject to very high last minute pricing.

If you are travelling in later December and staying into January, you will be travelling during two different pricing seasons - the December high season, and the lower season which begins on January 1.

We are sending out many quotes these days to show both options, booking one rental for the entire time at the high December rates, and the breaking the reservation into two - late December and January low season - this option could save hundreds of dollars, but will mean returning to the rental counter to redo your paperwork on the January date.

In most cases, this is very worthwhile, as there can be large savings. Also, for those that can not get mini vans in December because of sold outs , and can survive the December period with a smaller vehicle, we can book mini vans for the January portion of the trip.

2012 Rates

We have most of our 2012 Rates in now, so if you are planning a trip in 2012, we can now book you at the lowest rates.

NEW - Our Coupon Project!

We are excited about a new project we are working on!!! Coupons!!! We are in contact with businesses in Hawaii that are of interest to travellers and tourists.

They are providing us with coupons for various discounts or items for you to use when visiting their destinations in Hawaii. We are setting up pages on our website for each island, so you can click on the island you are visiting and print the coupons you wish to take and use.

Our goal is to help our clients by providing the coupons, and maybe introducing them to businesses they may not have been aware of, and as well, to help support local businesses in Hawaii that cater to tourists, or may be of interest to visitors.

This site is in its early stages, and will grow over time, so check back from time to time - we will most likely remind you of the site on your reservation confirmations for car rentals as well.

IPhone App!

Yep. We've got an iPhone app.

Our new iphone App can be downloaded from the iTunes store, free of charge, at...

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/hawaii-car/id467586332?mt=8&ls=1
  iTunes/hawaii-car  

You can use it to book cars directly from your iPhone!

We are very happy with the feedback we are getting from clients now using this app and are always open to comments to help us improve our service.

We are working on adding the ability to have this app accessible to android and blackberry systems.

The Cost of Renting Vehicles at the Airport in Hawaii is about to get more expensive:

The cost of renting vehicles at the Airports in Hawaii is about to get more expensive:

Bill (SB2461/ HB2370) was put in place to raise the existing Customer Facility Charge (CFC) from the present amount of $1.00/day to $4.50/day, beginning September 1, 2010.  This fee is a special fund in the state treasury that is being accumulated to facilitate the acquisition of land, building of a new unified vehicle rental facility that would include a single shuttle bus service to and from passenger airport terminals, as well as monies for the operation of such a facility. It is being charged on all car rentals from on airport locations in Hawaii.  Possible locations for a new facility would be Honolulu and Maui (OGG) Airports.

This money is being collected in addition to the already existing 11.11% Airport Concession Fee, and can amount to a great deal of money added on to every vehicle being rented from any car rental companies that have locations at airports in Hawaii.

There are car companies that have off-airport locations, and therefore do not collect these additional charges.  Although they do have the following charges that are added on to the cost of renting any vehicle in Hawaii:

Hawaii State General Excise Tax:  on Oahu - $4.712% and on Hawaii, Kauai, Lanai, Maui and Molokai:  4.166%

Hawaii State Motor Vehicle Rental Surcharge - $3.00/day

Vehicle Licensing and Registration Fee – up to $1.00/day typically, but can vary depending on vehicle and location.

Wherever possible, we at www.discounthawaiicarrental.com try to locate cars for our clients at the best possible prices, which often means booking at these off airport car companies.  In some cases, such as Honolulu Airport, there is little difference in the convenience of picking up your cars from these locations, as the companies provide shuttles to pick you up and return you to the terminal. There are some off airport locations with no Customer Facility Charge (CFC) that service the local island renters as well, and although they do not pick up and drop off at the airport, we can book clients here when necessary, such as in the case of sold outs at airport locations, military personnel coming in from ships, or locals just needing a car rental when they have visitors from off island.

Many hotels and private shuttle services provide transportation to and from hotels in Waikiki. While some of the hotels provide this service free of charge, the shuttle service companies have rates that can run $8-10 or more one way; with a reduced rate when a return ticket is purchased. In Waikiki, most car rental companies have at least one rental location.  It is beneficial to book here if you are staying in Waikiki and need a car for a day or two during your trip, but may not necessarily pay off if you need to pick up or drop off at the airport, once you add the drop charges to the bill, depending on your length of rental.  None of the airport fees or taxes apply to rentals from these locations.

Locations such as Kaanapaali/Lahaina (JHM), Kihei (K2H), Wailea (OG1) and others on Maui, and some of the smaller locations on Kauai and the Big Island have no Customer Facility Charge (CFC), and especially on longer stays, it may be beneficial from a cost saving measure to book a one day rental from the airport (with a CFC charge) to one of these locations, drop the car, rent a vehicle from this location with no Customer Facility Charge (CFC) charge and return it to the airport with another drop charge and still save a bundle of money.  This would only work for off-airport locations that do no have much higher rates, and some do. (Some locations block our pre-negotiated discount rates.) Many of the locations on Kauai and the Big Island that are off airport and located in resort areas have some vehicles available, but they often have much higher rates than airport or near airport locations, and these prices would negate any benefit to renting off airport.

On short-term rentals, it would probably cost more to rent from one of these locations with the drop charges, possible transportation/shuttle charges across the island, the inconvenience, and the possibility of losing a weekly rental rate by breaking up your days.  In these cases, it would most likely be best to support the Customer Facility Charge (CFC) and just enjoy your holiday.

Discount Hawaii Car Rental - Booking Cars in Hawaii

Booking cars in Hawaii for a living has become more than just a job.  It has become an opportunity to discover Hawaii from the point of view of the many tourists who phone us or write to us to book their rental cars for their trip.  We come across some amazing people and some equally amazing stories.  As our goal has been to learn everything we possibly can about renting cars and servicing our clientele, we have, over time, developed quite a large working knowledge of many things Hawaiian, and what the tourists love to do.  Stories are shared amongst the staff on a regular basis, and we like to laugh about the adventures we share with our clients.  We are hoping to use this knowledge to help you to navigate your way around the ins and outs of car rentals in Hawaii, as well as the places you will go.