Kona Car Rental Help

[shernuf]

Can anyone give me some advice on renting a car on the Big Island of Hawaii?

I'm trying to find a cheap car rental ($12-$15/day) for the above dates.

Is it better to bid PL or use hotwire.

I've been bidding PL without any success so far.

Hotwire is showing about $20.95/day with a total for the week at $202.11 for a compact

I could use the $30 Entertainment rebate to lower it down to $172.11

Is it better to wait on hotwire? I've noticed that if I went in the next few days that it gets down to $12.95 - $ 14.95/day

The car rental checker runs in the $240 range for the big 3 and sidestep hasn't done much better either.

I guess my question really comes down to should I wait? Is this as good as it's going to get or can expect the prices to drop. :)

Ideally, I would love a convertible (who wouldn't in Hawaii), but all I need is an economy or compact.

Any help from previous experience would be great.

I'm not a novice. I've PL a couple of hotels in Newport Beach and Springfield, MO and I've gotten a car rental for a week in Daytona Beach.

However, not a lot is posted about renting cars here and not enough about successful bidding in Hawaii.

Thanks.

[thereuare]

The next few days may be cheaper on account of it being a lower demand time period, not necessarily because they lower prices as your date draws near.

What is the cheapest you can get thru our Car Rental Rate Checker?

[shernuf]

Car Rental Checker is showing the $240 range.

Not much better.

I'm going to keep checking hotwire and PL and hope a cheap bid gets accepted.

Thanks.

[shernuf]

Yesterday, the hotwire price dropped to $19.95 on June 14 in the morning.

Today, the hotwire price was back up to $20.95 for a compact car during 7/30 - 8/6 for Kona, HI.

Is this normal?

I didn't bother booking yet because overall its only $7 difference down to $195. :)

I'm still PL bidding, but no success yet.

[shernuf]

Does anyone know:

A. If I get a successful low bid of say $15 for a compact car on priceline, can I upgrade that car to a better car when I get it?

B. Is it really expensive? Does it follow the same guidelines that their website has like upgrade this car for $5 more per day?

Anyone have an experience to share? Is this something someone does all the time?

I can't imagine that the rental car companies wouldn't want to make some more money.

Re-cap:

My wife and I are going to the Big Island of Hawaii at Kona from 7/30 to 8/6 and would like to rent a convertible cheap.

Current Hotwire going rate is $34.95/day for a convertible for a total of $324.38. We'll use the hotwire rebate to lower it $30 more.

Haven't had any successful bids yet on Priceline, but I'm limited to the number of times in a week to bid specifically for a convertible to two.

If I successfully bid for a compact or standard or SUV, can I then upgrade that car at the rental desk and how much would I expect to pay?

Current compact is going on hotwire for $19.95/day for a total of $195.11 (with rebate $165.11)

I would need a comparable $16/day successful bid on Priceline to compare to this.

Thanks for the help! :)

[thereuare]

I wouldn't count on an upgrade (free or pay). Although it can, and does, happen... it's not a specific rule and varies from company to company and location to location.

Best bet is to bid on the car class you want.

[tweekerz]

We are going to Kona for close to the same dates you are (7/31/05-8/7/05).

The cheapest rates we have been able to find for car rentals during these dates is from Hawaiicarrentals.net

They were able to get us a midsize car for $204.82 with taxes and fees for these dates....they did not require a credit card to book it. Basically, they booked it thru Budget Rent A Car for us and sent us an email confirmation, which we can cancel on our own if we find a better rate elsewhere. We weren't able to find a better rate, except for on Hotwire, which was about $2 cheaper. But at least we have the option of cancelling if needed by booking thru this place. I'm sure you can get smaller cars for a bit less if you are willing to settle for something smaller than a midsize car.

Hope that helps!

[shernuf]

Thanks for the help tweekerz.

My wife decided she wanted to get a convertible and so that's what I've been looking for lately.

The rates finally dropped this week at the rental car companies.

I've made a cancelable reservation with Thrifty (Dollar had similar pricing) for $37/day on a convertible. Using the 5% discount code AU11 I was able to get the total down to $313.11 for the 7 days we'll be there.

This compares pretty well to the hotwire price of $35.95/day Total $331.38

Using the $30 Coupon Book Rebate, I can get it down to $301.38

Now, I can bid every week on priceline till I go and see if I can get a low ball price. :)

Thanks again and enjoy your trip.

I know we'll have a great time.

[LoneStar]

read the car rental forums at flyertalk.com for discount codes that can be quite helpful. If you're willing to play around with them, you're extremely likely to save some money. I'd also recommend a look at smartertravel.com, although it seems that, of late, the site is not being updated as frequently.

[captainriddell]

About 2 years ago in Maui I merely asked at the counter if I could upgrade for an additional $25 (total) from a midsize I won on priceline to a convertible. I expected the answer would be no. To my surprise she said yes. I wouldn't count on this strategy, but it has obviously worked. I believe it was with Dollar or Thrifty.

[shernuf]

UPDATE:

I've been bidding priceline and so far haven't been successful.

However today I noticed that Dollar and Thrifty both had come down to $230/week for a convertible.

I've made a reservation with Thrifty (cheaper by $6 after all taxes and fees) for $280.35

This is the best deal yet and is right in line with priceline for $30/day (I haven't bid that high yet).

Hotwire is still at $35.95/day ($331.38/week) and doesn't come close now to Dollar and Thrifty even with the $30 rebate.

Thank you all for your suggestions and experiences.

Hope this info helps some others. :)

[thereuare]

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