Hawaiian Car Rental

[GeorgeAD4]

how would I get the best deal on rental cars?

HOTWIRE has a 12.95 weekly rate. Can I do better by bidding? and if so, how much?

[thereuare]

What are the date(s) of your rental and for what car class?

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[GeorgeAD4]

I was getting a cheaper price renting for the whole week (jan 30 to feb 6th) than renting just for 5 or 6 days.

I would also like to rent a car for 2-3 days on the big island by the kona airport (leaving sometime on Wed 2/4 to 2/6.If I leave early on Wednesday and fly out at 4:3, then it could be a 3 day rental, but then I might leave later in the day and just have a 2 day rental.

I always rent the cheapest car. sometimes they are nice and upgrade up.. but i am by myself so I take the cheapest. (unless getting a wagon and camping out works :))

[thereuare]

What are the date(s) of your rental...

I was getting a cheaper price renting for the whole week (jan 30 to feb 6th) than renting just for 5 or 6 days.

I would also like to rent a car for 2-3 days on the big island by the kona airport (leaving sometime on Wed 2/4 to 2/6.If I leave early on Wednesday and fly out at 4:3, then it could be a 3 day rental, but then I might leave later in the day and just have a 2 day rental.

I know you think you're answering the question... but your reply(s) really aren't clear and make it dificult to advise you on your plans.

Are the dates for your rental (on each island) firm yet?

[GeorgeAD4]

I am probably leaving sometime on Wed Feb 4th which will probably be 5 days, so I was planning on renting for the 7 days..If I handed the car in earlier, it wouldnt hurt their feelings.

I thought the question was clear, I apologize if it wasnt.. Do I just rent it at their price or do I do a bid at a lower price (and what lower price ususally works on car rentals)? Translated what price do you think i could get it for if bidding if their weekly rate is 12.95? And how do you do the rebids there if it doesnt work?

George

[dahammer]

I am probably leaving sometime on Wed Feb 4th which will probably be 5 days, so I was planning on renting for the 7 days..If I handed the car in earlier, it wouldnt hurt their feelings. George

no, but the rental companies may hurt yours when they back charge you for an early return.

[GM Mike]

no, but the rental companies may hurt yours when they back charge you for an early return.

Yeah, this can be a SERIOUS problem. Each company has its own rules. If you bid on priceline/hotwire, you won't know which company you will get.

However, most of the major companies will charge a penalty if you "understay" and return a car early. This is specifically to combat booking like you were considering, in order to get a cheaper rate.

[GeorgeAD4]

Wow... I never knew that.

I figured you had the car for a certain length of time and if you dont need it you can return it earlier.

Sheesh :)

Figured they would want an extra day to rent it out..

So.. That means I guess I need to know EXACTLY to the hour Im returning it?

Bummer :)

Which companies do this? I have to research it further.

[GeorgeAD4]

I am planning on leaving the honolulu island on Wednesday the 5th however, I am not sure what time as that wojuld depend on the ticket. Also, if I can get a good deal on a car on the big island, I would like to leave early wednesday morning. If its easier, I could leave tuesday night to keep things more uniform. (ie fri night to tues night/tues night to fri night.

I thought wednesday would be better because if i felt i needed more time on the honolulu island i could get a later plane ticket.

It appears to be the same price for the 5 days so I guess I should book the 5 days.(and I guess I can commit to leave sometime on the 5th day.) What would be the best price I could get for 2 days on the trip to the big island.

If you arrive late, do they penalize you also???

[thereuare]

GeorgeAD4,

You really need to finalize your itinerary, including the dates of all your travel. The most expensive aspect of your trip (now that your NYC-->Hawaii plane tix is purchased) is going to be the hotel, so i would take care of that first. Then i would purchase your remaining inter-island plane tix since that is capacity controlled and the low fare which is making this inter-island trip possible may not be available if you wait until the last minute (nor should this tix be bought until you have your hotel plans finalized), then lastly i'd take care of the car rental since that should be the least expensive aspect and multiple suppliers offering the same exact product, so little difference between who you buy from and if one sells out there is always another selling virtually the same product (unlike a hotel where a room (and prices) at one property are likely going to be very different than the rooms (and prices) at another property)

If you prefer to have your plans open so you can adapt them along the way, then using PRICELINE or HOTWIRE, where your purchases are non-refundable/non-changable/non-cancellable, is not the way to go, just make your plans thru more conventional booking channels where you can cancel up until the latest moment.

[GeorgeAD4]

The thing that is making it hard for me it is really hard to know how the pieces will go together.

I believe if I was talking with someone, then it might make it easier, but to get a short message and try to interpolate the rest of it out of it, I cannot say.

If there was a way to discuss dynamically, it would make my life a LOT easier, instead i post someting, a half a day or a day later you post something and we really arent getting that far.

While i realize this is not a car comment, your question showed up in this forum so im answering here..

But someone walking me through it would make me get it done a lot easier. On the phone I can rattle off 10-20 questions in a couple minutes. here it will take a week to do that which I dont have.

Im tempted to just book the ocean resort, but it would be nice to try PRICELINE one more time

George