Car Rental + Parking $808! Need suggestions

[Alexander]

I was recently able to find a special for our Waikiki hotel that offered the $40/day parking fee for free. This changed everything and we will now have a rental the whole time. I’m so happy to have more flexibility now with planning our day trips. Our rental will be $450 total for 11 days. No parking fees.

 

[SilverSnakeMama]

We are booked for 8 nights in Oahu in April. Three nights in Waikiki and the remaining 5 nights at Aulani. Arriving Friday about 1:30 pm and departing on Saturday about 12:30. There are two of us. Our plans are sightseeing Friday late afternoon through Monday....Pearl Harbor, Kualoa Ranch, the North Shore. Then at Aulani, relaxing, primarily using the car to drive out to dinner nearby, probably a quick trip to the Dole Plantation.

I am kind of stunned.....car rental currently $468 (through Costco) and parking at the Sheraton and then Aulani is $340. Is this typical? When I tried to reduce costs a bit (ie, taking a shuttle or cab into town and renting locally, which would also help to to reduce the parking fees) it didn't really work. I might save on a day or two of parking, but the shuttle or Uber fees made up for it. I also wasted time.

Is this typical for Hawaii and I should just "suck it up, buttercup"? While the price seems high to me, we can afford it. I just don't like to waste money.

I've considered Turo.....has anyone used them? Of course, I'll keep checking to see of my rate goes down.
How is Uber? That would maybe work, except for getting to Kualoa Ranch and driving around the North Shore (both all day trips)

Thanks

We are paying $3,061.61 for a Premium SUV (Chevy Suburban or Similar with 8 seats) from Alamo (not through Costco) for June 1st (early morning) to June 15th (late at night)
We are bringing our own car seats/boosters for 3 of our children (Age at time of trip will be a newborn,18 month old and 6 years old)
Just for anybody trying to rent similar cars and wondering if that is a normal price.
We did add gas service and insurance in the extras category.

 

[Lilsia]

We are paying $3,061.61 for a Premium SUV (Chevy Suburban or Similar with 8 seats) from Alamo (not through Costco) for June 1st (early morning) to June 15th (late at night)
We are bringing our own car seats/boosters for 3 of our children (Age at time of trip will be a newborn,18 month old and 6 years old)
Just for anybody trying to rent similar cars and wondering if that is a normal price.
We did add gas service and insurance in the extras category.

I would check with your insurance company to see if they cover your rental. Most do if you have full coverage on your car. We also don't do the gas, it is way overpriced. Do you need such a big vehicle? Even one class lower can save you a bunch of money. I would also keep checking daily to see if prices go down.

 

[SilverSnakeMama]

I would check with your insurance company to see if they cover your rental. Most do if you have full coverage on your car. We also don't do the gas, it is way overpriced. Do you need such a big vehicle? Even one class lower can save you a bunch of money. I would also keep checking daily to see if prices go down.

Thank you so much for the advice,we are fortunate enough that money is never a big issue,but yes we need that size for our party of 7 plus the luggage we will be bringing (car seats and strollers are a big space hog as we are bringing a newborn and young toddler),I will be sure to check into insurance coverage and the gas we might end up getting rid of.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Thank you so much for the advice,we are fortunate enough that money is never a big issue,but yes we need that size for our party of 7 plus the luggage we will be bringing (car seats and strollers are a big space hog as we are bringing a newborn and young toddler),I will be sure to check into insurance coverage and the gas we might end up getting rid of.

Just to add, don't just check with your insurance company. Check with your credit card company too. Most of them offer rental coverage too.

For price comparison, we're getting a 15 passenger van for 5 adults and three kids (all in car seats) for 9 days and that'll cost us about $900.

 

[wassily]

We are paying $3,061.61 for a Premium SUV (Chevy Suburban or Similar with 8 seats) from Alamo (not through Costco) for June 1st (early morning) to June 15th (late at night)
We are bringing our own car seats/boosters for 3 of our children (Age at time of trip will be a newborn,18 month old and 6 years old)
Just for anybody trying to rent similar cars and wondering if that is a normal price.
We did add gas service and insurance in the extras category.

How about if you try to reprice this at Alamo today?
I see something way less for dates of June 1st to June 15th at HNL without inputting discounts for a Premium SUV. Can go 8 passenger MiniVan for slightly cheaper as well.
Costco price comes out to about $100 per day.

 

[Alexander]

We are paying $3,061.61 for a Premium SUV (Chevy Suburban or Similar with 8 seats) from Alamo (not through Costco) for June 1st (early morning) to June 15th (late at night)
We are bringing our own car seats/boosters for 3 of our children (Age at time of trip will be a newborn,18 month old and 6 years old)
Just for anybody trying to rent similar cars and wondering if that is a normal price.
We did add gas service and insurance in the extras category.

That is a ridiculous high rate! We rent cars all over and I have never seen anything that expensive. I think maybe you’ll want to shop around. Did you add every single option (insurance, GPS, gas) to get that price?

I priced the same dates for a full size SUV with Alamo and got $1500.

 

[CateinPhoenix]

That is a ridiculous high rate! We rent cars all over and I have never seen anything that expensive. I think maybe you’ll want to shop around. Did you add every single option (insurance, GPS, gas) to get that price?

I priced the same dates for a full size SUV with Alamo and got $1500.

The Previous Poster said money/cost was no concern!

 

[towels]

You can buy a used Mercedes SUV for about $7000 in Honolulu according to Edmunds

 

[Lewisc]

Sometimes a COSTCO hotel + car rental package is a good deal. You can call and add extra days to the car rental.

 

[BayGirl22]

There's a rental car shortage right now so prices are really high, in addition to what others said above.

When we went we stayed in Waikiki and there was a Hertz in our hotel (either Sheraton or Marriott, can't remember which now). We rented a car for the day when we wanted to drive around the island and do the Dole plantation, Pearl Harbor, etc. returned it that night so there was not parking fee or having to worry about it.
We took Uber to the cruise port and then from there to Aulani (we cruised in between). At Aulani we didn't end up needing a car. If we did for a day we could have rented for the day.
If you only need it for a few days I'd price it out to only rent a car when you need it, not the entire trip.