Thanks to Matt McGee for writing in to tell me about his experience with saving money on his Maui rental car. Matt saved $60 for his one-week rental simply by rechecking rates before his vacation. Here’s the timeline:
April 5th– Booked Avis car with a rate of $245
April 22nd – Checked the rates and rebooked Avis rental car with a rate of $211
April 25th – Checked the rates once again and rebooked Avis rental car at a rate of $185.
First Week of May – Matt’s Maui vacation.
Have you tried this trick? Did you get similar savings results? For more useful advice, see Hawaii rental car savings tips.
Sheila Beal
9 comments
There’s a new(ish) website called autoslash.com. It’s kind of like orbitz where it searches a bunch of sites, but better because they will automatically rebook you at the cheaper rate if it changes. I’ve used the site for a Seattle and San Francisco reservation. Never tried it for Hawaii, but it should work.
Thanks for that tip, Megan.
well I just took your advice…and through Enterprise @ KONA
Reservation made 4/28 2 Weeks Full Size 629.26
Reservation made 5/31 2 Weeks Full Size 386.64
THAT IS TWO HUNDRED FORTY TWO DOLLARS AND SIXTY TWO CENTS SAVINGS…
Wooo hoo
That’s excellent news Jody. Thanks for letting us know your savings!
I’ve done this for years, for rentals everywhere, not just hawaii. I make reservations as soon as I know the dates, then check back every 304 days. It almost ALWAYS comes down, sometimes only by a dollar, but I still cancel and rebook. I think the process of cancelling that reservation is what prompts them to lower rates as its all based on supply and demand. When they have cancellations, they lower the rates. The best savings I had on a recent trip to HI however, was when I switched from a reservation through the company’s website to discounthawaiicarrental.com…. On Maui, we save $56 with a few clicks. I will use them exclusively from now on for trips to Hawaii.
*3-4 days
Yes, I agree with Matt and Amy. I’ve done this with several trips from CA to FL and states in between. I’ve ALWAYS gotten a cheaper rate as the date got closer. Just be sure when you make your original reservation that it isn’t one that you have to pay a penalty to cancel and you’re good to go! Sometimes I only save $5-10 other times hundreds, just wasn’t sure how it would work for Hawaii since we will be going for the first time in Oct. 2014 but you know I’ll be giving it a try!! We are going to be in Honolulu for one night to see Pearl Harbor and then headed over to Kona for 7 more nights so I’ll have 2 car rentals to play with! 🙂
Thank you very much for that tip! I booked a car for a 8-day-trip to Maui and followed that tip to check the price every 3-4 days. Here’s the timeline:
– Feb 2nd: booked Thrifty car for CAD$ 358.95
– Feb 2nd (yes, the same day!!): CAD$ 337.99 (saved CAD$ 20.96)
– Feb 10th: CAD$ 321.41 (saved CAD$ 37.54)
– Feb 26th (2 days for my trip to Maui): CAD$ 223.40 (saved CAD$ 135.55)
It’s a HUGE difference and I could save CAD$ 135.55!!
Thank you very much again for this awesome tip that saved me a big amount of money!!
Excellent, Marcelo! Thanks for reporting your experience and savings.