February 25, 2024 - People love to complain - about anything really, but in particular they always complain about Maui's supposed outrageously high car rental rates. Being in this business, no matter how cheap the Maui car rental rates we offer, there is no end to the whining and sniveling we hear about what it costs to rent a car in Maui. 

But are the car rental rates in Maui really all that high? Are the complainers right about this, or, as usual, are they off the mark? If so how far off are they? Are the car rental rates in Maui all that they are cracked up to be? Are there other destinations that have rates higher, or lower, than Maui? Seriously, does anybody even really know what does it cost to rent a car, these days?
To answer these question, this week, we're comparing the rate on our weekly rate check for one week of rental from Maui's Kahului airport to rates at airports across the USA. For every location, we're taking the lowest advertised rate for a one-week rental (seven days) beginning on Monday, 2/26/2024 (i.e. tomorrow), putting them all together, and comparing to the rate from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG).
Here's the result, for this week's featured chart. We've covered a number of airports across the continental US, from Seattle all the way to Miami. There are some big surprises in the list. The lowest rate is not at all where you might expect it to be. See if you can spot your favorite destination on the list.

This is the list of rates for a one-week car rental from airports across the US, including Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG). The source for this info is the rental car aggregator rentalcars.com.

Rate......Airport
$312.89 Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
$287.36 San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
$260.87 Honolulu International Airport (HNL)
$201.11 Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
$187.08 Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
$178.90 Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), Las Vegas
$165.92 Kahului Airport (OGG)
$153.14 Denver International Airport (DEN)
$143.02 Portland International Airport (PDX)
$139.65 Orlando International Airport (MCO)
$121.42 Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
$115.72 San Diego International Airport (SAN)
..$32.16 Miami International Airport (MIA)
Some take-aways:

• Maui's rate ($165/week) is not all that outrageous. In fact, it is not at all an outlier. It falls in the middle of the pack for the popular travel destinations we've listed.
• The highest rate ($312/week) is for Phoenix, very nearly twice (2x) the rate in Maui.
• Miami has an unbelievably low rate of just $32/week. This would not even be enough to pay the daily rental tax in Maui. 
• Phoenix, San Francisco, and Honolulu are in a grouping of their own at the high end. significantly higher than everywhere else.
  

Caution: this is just a snapshot, taken on one day of the year, and rates are constantly changing. If you follow our weekly price check, you know that two weeks ago the lowest advertised rate in Maui was $446.70/week, eclipsing the rate in Phoenix this week.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming, the weekly Maui rate check. This week, Maui car rental rates are continuing to come down (see the chart). For one week of rental, these are the lowest advertised rates for a car rental from Maui's Kahului beginning tomorrow, Monday 2/26/24:
Off-airport (with shuttle) $165.92
Airport rentacar center $271.98
Source: rentalcars.com