Dec 8, 2024 - This week Maui car rental prices remain at or near low season levels, after falling steeply last week from Thanksgiving holiday highs (see Figure 1). Here are the lowest advertised prices for a one-week car rental beginning Monday December 9 from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), for a selection of vehicle categories, with the change from the previous week, and the company offering the best price.

Category Price Change Company
Economy $250 18% Budget
Midsize $285 3% Avis
Jeep $427 -9% Dollar
Convertbl $484 10% Dollar
SUV $314 -3% Dollar
7 St SUV $404 -7% Budget
Minivan $451 2% Avis

Prices down to low season levels for two weeks in a row in the first two weeks of December make this a great time to rent a car. This week, the lowest price for renting an economy car from OGG for one week is $250/week from Budget, up 18% from last week. A midsize car is $285/week from Avis, up 3% from last week. A Jeep is $427/week from Dollar, down 9% from last week. A convertible is $484/week from dollar, up 10% from last week. A SUV is $314/week from Dollar, down 3%. A minivan is $451 from Avis, up 2%.

Prices for all vehicle types were mixed with some increasing slightly and others dropping slightly. Overall, the price changes were relatively small, compared to the roller coaster price movements of past weeks. However, with the Christmas holiday season a pproaching, the good times for rental customers will be very short-lived. Continue reading for more details. But first let's see how prices compare with last year.HOW DO PRICES COMPARE WITH LAST YEAR?

This week the cheapest price for a one week car rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) beginning on Monday 12/8/24 is $250/week, up $35 or 18% from last week. For a rental from nearby off-airport locations served by shuttle, the cheapest price is $194/week, up $19/week or nearly 10% from last week.

Compared to one year ago, for the week of 12/11/23, when prices were still strongly affected by the August 2023 Lahaina wildfire disaster, today's price for an airport rental is only $37/week or 17% higher than last year, and the price for an off-airport rental is only $28/week (also 17%) more than last year (see Figure 2).

This moderate increase over last year's price indicates a recovery from the effects of the wildfires, with the number of visitors to Maui slowly returning to previous levels.

MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICE FORECAST FOR CHRISTMAS 2024

Prices are expected to rise significantly in the coming weeks. This prediction is based on five years of weekly price data collected between 2013 and 2018. The historical data show that in December of every year, a brief reprieve from the Thanksgiving Holiday high prices is followed by a sharp increase in prices beginning about one week or 10 days before Christmas and peaking the week after Christmas. Given the progress of the recovery in travel to Maui, we do expect this price pattern to hold again in December 2024 - unlike December 2023 when prices stayed at a depressed level compared to historical norms. The question is how high will prices go this year.

For the coming weeks, online reservation systems are showing prices that rise above the level of the November price peaks, and higher than the previous highs of 2024. As of today the lowest advertised prices for a one week rental, both from the airport rentals and off-airport, are as follows:

DATE OGG OFF-OGG
12/08/24 $250 $194
12/15/24 $631 $541
12/22/24 $851 $650
12/29/24 $643 $558
01/05/25 $467 $274
01/12/25 $582 $242

This price forecast for the next five weeks, with a comparison to the same period last year, is illustrated in Figure 4.

The price of a one-week car rental from the Kahului Airport (OGG) is expected to peak at over $800/week, for the week of 12/22. The price for an off-airport rental is also expected to peak the same week, at over $600/week.

How reliable is this forecast? Our historical data shows that usually, more than 90% of the time, this last-minute price is the lowest available price for the rental, lower than a price booked in advance. See our research on When is The Best Time to Book a Car in Maui. 

This means there is a reasonable expectation that actual prices will be lower than this forecast. We ill continue to monitor prices and provide updates over the coming weeks.

HOW MUCH MORE DOES IT COST TO RENT FROM THE AIRPORT?

Normally, off-airport prices are lower than airport prices due to a number of factors that we have covered in a previous blog post, titled "Is It Cheaper to Rent a Car at the Airport in Maui? Updated for 2024.." 

This week, the airport price is higher than off-airport for nearly all vehicle categories. However convertibles and 7-seat SUV's were not available for off-airport rental (See Figure 5).

These prices are from our survey taken on 12/8/24, for a one-week rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), beginning on Monday, 12/9/24, for seven vehicle categories, Economy Car, Midsize Car, Convertible, Jeep, SUV, 7-passenger SUV, and Minivan. The rental companies covered in the survey are Ace, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Fox, Hertz, National, NU, Payless, SiXT, and Thrifty. For more info on the companies we cover, see our blog post on customer satisfaction ratings for these Maui car rental companies. 

As we've noted in previous blog posts, the price for an off-airport rental is usually lower than an airport rental, due to two factors:

1. Higher mandatory taxes and fees that are added to the cost of an airport rental, and
2. A discretionary "convenience premium" that rental companies charge at the airport. For details, see for example Is It Cheaper to Rent a Car at the Airport in Maui? Updated for 2024. 

Exceptions do occur from time to time and we do report them when they do. b

HOW DO WE GET OUR MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICE DATA?

Prices for Maui car rentals vary from week to week, and the company offering the lowest price also changes from week to week. Furthermore, one company may be offering the lowest price in one vehicle category, for example mid-size cars, while a different company has a better price on another category, for example mini-vans.

Beginning in July 2024, we've tracked the prices on seven vehicle categories - compact, mid-size, Jeep, convertible, SUV, 7-seat SUV, and minivan - from 10 different companies at Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG): Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, Payless, SiXT, and Thrifty. Each week, for every vehicle type, we noted which company offered the lowest price. Our weekly price-tracking for the lowest price economy car category goes back to July 2023 - more than one year. These are the data for the charts we post every week.

Previously we conducted a five-year price-tracking study for the lowest price economy car category beginning in February 2013 and continuing to February 2018. A sample of these results is in Figure 2, that shows the five-year average of the price over a one-year duration. For details of this massive price-tracking undertaking, and the most important findings on how and when to rent a car, see our blog post of July 14, 2024 titled "When is the best time to rent a car in Maui?" 

HOW TO CHECK RATES AND AVAILABILITY FOR MAUI CAR RENTAL

Either click through to to our Cars & Rates section, or check our booking site at rentals.mauicarrental.biz. This site gives you access to all vehicles from eight different companies - Ace, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Payless, and Thrifty - at all their Maui locations, that include the Airport rentacar center, Kahului town locations nearby the airport, and resort locations in Kihei/Wailea, and Ka'anapali. With so many options to choose from, you are assured to find the rental car that matches your preferences and your budget for your Maui trip - and there is never a cancellation penalty if you have to change plans.

Price Data Sources: rentalcars.com, rentals.mauicarrental.bi