Jan. 18, 2026. The steep increase in prices that came this week follows the same pattern as the prices for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday one year ago. Then, prices increased sharply from the previous week, and they did the same again this year. But this year's MLK holiday prices are significantly higher than last year's. This continues the same pattern of year-over-year increase that we saw last week. The cheapest rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) is a compact cart costing more than $900 for the week, with all other vehicle categories over - in some cases well over - $1,000/week. Looking forward, last year, prices slipped slightly after the MLK holiday, before resuming their climb into February. If we believe the prices in the advance booking systems, the same is expected to happen again this year. Looking back, prices are continuing their seasonal pattern of ratcheting up last-minute: anyone booking a one-week rental of a compact car starting tomorrow is paying 76% more than if they had made their booking for the same rental starting tomorrow about a month ago. Please continue reading for all the details.

Fig. 1. Lowest advertised Maui car rental prices for select vehicles charted for 14 months

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO RENT A CAR IN MAUI ON JANUARY 19, 2026?

Every week, we list the lowest advertised prices for a one-week car rental 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. This is our overview of Maui car rental prices for the week of January 19, 2026.

Category Price Change Company

Economy $921 21% HERTZ

Midsize $1,323 60% Thrifty

Jeep $1,374 36% Dollar

Convertbl $1,763 73% Budget

SUV $1,358 58% Budget

7 St SUV $1,395 6% Budget

Minivan $1,434 50% HERTZ

The prices quoted here include all applicable taxes and fees. Prices for these vehicle types charted week-to-week for the last 14 months are illustrated in Figure 1.

The price for the cheapest car from Kahului Airport (OGG) was $921/week, from Hertz. The cheapest midsize car cost $1,323/week from Thrifty. Jeeps were at $1,374/week from Dollar. Convertibles were at $1,763/week from Budget, Standard SUV's were at $1,358/week, 7-seat SUV's were at $1,395/week, and minivans were at $1,434/week.

Fig. 2. Maui car rental prices at Kahului Airport (OGG) this week and last week, with the percentage change..

HOW DID PRICES CHANGE FROM LAST WEEK?

For the week of Monday 1/19/26, nearly all vehicle types were up significantly from last week. These cars are following the expected pattern, seen almost every year, of a secondary price peak for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

Prices for this week and last week, with the percentage change week-to-week, are illustrated in Figure 2.

Compact cars were up 21% from last week, midsize cars were up 60%, Jeeps were up 36%, convertibles were up 73%, standard SUV's up 58%, 7-seat SUV's up 6%, and minivans were up 50%.

All categories increased from last week. The biggest increase was for convertibles, up 73%. The relatively moderate prices for convertibles earlier in this year was due to a large number of new convertibles being put into service in the first few days of the year. These vehicles had been languishing for months in the airports storage yards, inexplicably - we reported on this in previous blogs. They went out into service nearly all at once in the first few days of 2026. We speculate that some form of contractual obligation between the rental companies and the manufacturers was delaying the operational date for these vehicles. Now that the vehicles are all in service, prices are normalizing to a higher level.

The smallest increase was for 7-seat SUV's. They went up only 6% this week, a small increase in comparison to all the other vehicles. But already they had a significantly larger increase last week - so you could say that they jumped the gun.

Fig. 3. Maui car rental prices for multiple vehicle types: current vs. one year ago, with % change.

HOW DO PRICES COMPARE TO ONE YEAR AGO?

Comparing this week's prices to prices at the corresponding week one year ago is another useful and informative way of gauging the condition o the market. See the comparison in Figure 3 and the table below.

Vehicle Now Last Year Change
Economy $921 $824 12%

Midsize $1,323 $984 34%

Jeep $1,374 $968 42%

Convertbl $1,763 $1,367 29%

SUV $1,358 $1,082 26%

7 st SUV $1,395 $1,140 22%

Minivan $1,434 $824 74%

Prices were up across the board for every car category from where they were at the same time last year. Economy cars were up 12%, Midsize cars up 34%, convertibles up 29%, standard SUV's up 26%, and 7-seat SUV's up 22%. The biggest increases were for Jeeps, up 42%, and minivans, up 74%.

Figure 4. Price trends for a one-week car rental in Maui from January 2025 to January 2026 show variations based on booking timings: one day, one week, and five weeks in advance.

IS IT CHEAPER TO BOOK IN ADVANCE?

In mid-December of 2024, we began to track the movement of advance booking prices as the reservation date approaches. Every week, we check the price one week out, two weeks out, three weeks out, up to five weeks out, and save the numbers for comparison.

From mid-February of this year until early October, the prices available one day in advance and one week in advance were consistently lower than the price five weeks in advance (see figure 4).

However, since then, last minute prices have been higher than advance prices, and the trend continues this week. This indicates strong demand pressure and/or supply limitations driving up prices.

This week, last-minute prices for bookings are again higher than advance booking prices. In fact they are substantially higher.

Looking ahead one week, the one-week advance price for next week's rental is already significantly higher than the price five weeks in advance for the same rental.

Based on historical data, it is normal for last-minute prices to be higher than advance prices at this time of year. What's unusual about this year is that advance prices have been consistently lower for as long as they have been. For three months now, since early October, advance prices have been lower than last-minute prices. For the entire year, from 1/12/25 until this week, advance prices were lower than last minute about 30% of the time. This seems a significant variance from our data collected in previous years, where advance prices were lower between 10% and 15% of the time. This may lead us to revisit our models for pricing dynamics in this market, and reset the expectation for availability of last-minute savings.

Fig. 5. The cost for tomorrow's rental booked in advance was significantly lower than the last-minute price 1-day in advance.

HOW HAVE PRICE CHANGED FOR TOMORROW'S RENTAL?

Prices for a for a one week rental starting tomorrow, January 19, reserved in advance at earlier dates, is illustrated in the price chart in Figure 5.

Off-OGG OGG Days in Advance

$885.00 $921.00 1 (last-minute)

$518.00 $669.00 8 (one week)

$809.00 $911.00 15 (two weeks)

$368.00 $741.00 22 (three weeks)

$472.00 $523.00 29 (four weeks)

$373.00 $522.00 36 (five weeks)

For airport rentals, the price for tomorrow's rental rose steadily week-to-week from its level five weeks ago, finishing today 76% higher than the price available five weeks ago - a $399 increase.

For off-airport rentals, prices increased even more dramatically from five weeks ago: the last minute price finishing 137% higher than the advance price, more than double - a $512 increase.

We expect the trend of drastically higher last-minute prices to continue through the rest of this winter season - anyone considering a trip is advised to book their rental car as soon as possible. We do not expect any last-minute price drops until March at the earliest.

HOW DOES COST OF CAR RENTAL IN MAUI COMPARE TO OTHER ISLANDS IN HAWAII?

Figure 6. Cost of one week car rental at major Hawaii airports, from February 2025 until this week.

Here's a quick survey of the cheapest one-week rental cost from each of the five major Hawaii airports, for a rental beginning on Monday, January 19, 2026. For each airport, we report the lowest price this week.

1/19 AIRPORT

$323 Honolulu

$885 Maui

$316 Kauai

- Kona

$517 Hilo

The lowest price week by week at each airport, from February 2025 until this week, or for a little bit more than 11 months, is illustrated in Figure 6.

It is easy to see from the chart that tor most of the last 11 months, prices for car rental in Maui were often the very lowest and if not the lowest then near the lower end of car rental prices in the Hawaiian islands.

However this price pattern changed dramatically with this year's holidays, and Maui's prices shot up higher than any of the other islands.

This week, Maui has the highest prices across the islands, with Kona, where the highest prices were last week, completely sold out - no cars available.

Will Maui return to the more affordable end of the scale? That is an open question.

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.

Figure 10. Week-by-week variation of Maui car rental prices averaged over five years, from 2013 to 2018.

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 10, 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.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

Frank Saab is the editor of this blog published by Frank's Friendly Cars Maui Car Rental LLC, an independent car rental company operating in Maui, Hawaii, since 2006. Frank's offers low prices on used local cars and discount prices on new cars, with a "Lowest Price Guarantee" that assures you of getting the best deal on your rental. Visit our website at www.mauicarrental.biz, or call us at 808-280-1196.

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